Gordonstoun on tv...what were they thinking..

[wurzeldrink]

Real car crash tv,I understand the Harrow series has led to a very large increase in applications,really cant see the same happening for Gordonstoun,we watch open mouthed at how bad the school is...
Anybody else watching it?

[wurzeldrink]

Free short break available


We do not hold Open Days as we like to tailor-make your visit and spend as much time with you as you wish. You are welcome to visit Gordonstoun at any time of the year and on any day apart from Sunday; you just need to arrange a mutually convenient time with us. We are happy to:

arrange and co-ordinate your travel plans;
meet the cost of transfers to and from Aberdeen or Inverness; and
meet the cost of overnight bed and breakfast accommodation for one evening.

[Warmworm]

I think it looks great! My eldest daughter has been watching eagerly and would love to go there, but sadly there's no chance. I like how it's not overly focussed on academics.

Compared to a bog standard Welsh comp with peeling paint on the walls, filthy toilets, sticky floors, litter everywhere and rotting window frames it's pretty luxurious!

[BlueSmarties76]

MorningtonCrescent
Ive still not seen the program, but generally speaking I agree with you in that I'd not expect boarding facilities to be amazing necessarily, but I imagine a lot of the other posters are comparing boarding facilities at Gordonstoun to those at other Public schools with a national reputation (which makes sense given the price tag or Gordenstoun) and I guess it doesn't measure up well to those?

Some schools nowadays do have ridiculously good facilities! Wellington has 2 swimming pools, many schools have golf courses, I can think of several schools with observatories, lots have proper sports stadiums, some have equestrian centres and 'branded' gyms on site...... And then there's Rodean's boarding refurb! www.tatler.com/news/articles/april-2015/the-swankiest-boarding-house-in-the-world

[Noofly]

PotteringAlong I know someone who went for the 6th form and adored it as well! That's actually what put the idea into my head for DS. It would be so completely different to anything he's experienced to date and he'd have a great time. They also do a summer school that he would love.

[morningtoncrescent62]

Hmmm, I wonder if I can persuade one of my DDs (in their mid-20s) to dress young and pretend to be interested in a sixth form place so that we can take advantage of the short break? I think I'd imagined that boarding schools would have seriously good facilities for sports, arts and so on, but that the residential accommodation would be on the grotty side. Don't know why I think that - maybe an out-of-date stereotype. Perhaps I should go visit Roedean as well as Gordonstoun to get both sides of the story!

[derektheladyhamster]

I've only seen the accommodation at 2 boarding schools and gordonstoun is on par with them.

[dotdotdotmustdash]

Could the amount of Oxbridge applications be at least in part due to the fact that Scottish children benefit from no tuition fees? We have several excellent universities for our DC to attend that won't attract £9k in fees. My Dd could have applied to Cambridge (she had the results) but weighed up the fact that Edinburgh and St Andrews are also available to her with no fees to pay.

[MrSlant]

Interesting that the posters who think it looks fine/ok are on the whole not in the market to spend 30k a year,a few visits to a variety of senior boarding schools would put Gordonstoun in context.

I am in the exceedingly lucky position that I could send all of my children there if they so wished, or to any of a number of lovely boarding schools in the UK. Plush carpets and better facilities aside I would choose to send them to a school like that rather than some of the other 'big name' schools. Round square schools, in my experience, seem to turn out much nicer adults than some of the ones I know from equivalent schools.

Oxbridge, well my husband could have gone (from a run of the mill comp in a poor area of the UK) but decided that he didn't want that sort of education and I applaud him for it, that's not the be all and end all of tertiary education as someone said upthread.

You really seem determined to run the place down OP, I left this thread for ages feeling a bit baffled by your opinions and now, after a glass of wine, I thought I would pop back . Gordonstoun is the school it is, it isn't trying to be the other sort of schools in that 'price bracket'. No one is forcing you to send your children there so why be so snitty about a TV program?

[vjg13]

I watch it with my 12 year old and she quite likes the look of the school but is horrified by the school skirt! A granny style calf length kilt!

[wurzeldrink]

Morning,MrSlant-hope the wine was good...
You say you could send your children to this type of school,but you dont,your dh could have gone to Oxbridge but didnt,perhaps then it would be best to leave these type of conversations to people with actual first hand knowledge.
No idea why you would be baffled by my opinions,the facilities we have seen are very poor,many other non selective boarding schools produce far better academic results,a head that states its "not necessary to have paper qualifications",is not doing his pupils any favours.
So whats unique about Gordonstoun? Very little as far as I can see,unless you think its worth spending £35,000 per annum to enable your children to hold a fire hose....and that I presume was not what they wanted us to take away from the programme,it might not be colditz in kilts,but it hasnt moved that far from it.

