2015-16 GA Magazine

THE GORDONSTOUN ASSOCIATION
Patron: HRH The Duke of Edinburgh KG, KT
WINTER 2015/16
THE GORDONSTOUN ASSOCIATION
ELGIN, MORAY,
SCOTLAND IV30 5RF
[email protected]
www.gordonstoun.org.uk/former-students/
+44 (0) 1343 837 922
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for “Gordonstoun Association”
CHAIRMAN’S WELCOME
CONTENTS
Dear Old Gordonstounians,
2Chairman’s Welcome
I’m delighted to have this opportunity to
introduce myself as the new chairman of the
Gordonstoun Association and this new magazine
for 2015/16. I have already served six years
on the committee since coming back from a
posting to Berlin. How I got involved was one of
those small but significant moments in life. Being
new to Aberdeenshire, I called the GA office to
see if any of my old school friends were living
nearby, and discovered how warmly the school
greeted OGs who get in touch and how good
the office is at creating links with possible friends
in your area. It has been a great pleasure to find
old friends from school and connect with their
Georgie Middleton
families and other Gordonstounians- all as a
GA Chairman
result of a phone call! I now feel privileged after
a life of postings with my diplomat husband, to
have a representational role with Gordonstoun
and have a great team around me with the current committee. Briefly, I
worked for Sainsbury’s retail management and buying before heading
off to Japan, Zambia, Jordan and Germany, getting involved with
diplomatic life, learning the languages and about the countries we were
in, teaching and the children’s schools, and keeping up my sport and
music. Aberdeen is my husband’s home town and where I work as a
pastor or chaplain in Work Place Chaplaincy, but Dundee is home in a
spiritual sense, as I have just been licensed as a lay reader at St Paul’s
Cathedral.
As you will see the magazine looks back over the many events of the
past year and forward to next year’s programme. Articles range from
reminiscences of 1943 when the school was at Plas Dinam in Wales, an
experience which led to a naval career and expertise in astronomy, to
an OG partnership providing not only outside corporate catering, but
also cookery classes and a venue for TV chefs at their base, Venturi’s
Kitchen. You will find a spread of enticing articles showing how OGs
have channelled their creativity into realising personal dreams. I always
find the magazine inspiring to see the different paths in life OGs have
taken. What comes through is how much Gordonstoun has meant to
them and how their time at school has prepared them for serving others
and achieving their goals.
Steve Brown, I know, has mentioned the ‘cluster groups’ around
the world, but there are other initiatives we are working hard to put
in place. One is to support Gordonstounians looking to launch or
relaunch their career through a Linkedin group. There will be news on
this soon, but if you feel you have something to offer those graduating
in the past few years, again please be in touch, we would love to hear
from you. Another initiative is the appointment of four new Student
Representatives from the leavers of 2014/15. I’d like to thank Lewis
Bungener and Hannah Potter (2014), and Natasha Pell and Jamie
Salt (2015), all former GA Captains for taking on this role. GA
Captains are the ones, whom you may have met, who show visiting
OGs round the school. The idea behind the role is that if you left the
school in the last few years, there will be events and reunions designed
for you and if you are overseas, there’s a forum for you through the
Student Representatives. The role will last two years and we will make
appointments each year.
I have saved the best till last, and that is to thank Peter Ramsay for his
considerable work as Chairman of the GA for seven years. He has
made a wonderful job of his tenure, not only leading a happy and
enthusiastic team of committee members, but also developing the
programme of events and involvement with the school. I can speak for
everyone on the committee that it has been a pleasure working with
him. We welcome two gifted new members to the committee, Robin
Gibb (G House 2005) and Ed Kirk (Duffus 2005).
Thank you for coming on board!
3The GA Committee
4View from the GA Office
5Chairman of the Board of Governors
7Gordonstoun International
Summer School
8Always Learning
9Reminiscences of a
Wonderful Year at Gordonstoun
10Gordonstoun War Memorial
12Of Speed Boats and Rowing Boats
14Some Reflections on Leadership
17Gordonstoun to Hollywood
18Gordonstoun Memories
19Maybe it’s Something about
Gordonstoun
20Living Gordonstoun…
After Gordonstoun
21From Naughty Boy to Nauti Bouy
22Steering Through the Stars
23Feed the World
24Recipe for Success
25My Journey of Plan B
26A Passion for Service
27Crossing the Chalbi
28Cycling Across Africa and Life
29Making a Difference
30Jumping in Head First
31My Trip to Romania
32OGGS
34Announcements
35The GA 200 Club
Contact Information
The GA Office
Gordonstoun School
Elgin, Moray, IV30 5RF
Tel: +44 (0) 1343 837922
Email: [email protected]
www.gordonstoun.org.uk/former-students/ga
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2
THE GA COMMITTEE
Georgie Middleton née Housman
Robin Gibb
GA Chairman
(Hopeman 1978)
Ben Goss
GA Committee Secretary
(Gordonstoun 2005)
GA Committee
Andrew Clark
Nicky Montgomery née Ford
Amanda Campbell-Lambert née Brown
(Plewlands 1991)
(Windmill 1973)
Heather Glover née Main
Edward Kirk
(Hopeman 1991)
(Duffus 2005)
(Hopeman 1980)
Peter Ramsay
(Windmill 1973)
John Mulligan
(Altyre 1981)
THE GA OFFICE
HELP US
GO GREEN
Steve Brown
GA Co-ordinator
Emma Thorpe
Please let us have your
email address so we
can email you news
and events, rather than
printing and sending
them on paper!
