Boarding at Gordon’s School

Gordon’s School is the national monument to General Charles Gordon, a British war hero, philanthropist and martyr. It was built by public subscription more than 100 years ago at the insistence of Queen Victoria, who become the first in an unbroken line of sovereign patrons.

Originally opened as a home for ‘necessitous boys’, today Gordon’s is a successful non-selective, co-educational, day and residential state boarding school. The school is set in 50 acres of countryside in Surrey and is listed as one of the UK’s outstanding schools by Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector.

While the school embraces modern ideas, General Gordon’s legacy of traditional values remain – improving the lives of others and championing those less advantaged. As a school we strive to be one of the finest in the world, not just for our achievements, but for the calibre of young people we develop – the progress they make, the lives they lead and the difference they make to the lives of others.

Our sixth-form pupils achieve three or more A levels, with 95 per cent of entries graded A* to C, putting the school in the top 1 per cent nationally for academic achievement at A levels. But we also have successes in drama, the arts, debating, public speaking, dance, sport and as the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) and Combined Cadet Force (CCF).

The original Gordon Boys’ Home was run along military lines. This is continued today with marching, parades and Pipes and Drums. Dressed in their ceremonial Blues uniform, the pupils parade around eight times a year. We are the only school permitted to march along Whitehall and pupils carry out this annual tradition in remembrance of General Gordon with pride.

PREPARATION FOR LIFE

General Gordon’s life as a philanthropist, leader, scholar, adventurer and soldier is at the heart of our traditional character values of courtesy, integrity, diligence, enthusiasm and resilience. We strive for more than the best possible examination results – we also want to give our pupils an amazing preparation for life. The emphasis is on working as a team and putting back. Each pupil is assigned a house and the interhouse competitions in sport, the arts, cooking, debating – even marching – are enthusiastically contested with everyone encouraged to ‘have a go’. Underpinning any participation is that high performance without good character is not true success. These inter-house competitions, together with competitive sport against other schools and participation in DofE or CCF, take pupils out of their comfort zone. Taking part builds pupils’ confidence and allows them to develop new skills as well as leadership, perseverance, endurance, teamwork and problem-solving ability – all necessary qualities for their adult life.

Around half the school’s residential boarders are from Service families, attracted by the location and the school’s understanding of military life. Military families are given priority for places and counsellors and tutors work to plug any gaps in their education. Residential boarders coming into the school aged 11 are housed together in a bespoke boarding house for a year

Andrew Moss

Headmaster, Gordon’s School

before joining their senior boarding houses. Houseparents have considerable experience of caring for children from military families and pupils from similar backgrounds.

All pupils benefit from an extended school day, with day pupils staying for supper and prep with boarders.

Charges are kept to a minimum, with boarding fees from £6,074 a term (a little over £1,500 a year with Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA)). Bursaries and scholarships in sport and the arts are also available.

As we recover from a global pandemic, there has never been a more important time to reconnect with General Gordon’s legacy and reimagine what we can and should try to achieve. Our vision is for the national memorial to General Gordon to be a force for a more caring and just world, in which there is more equality of opportunity and individuals have equal chances based not on privilege but on how hard they work for themselves and others.

Andrew Moss has been Headmaster of Gordon’s School since 2010. He started teaching in 1992 and has worked in a variety of boarding and day schools, including most recently a headship in a Cognita independent school. Before that he was a Deputy Head in Hampshire and Director of Studies and Housemaster at Wymondham College (also a state boarding school).