[Noofly]

What makes it unique is that it's out in the middle of nowhere in the wilds of Scotland with the ocean at one side and the mountains on the other. DS would absolutely love it and if I weren't such a mean selfish mother who would miss him too much to let him board, I'd let him go now. Our compromise is for him to get through S5 and then see if he'd still like a year there.

I understand why it's not for everyone. DS' current school isn't for everyone either, but both schools definitely appeal to us.

[MyVisionsComeFromSoup]

it's not quite as remote as it likes to make out, nearest town is 5 miles away, but there are villages nearer. And to get to any mountains, you're looking at an hours drive. Sea is 10-15 minutes walk, although out of bounds.

The "spartan" nature of the whole place is part of its attraction for a lot of parents (and pupils), teaching self reliance as well as service to others. I know I sound a bit like a prospectus , but it really is horses for courses. Lots of schools do DofE etc (DD2s school has one of the biggest group of participants in any school in Britain for eg), but at Gordonstoun it really is built into the whole ethos of the school.

Now if you want properly remote, the now closed down Rannoch School was what you wanted, right on the edge of the moor, miles from any kind of civilisation . They were the ones we felt sorry for.

[Alastrante]

A couple of friends of friends went there. One is really quiet about it and the other is massively successful, really nice guy, lovely family etc. (Don't see them at the same time, that might be interesting!)
They both love the outdoors and value that aspect of it, didn't mention the spartan dorms at all.

[Noofly]

MyVisions DS is currently at an Edinburgh day school. Gordonstoun is definitely remote to him!

[MyVisionsComeFromSoup]

Noofly - I'd agree with your DS then, pretty rural compared to what he's used to . I grew up slightly further along the coast, so the scenery is just background to me.

[MLP]

"real car crash TV"? Hardly. Watched a couple of the shows and thought the place can across as absolutely fine. Can't see the series doing the school any harm at all.

[BabyGanoush]

I have a fiend who sends her son there

They live in Buenos Aires, where rich kids are given free reign by 13 to go clubbing, smoke, date (sex) and generally emulate the adult lifestyle.

So she wanted to send him somewhere "safe"

[cdtaylornats]

I would expect most Gordonstoun kids to go to Edinburgh, Glasgow, St. Andrews and Aberdeen. Scots aren't so fascinated by Oxdridge as English parents are. We tend to prefer the broader, longer and cheaper education here.

[DeoGratias]

I'm surprised by the criticism on here. I could also afford to send my children here but I have different priorities. However I love living in a UK where parents have a choice of what matters to them. What all children need for life is the sort of ethos and skills you can learn at Gordonstoun. As for facilities not being particularly luxurious - isn't that the point? You pay to ensure they aren't spoit brats.

I pay school fees but I don't pay to buy grades even though my daughter was at NLCS. I pay for a lot of the other stuff too.

It came over as a lovely school particularly for the child who is not going to thrive at a selective school and no it is not selective. It will take all comers just about and what we saw as entrance tests was just for those who want a discount or bursary. Even there the boy we saw only got 10% off. Even if he hadn 't won that he could still have gone there so it wasn't really much of a competition foir a place in his case.

[BlueSmarties76]

Exactly how much outdoors / survival / life skills stuff do DC at G do? Is it the daily runs plus the fire service volunteering and presumably weekend hiking etc or is there much more in the timetable?

[thequickbrownfox]

I have an ex who went there- he's an arrogant mess with two kids he never sees and another on the way. He's the kind of person who is perpetually angry and bitter that the world doesn't recognise his greatness! He was part of a group from that school (around twenty years ago) who have gone on to have massive drug and mental health problems.

[wurzeldrink]

Only 1 in 3 of the student body are from Scotland,so dont think that can be used as a reason for the low Oxbridge applications

[DeoGratias]

Blue, on the video they don't do daily runs any more. They do expeditions, the school has a yacht. They do a lot of climbing and walking and sport.
I expect it is a good place to ensure a child who has not found what they are good at yet might find that one thing that makes them okay with themselves - if you think boarding ever does that (I am anti boarding as it is rejection by parent, not matter how soft the duvets are these days). I think it showed a third were from abroad. We were certainly shown German girls, an Eyptian boy, a comprehenseive school black girl from Hackney.

It also helps people realise private schools are not just for clever children at all. There are plenty of private schools which take almost anyone who applies and you do not need to be very bright to get in. You could argue that it is those kinds of children who benefit more from your paying school fees than children who will do well anywhere of course.

[wurzeldrink]

"Rejection by parents" perhaps it would be best if you didnt comment on boarding schools,as that comment shows you dont know the first thing about them.

[DeoGratias]

I know a fair bit and my father (psychiatrist) treated many jmany patients damaged by boarding school. Even if there is just a 1 in 100 chance your own child might be damaged by boarding school why pay fees to ensure they get worse exam grades than in a day private school and so as not to be near those you love? It seems very risky to me. How is it not rejection that a parent would choose not to have their teenagers with them every night?