GA Office Administrator
Whilst every care is taken in the preparation of this publication The Gordonstoun Association cannot accept responsibility for actions or decisions
taken by readers based on information supplied, that is subsequently changed or cancelled. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors and not
necessarily those of The Gordonstoun Association or The Gordonstoun Schools.
3
THE VIEW FROM GA HQ
by Steve Brown, GA Co-ordinator
Each year when the GA magazine goes off to the
printers I am gripped by mixed emotions. Initially
there is a sense of satisfaction and relief (‘our
work here is done’) but this is rapidly superseded
by a sense of nervousness that the process is
about to begin again with all the associated
challenge of finding interesting pieces to live up
to what has gone before. The fact that these
fears ultimately prove groundless bears testimony
to the creativity, tenacity and endless talent of
those formerly of this Parish. There are strong themes of leadership,
compassion, creativity and determination running through them.
I am sure that the diversity of experiences and accomplishments
contained herein would draw an approving smile on Dr Hahn’s face.
If you would like to contribute to next year magazine we would be
delighted to hear from you.
It is not only in terms of the GA magazine where previous success
brings additional pressure. It was always going to be difficult to
follow both the range and popularity of the events associated with
Gordonstoun’s 80th anniversary but I feel that in 2015 we were
able to build on the successes of the previous year. We recently
welcomed 10 OGs back to school to speak to the Year 11,12 and
13 students about life beyond Gordonstoun and all parties thoroughly
enjoyed the occasion. There were really enjoyable Dinners in London
(oversubscribed for the first time), Yorkshire and Edinburgh and also
year group reunions for those who left the school 10, 20 and 30
years previously. This year we are very keen to do the same across the
‘6 decades so do look out for further information or get in touch to
register your interest. Most of these reunions are likely to be held at
Gordonstoun to coincide with GA Day on 30th April so please do put
that date in your diary. This year’s GA Day falls once again on Bank
Holiday Weekend and for the first time it will run alongside the Aberlour
Highland Games and it promises to be a splendid occasion. You will
find an invitation to GA Day printed in this publication so please do let
us know if you plan to attend.
The GA is always very keen to find opportunities to bring groups of
former students together but sometimes fellow OGs can be closer than
you think. This year we had two OGs attend an event in London. They
worked in the same department of a large multi-national financial
institution but did not know that they had both attended Gordonstoun
until they arrived at the GA event ‘what are you doing here?’ ‘no, what
are you doing here?’ Priceless! Thus the development of regional
clusters is something we have been keen to develop this year. This
allows groups of OGs to share their email address, boarding house
and leaving year with others in their region. Data protection constraints
can make it very difficult to bring people together but this initiative
enables OGs to find out who else is in their city or region (or even their
company!).
Following on from the positive response from OGs in Australia to the
formation of a regional group, we now have over half of them sharing
their details. We subsequently emailed over 200 OGs in Germany with
a similar request and so far we have over 70 keen to share their details.
As a result of this we are planning to hold a Gathering at the European
Space Agency near Frankfurt, next June. This is an initiative from Felicity
Sheasby (née Higgins, Hopeman 1997). The plan is to follow this with
a Gathering in Frankfurt that evening so if anyone has any suggestions
regarding location for Dinner, or indeed would like to host a gathering,
please do get in touch! This is one of a series of events scheduled for
2016 so please take the opportunity to get along to one and if there
is not one in your area, we would be only too happy to help you to try
to remedy that. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in
2016!
4
NEWS FROM
ADMISSIONS
By Chris Barton,
Director of Admissions
This has once again been a very busy
year for the Admissions Department and,
as ever, we have been hugely grateful
for the continued support and advice
from the OG community both at home
and abroad. We really do appreciate
the assistance that OGs provide and indeed the large number
of recommendations from former students to prospective
families embarking on the school selection process. This was
particularly evident during a recent promotional visit to Nairobi
when we were delighted to welcome a number of OGs to a
very successful Lunch Party at the Muthaiga Club. Their input
was invaluable and we very much enjoyed their company.
Gordonstoun remains in good health and we were delighted
to see the Junior School numbers rise by 25% at the start of the
academic year. This was a very sound reflection of the excellent
work of Robert McVean and his staff and we were particularly
pleased with the recruitment of 10 pupils into Year 3 which has
proved to be a popular new addition. The balance at the lower
end of the School of three year groups of 10 pupils in Years
3/4/5 is almost ideal and the overall increase in the number of
boarders this year also gives rise for cautious optimism.
In the Senior School there has been a slight 1% fall in the UK
Nationals Overseas figures which has been matched by a 1%
rise in the Other Nationality Rest of the World total. Within the
Junior School the Expat figures have dropped by 2% with a
commensurate rise of 2% in the numbers of children coming
into the school from Scotland. Over 40 different nationalities
are still represented and the full boarding provision remains a
highly attractive and vital aspect of life at Gordonstoun.
During the coming months we will be visiting Spain, Nigeria,
Russia, Hong Kong, China and India as well as attending the
Independent Schools’ Fair in London and we would be very
pleased to link up with any OGs during the course of these trips
and indeed to welcome you back to Gordonstoun at any time
in the future.
Please do contact Mrs Fiona McWilliam in the Admissions
Office on 01343 837 829 or [email protected].
uk if you would like to arrange a visit or to receive any more
details about life at Gordonstoun.
Over 40
different
nationalities
are still represented
PRINCIPAL’S WELCOME
by Simon Reid, Principal of Gordonstoun
I would like to take this opportunity to thank
Peter Ramsay who stepped down as GA
Chairman over the summer and who, in this
role, did so much to strengthen the ties between
the OG community and the school. When I
came to Gordonstoun I really appreciated his
positive and open approach. I am delighted
that Georgie Middleton has taken over the
role with enthusiasm and I know that she was
already actively involved as a member of the GA
Committee.
In addition to changes in the leadership of the
GA, at a school level, there have been changes
in the Development office. Richard Devey, who has led our Campaign
over recent years with considerable success, was appointed Deputy
Head (Pastoral) from the beginning of the Autumn Term. Those of you
who knew Richard as a House Master of Bruce or Head of the Sixth
Form will understand how easily he has taken on his new position and
it is clear to all of us that he is revelling in a role that involves so much
more interaction with students. His departure has led to a re-jig in
this department and we have appointed Andrew Davies as Director
of Development with responsibility for the GA Office and Campaign.
Andrew has a great deal of experience in this area, joining us as he
has from a similar role with National Trust of Scotland. He has moved
up from Argyll with his family, his sons have joined the Junior School
and he is immersing himself in all things Gordonstoun. This does
not seem to be too much of a challenge for him as his love of the
outdoors has meant that he has already explored much of the Moray
Coast. He is ably assisted by Andrew Lyall who is now the Development
Co-ordinator (Kurt Hahn Foundation), and who as both an OG and
a long-serving member of staff, will be known to many of you. Steve
Brown continues to be our GA Co-ordinator ably supported by Emma
Thorpe who, I am sure, many of you will already know or have been in
contact with at the GA office.
Another change this year has been the appointment of Dr Eve Poole as
the first female Chairman of the Board of Governors. Eve has a degree
in theology from Durham University, an MBA from Edinburgh and a
PhD in Capitalism and Theology from Cambridge. She is Associate
Faculty at Ashridge Business School where she teaches leadership
and ethics. Eve’s inimitable enthusiasm and energy have made an
immediate impact, but I will allow her to speak for herself in this
magazine.
As I write, the Gordonstoun Documentary on Sky 1 is currently being
aired. So many of you expressed an interest in seeing the programme
and I do hope you will have enjoyed it as an accurate portrayal of life
at Gordonstoun today; albeit within the confines of the documentary
format. If you are interested in hearing more about what it was like
for us all to have the cameras around the school for a whole year,
can I invite you to read the article in the accompanying issue of the
Gordonstoun Record.
We had the unusual honour this term of being awarded Moray Business
of the Year by the Moray Chamber of Commerce. In the sometimes
heated debate about independent schools it is easy to lose sight of the
contribution that schools like Gordonstoun make to local economies:
providing a range of jobs (we are one of the largest employers in
Moray); our expenditure in the local area, and bringing in overseas
currency and tourism. I would like to see these ties continue to
strengthen.
It has been a busy and very happy start to the academic year. New
students have settled in quickly. As usual, we have been busy on many
fronts, from the Pipe Band playing at the Highland Tattoo to opening
season successes on the sports fields; rehearsals are under way for the
December musical ‘American Idiot’ and a group of Business Studies
students won through to the final of the ‘Dragon’s Glen’. There have
been numerous lunchtime concerts under the direction of our new
Director of Music, Dr Glynn Jenkins. Riding for the disabled were
involved in the Princess Royal’s visit to Cranloch Stables and Year 13s
are sending off their UCAS forms for university entrance - in fact many
excellent offers have already been received.
I hope many of you will be able to come to the GA Day on April
30th (which this year will coincide with the Junior Highland Games at
Gordonstoun) or one of the many GA events throughout the year.
Of course beside the formal events, please rest assured that you are
always very welcome to visit your School at any time. In the meantime,
may I wish you all well for 2016.
DEVELOPMENT
UPDATE
by Andrew Davies,
Development Director
Andrew Davies joined as the new Director of
Development at Gordonstoun in August. Andrew’s
fundraising career spans 20 years working with Arts
Lottery projects, the Commonwealth Games Bid, and
most recently the National Trust for Scotland. Andrew
holds a MA in Museum Studies from University of
Leicester and BA (Hons) from Queen’s University, Canada.
My early education was shaped by place but equally important, strengthened by
people and purpose.
I was fortunate to attend a small collegiate institute in a town founded by Scots
in the thick of Ontario’s northern wilderness. Walking from campus these
days, listening to my children recount their school day, I can appreciate why
Gordonstoun alumni remain so supportive of and connected to this extraordinary
school.
The ‘settling in’ here has been made easy thanks to my colleagues and also
members of the Gordonstoun Association who have extended such a warm
welcome and a willingness to share their perspectives on both Gordonstoun’s past
and future.
This perspective is crucial as we further define how the fundraising and
development function at the school must work, and also how we can secure the
resources needed to achieve our short and long term goals.
Some of the more immediate fundraising priorities are explored in a bit more
detail on the school’s website. www.gordonstoun.org.uk/the-campaign-forgordonstoun In essence, The Campaign for Gordonstoun will be focusing on
a period of significant campus re-development, with Round Square at the heart
of these efforts. This will see new classroom spaces at Round Square as well as a
dedicated archive, which will for the first time, allow for Kurt Hahn’s significant and
continuing contribution to modern education to be accessible and better known.
Planning for the school’s future is also something fundraising and development
must help to address. Andrew Lyall, (Duffus1988) has agreed to head up the Kurt
Hahn Foundation and will be working to further embed legacy and planned giving
for the School – a vital area that will help ensure Gordonstoun continues to offer
and develop its world class education for future generations of students.
As we embark upon a new focus for The Campaign for Gordonstoun, some
things, however, will not change. Fundraising will always align itself with the
School’s wider aims, and will have at its core, the School’s ethos to drive it
forward.
The support and vibrancy the GA has given and continues to give the School is
needed as much now as ever before. I look forward to hearing from as many GA
members as possible in the coming months. I sincerely welcome your thoughts,
ideas, suggestions (and yes opinions!) on the exciting plans ahead.
Our office door is open, but of course, you can also reach me on
[email protected] or tel. 01343-837-922.
5
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS
by Dr. Eve Poole
I am pleased to have this opportunity to
introduce myself as the new Chairman of the
Board of Governors. I teach leadership and
ethics for Ashridge Business School, and I
write books. My home is in Edinburgh, and I
am always keen to meet up with OGs passing
through.
I am delighted to be your new Chairman,
because I am fascinated by the Gordonstoun curriculum. It is so rare to
find a school so thoroughly focused on the development of character.
At Ashridge I have spent a good deal of time working closely with a
large volume of stressed-out senior executives, who I am certain would
have benefited from a Gordonstoun-style curriculum a lot earlier on in
their education.
Because of the research I’ve done at Ashridge into the neurobiology
of learning, I know that the Gordonstoun formula really works. It
works because the data we collected from leaders wearing heart-rate
monitors showed a correlation between increased heart-rate and
increased learning. Learning obtained under pressure not only has a
longer shelf-life than normal learning, it is tagged with emotion in the
brain, making it easier to retrieve for use under pressure later on in
life. You don’t need me to tell you that, because whenever I meet OGs
that’s exactly what they tell me. ‘After crewing Ocean Spirit in a gale,
even the worst Board meeting holds no fears for me!’
Plus est en vous teaches you that you are infinitely resourceful. The
expeditions, the sail-training, the international projects, all of these
generate behavioural templates that are of real use and value in the
world beyond school. And I think this is particularly important because
character trumps confidence. It’s what’s left when confidence fails.
Speaking as the first female Chairman of Governors, I know many
women languish in career terms because they are afraid to ‘lean in’.
But girls from Gordonstoun know they can hold their own with their
male counterparts, because they have already done so. Not only in the
classroom, but on the mountain, on the water, and in the community.
So there are comparatively fewer arenas where they have not seen
women prevail and flourish. Like all OGs, they have been tested in all
of these domains, and they know they can survive anything.
Of course the OG community already knows this. But we want to be
able to quantify it. So we have just commissioned Edinburgh University
to research the value of everything that Gordonstoun offers outside
the classroom, so we can be more concrete about the benefits of a
Gordonstoun education. I am confident that we will find evidence that
Gordonstoun teaches you the deep-seated sort of confidence that
means there is little left for you to fear.
I look forward to hearing your stories as part of this research, and I
am looking forward enormously to serving as Chairman with such an
inspirational set of governors, staff and students, past, present and
future.
PiPers Ahoy!!
Are you still piping having left School? Are you living or working in or within
easy reach of London?
As the School’s first Pipe Major on departure my piping took a back seat until
I came across a group of friends, members of the Pinstripe Highlanders, who
run a weekly Tuesday evening piping practice with instruction at the Oriental
Club in London’s West End. (W1C 1ES) 6.30 - 9.00pm.
As a Group we play at various events including the Scottish Rugby Club
dinners, various Burns Night dinners and lunches and recently for The Princess
Royal at a 75th Anniversary.
The dress is informal for practice nights and a kilt or trews for more formal
occasions. There is no charge for piping tuition and food and wine is usually
included where we are involved in an event.
Should you wish to maintain your piping expertise or just want to have a ‘blaw’
do come and join us - we would love to see you.
Having learnt so much from Scott Oliphant don’t let it all slip away!
For further information just ring me, Graham Neil, on 01865 407808 or email
me at [email protected] and I will do my best to help.
Hope to hear from you soon!
6
Gordonstoun
International Summer School
by Claire MacGillivray,
Director of Gordonstoun International
Summer School (Windmill 1985)
I left Gordonstoun (Windmill House) in 1985 and 30 years later have returned as the Director of the Gordonstoun International
Summer School. It feels both odd and at the same time completely normal and lovely to see familiar blue jerseys, to hear the
chapel bell ringing and to have lunch in the refectory (Moira is still in the refectory but has not shouted “put that back” at me
yet!).
It still feels to me like the school I knew and loved, retaining the key Gordonstoun ethos but with some necessary evolution
having taken place as well. The pastoral care is now clearly excellent, the accommodation improving and the sports/drama/
dance facilities are super. Having Aberlour House on site is also lovely, it somehow completes the school.
For many of us, the Gordonstoun International Summer School was
also a part of our Gordonstoun experience as we became staff upon
leaving after sixth form. In my case, I spent four happy summers back
on site teaching woodwork and metal work to children who otherwise
would not get to experience much of what Gordonstoun has to offer.
Now as I return to it, I remember what a phenomenal summer it can be
for children, both native English speakers and those who are learning
English. Each year the summer school welcomes 300 children, aged
8 to 16 inclusive, from over 35 nationalities to enjoy three weeks of
learning, fun and challenge. In addition to academic lessons, this
includes all the things we enjoyed and more - exped type activities,
sailing on the West Coast, sports, drama, art, technology, music
making, quad biking, laser tag, riding, cooking etc.
“It’s like heaven, AMAZING….
GISS is the best summer school ever!”
As an OG, if you would like to give your child a taste of what we
enjoyed, or perhaps it could be an introduction to Gordonstoun or
boarding life in general, then please do consider the Gordonstoun
International Summer School. If you have friends who might be
interested then do encourage them to contact us in the GISS Office on
01343 837 821 or [email protected] and have a
look for further details on our website www.giss.org.uk
I will be travelling to various countries to meet prospective parents and
students; on these trips it would be lovely to connect with OGs and to
see some old friends
I leave you with this lovely quote from one of our 2015
Summer School students;
“Gordonstoun is awesome; you do things
you never thought you could actually do
and most important,
that you can make friends for life!
I just love it!”
7
Always Learning
by Titus Edge
Deputy Head Curriculum (Duffus 1991)
Soon after the school’s foundation Kurt Hahn
warned his new Director of Studies, “You must
defend your department. If I want to send a boy
for health reasons into the hills for three weeks just
before his examination you must resist me.”* Most
people would think twice at putting up any serious
resistance to a personality as strong as Hahn’s,
but he was clearly not prepared to allow his belief
in the value of outdoor education to run away
with him and thereby compromise the important
business of passing exams.
The benefits of developing character and the importance of academic
achievement have sometimes been presented as divergent aims. It is all
very well discovering oneself in the Cairngorms, so the argument goes,
but it does nothing to help with the really important business of passing
exams which, after all, are essential for one’s prospects beyond school.
This premise has led to many schools becoming little more than exam
factories, with students subjected at every waking moment (and probably
in quite a few nightmares) to the preparation of GCSEs and A levels.
It would seem therefore, that the ideas of an eccentric refugee of the
1930s would have little to add to modern educational culture that
values examination performance as the sole essence of a school’s worth.
However, nothing could be further from the truth. Not only has Hahn’s
educational vision proved remarkably enduring, it has recently enjoyed
something of a resurgence. Far from being an inconvenient impediment
to the academic curriculum, his ideas can enrich all that goes on in the
classroom. There is no contradiction between giving young people a
breadth of experience on the one hand and maximising their chances of
academic success on the other; these aims are complementary.
The student who is impelled into experiences (to use Hahn’s phrase), who
is challenged on mountains and at sea, is developing important qualities.
These include resilience, perseverance, the ability to collaborate and to
take initiative, to take calculated risks; exactly what is needed to fulfil
individual academic potential and achieve success in life thereafter.
Students who tackle intellectual challenges with the same tenacity they so
often demonstrate on the playing fields, in the Cairngorms or onboard
Ocean Spirit are students who are likely to succeed.
This message is opening up to a wider audience. The backdrop is,
alas, mounting evidence pointing to a decline in the mental health of
British teenagers. A mass of data highlights rising problems associated
with depression and anxiety amongst young people from all walks of
life. These worrying trends have promoted some within the educational
establishment, including politicians, academics and royalty, to look anew
at ideas familiar to anyone associated with Gordonstoun.
At Westminster, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility has
published its ‘Character and Resilience’ manifesto. They proclaim their
belief in “the relationship between effort and reward, the patience to
pursue long-term goals, the perseverance to stick with the task at hand,
and the ability to bounce back from life’s inevitable setbacks”. This, they
claim, can be achieved through “having the fundamental drive, tenacity
and perseverance needed to make the most of opportunities and to
succeed whatever obstacles life puts in your way.”
Our universities have set off in a similar direction. Birmingham
University’s Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues is one notable
example. It aims to promote, build and strengthen character, describing
it as “critical to human flourishing ... exercised within all human contexts
[and] educable.” All this some eighty years after Kurt Hahn listed “an
enterprising curiosity, an undefeatable spirit, tenacity in pursuit, readiness
for sensible self denial” amongst the foremost tasks of education. Small
wonder Tony Little, erstwhile Headmaster of Eton and current Chairman
of the Word Leading Schools Association, has observed that ‘character
education has become fashionable again’.
Gordonstoun might be excused a sense of inner satisfaction that
current educational debate has moved onto territory occupied by our
8
founders before the Second World War, but what does this mean for
Gordonstoun’s academic curriculum in the 21st century?
In some ways the school of today bares scant resemblance to that of
1934. Our educational vision has had to adapt to the modern world
and some aspects of the school’s curriculum have been consigned to the
archives along with morning run, penalty drill and mid-morning exercise.
We also should accept that, despite all good intentions, there have been
times in the school’s history when the academic curriculum has not
served students as well as it should. I have met a number of OGs who
loved their time at the school, they developed in many ways and still
support the institution, but nevertheless look back with a feeling that they
could have been pushed harder to achieve academic success.
The starting point is to strike a balance. There is no mystical formula
and there will need to be realignments over time. Just as the school
advocates the need for students to be out of lessons at certain times in
order to undertake expeditions or sail training, there will be other times
when it is imperative that the classroom comes first. Students will still
benefit from a world-class outdoor education and will continue to be
of service to the community, they will always participate in a wide range
of sports, performances and activities; however, they sometimes have
to take on fewer challenges in order to give maximum focus to their
academic development.
Academic time should not be viewed as an inevitable and slightly
distasteful expedient, only to be endured for exam preparation. The
classroom is a place of personal development where the Gordonstoun
ethos is to be exercised to the full. It must take students beyond their
comfort zones. No-one ever said that our school motto was only for
expeditions and it is therefore essential that the students should find
aspects of their learning challenging.
The observation made by some educationalists that ‘FAIL’ stands for
‘First Attempt In Learning’ might make some of us wince at its simplistic
earnestness but it coneys an important truth. One prominent OG has
observed that “Failure allows you to succeed in the future because we
are an experience-based learning organism”. * Winchester University’s
Director of the Centre for Real World Learning offers an analogy:
‘nobody ever got more robust in learning without avoiding difficulty, just
as nobody ever got fitter by avoiding exercise’*. At Gordonstoun, the
learning grades, awarded to students twice termly, significantly reward
perseverance, resilience and risk-taking; students who get everything right
at their first attempt are not being educated. Not only do they respond
to challenge, they enjoy it. Striving and then discovering the beauty
contained in a piece of literature or within the underlaying mathematics
of the physical world are great moments of personal development.
Gordonstoun has never been an exams factory, recognising that, to be
truly empowering, the academic curriculum must inculcate young people
with qualities and thinking skills that are essential for success in exams
and subsequent careers.
We should therefore be wary of glitzy pedagogical theories hedged with
polysyllabic jargon proclaiming success is obtainable without application
and a bit of grit. Nevertheless, we should also be alive to the reality that
people develop at different speeds, in different contexts and at different
times in their lives.
We are not fixed in our ability at birth. The hackneyed but relevant
examples of the adolescent Churchill’s infamous Latin exam or young
Einstein’s notoriously poor school results are often trotted out as
evidence. We should not, therefore, be in the business of leaving people
behind and we have an established culture of providing appropriate
support for all our students.
We are fortunate to have hard working staff, devoting time to students
in all sorts of ways. Undoubtably this is one of the great advantages
of a boarding environment, where the hours after lessons are often
used informally to reinforce learning. Academic departments also hold
regular clinics where students receive additional assistance. A key source
of support for many of our students are the EAL and Learning Support
Departments, who work with particular students in small groups to give
them the structure needed to achieve their potential.
So, at Gordonstoun, the academic curriculum is both challenging and
inclusive; students are stretched but no-one is left behind; Hahn’s ideas
have renewed relevance and they complement rather than threaten
academic advancement. However, Gordonstoun does not have all the
answers, nor are we held in thrall to every utterance of our founder.
There is no Little Red Book, detailing his abstract musings, which we
dutifully apply regardless of circumstances. Hahn was a pragmatist.
His loathing of the inhuman abstractions that spawned Nazism and
Communism, with devastating results in his is own lifetime, had endowed
him with a distrust of dogma. He was a doer, interested in what can be
achieved in current circumstances and not in laying down iron laws of
education.
Hahn bequeathed a broad set of core principles, but vibrant institutions,
like people, are always learning, always striving to improve, and
Gordonstoun is no different. The Sixth Formers of 2034, Gordonstoun’s
centenary year, will be born over the next few months. As the school
looks ahead to its one hundredth birthday, it is with the knowledge that
the ideals of its founder are as relevant to future students as they have
been to those that have gone before.
*1 (Brereton, 129)
*2 (Duke of York, Sunday Times 30 March 2014)
*3 (Claxton p.64)
REMINISCENCES OF A WONDERFUL YEAR
AT GORDONSTOUN 1943/44 - Plas dinam
by Andrew Gray (Plas Dinam 1944)
Having been unable to pass the “Conway” entrance exam, I was sent
to Gordonstoun in Plas Newydd, Plas Dinam. What a fortunate choice
that was as it shaped my life from then until now. H.M.S. “Conway”
followed a year later.
From my year at Gordonstoun, I distinctly remember certain people and
events. One of these was Frau Lachmann who made us all lie down
after lunch and listen to her old fashioned gramophone with “thorn”
needles and a huge horn. This awoke an abiding love of classical
music which has never left me. I am reminded of the Christmas Carol
“Good King Wenceslas” when I was chosen to sing the part of the
Page. Right in the middle, my voice broke and there was total hilarity
as a result. Frau Lachmann also tried – unsuccessfully – to teach me to
play the piano.
Then there was that incredible man Kurt Hahn who instilled the school
motto into my bones. On one occasion he called me into his sanctum
sanctorum and accused me of being a “scrimshanker”. As I had no
idea what that meant, I was sent to meet the lord of the manor who told
me that it meant that I was a shirker!! I had to pull up my socks after
that one!
I vaguely remember the housemaster Mr Brereton, a very kindly soul
indeed.
Across the valley, there was another large house and this was run and
supervised by Herr Meissner, who we unkindly dubbed “The Kaiser”.
Called to mind is also Mr Zimmermann, the PT Instructor, who badgered me to excel in the high jump – the one item needed to pass his
fitness tests.
Then there was a short break to the Outward Bound Sea School in Aberdovey. The highlight of that was the trip on either the “Garibaldi” or
“Prince Louis”, after which I was actually land sick when we got back to
port! It took a couple of days for my sea legs to get back to being land
legs! But it was a wonderful experience even if very tough. Excellent to
see that the OBSS tradition has become almost world-wide.
There is however, one man who probably shaped my future more than
anyone else. He was the Maths teacher, Mr George Liddell. He was a
brilliant organist and one of my tasks each Sunday was to keep blowing
up the bellows in the local Chapel. As he loved playing the bass keys, I
had to pump like fury. No electric blowers in those days!
Mr Liddell was also keen on church architecture and took me to visit
a number of really ancient places of worship during the holidays,
especially in Devon and Cornwall. Through him I was able to obtain
a distinction in the O&C exams. One church outside Bath was dated
about 800 AD and had a wonderful history. I remember it clearly
He had an abiding interest in the science of Astronomy and showed
me a bright comet through his refracting telescope. This was the seed
needed for my own interest, as I eventually ground, polished and
figured a 6 inch, a 12 inch and an 8 inch mirror to fit my home built
Newtonian instruments. Naturally, I joined the Astronomical Society
in Southern Africa, being honoured by my being elected President for
the country in the years 1980/1. I still have a book on the subject of
Astronomy that Mr Liddell gave me when I left for training as a Navigator. I eventually served a number of years as such on the Union Castle
Mail ships, met lots of people in South Africa and eventually, in 1952,
emigrated
Even today, I am running a local Astronomical club with – after one
year – sixty members. Occasionally I am called upon to lecture on the
subject. With the incredible advances being made, it is almost impossible to keep up with the latest discoveries.
Some might also remember Captain McGregor who had lost part of
his leg. We could hear him coming from a mile away – “creak, creak,
clunk”! Also ice cold showers in the dead of winter, followed by a crosscountry run breaking icicles and frost en route! For years afterwards, I
never caught a cold and I still like to sleep with my windows wide open.
I also remember the introduction to “muesli” – a concoction which I
thoroughly enjoyed but today’s muesli isn’t a patch on what was served
up at the school!
There are many other memories and I felt that at my advancing age
(87), I should put pen to paper for the benefit of the lucky scholars of
today. May they all enjoy a life as full and interesting as mine has been.
Gordonstoun certainly gave me a wonderful start in life and set me on
my eventual career as Chief Industrial Surveyor for a large International
Insurance Broking House – a task which I continued after retirement
as a Consultant until I turned 82 years of age. Enough was then quite
enough.
There was never was a truer saying than “There is more in you than you
think”
Plas Dinam
9
GORDONSTOUN WAR MEMORIAL
by David Monteith (former staff, 2007)
LEST WE FORGET
I suspect that every member of the Gordonstoun family, students,
teachers, parents and OGs, will have walked past the memorial
plaques on the Colour Bearer staircase at the entrance to Gordonstoun
House. The original war memorial plaque commemorates twenty
three members of the school community who died in WW II, and two
smaller adjacent plaques pay tribute to three more OGs, one who died
in Korea and two in Ireland. The main plaque was erected in the late
1940s at the insistence of Leopold Jan Kronenberg, the father of the
Polish OG who died fighting in his country’s resistance movement.
The full story behind the memorials is a complex tale. When the school
returned to Moray at the end of the Second World War proposals for
a tribute to the fallen changed a number of times. George Kennedy’s
mural above the plaques conveys a vision of how the school would
grow in the years after the war. On this a rather grand scheme is
portrayed to build an extension to Round Square as a memorial
library, but this was vetoed by Historic Buildings Scotland in the 1950s.
However, work had already started on a set of steps inside Round
Square and a stone doorway had been carved for the entrance. When
the project was cancelled the steps were removed and the stone
doorway was erected as an entrance to the Headmaster’s office in
Gordonstoun House. This can be seen to the right of the mural. So in
some ways the whole wall can be seen as a memorial to the fallen.
Smaller memorial plaques were added later, one after Lord
Mountbatten was blown up in Ireland, also killing his grandson, and
another in 1992 to commemorate a soldier killed in the Korean War
and an airman who died in Northern Ireland.
Each year at the school Remembrance Service the twenty six names
are read out by the Guardians and for many years the plaques and
that oral tribute were all there was to remember those OGs who made
the supreme sacrifice. Passing up and down the CB Staircase, not
only would I wonder about the names listed there but also some of
the places: Anzio, Arnhem, Atlantic, Australia, Singapore, Smolensk,
10
Tunisia. As an ex-serviceman I always wanted to know more. It has
taken a number of years but now a record of the individuals can be
found on the Gordonstoun Association web pages.
The history behind these digital tributes is a story in itself. In 1970 the
then Headmaster John Kemp gave a remembrance address at Stowe
School where he was impressed by their book of remembrance. He
wrote to his predecessor Henry Brereton asking for information on
individuals listed on the memorial plaque; Brereton replied by hand
with brief notes on each individual. This letter, and the correspondence
between the school and surviving relatives after World War II, survives
in the school archives. When David Byatt was School Warden in 1992
he collated further correspondence with outside agencies and in
collaboration with one of the governors, Grenville Johnston, further
research was undertaken. Because I showed an interest this was
passed on to me in 2001; finally in 2015 a digital record has been
produced, which celebrates the lives of each person. Through internet
research and contacts with surviving relatives detail has been added
to each record and importantly photographs to give faces to names,
nicknames, and anecdotes that bring them to life. At a later date it
is hoped to produce a book of remembrance once the research is
complete.
The stories of those commemorated involve accidents, tragedy, horror,
and bravery; all part of the fortunes of war. The WWII casualties
range from Northumberland to the Pacific. There is a German who
died fighting on the eastern front at Smolensk. Two members of staff
were killed in Action, both army Majors commanding companies in
the Seaforth Highlanders, one during the invasion of Sicily and one in
Normandy after the D day landings. One civilian died attempting to
save a group of evacuee children when their ship was torpedoed in
mid-Atlantic.
The five killed in Italy chart the long hard slog of the British 8th Army
from Sicily to the north Italian plain. As part of my research I followed
that trail in the week prior to the 2015 remembrance celebrations and
returned with a record of the Italian OG graves and memorials; each a
poignant tribute to the men who fought and died there.
My self-imposed task has reinforced my understanding of the debt we
owe to all who fight for freedom and the need for constant vigilance
to protect our way of life. The tragedy of each loss was summed up for
me on the Headstone of OG Lt Alick Long in the Commonwealth War
Graves Commission cemetery at Faenza, northern Italy.
OG Lt Alick Long
Quis dersiderio sit pudor aut modus tam cari capitus?
What shame or limit can there be in our regret for so dear a person?
Horace, Odes Book 1, Poem 24, lines 1-2
the debt
we owe to all
who fight for
freedom
The war memorial information may be found at the following link:
http://www.gordonstoun.org.uk/gordonstoun-war-memorial
Thank you to the OGs who contacted me after my last article in the 2015 GA Magazine. I still need to find more information,
especially pictures of the following:
John Murdoch Fearn 1923-1943
John Roger Colston Small 1923-1945
Jorg von Bonnet 1916-1941
Stephen Julius-Berger (Burgess) 1930-1951
In particular if any German OG would be willing to help research Jorg von Bonnet. If you can help please contact me through
[email protected]
11
Of Speed Boats and Rowing Boats
by John Barton, (Round Square 1962)
When I was asked by Steve Brown to write a
piece for the GA Magazine I was very flattered
and immediately agreed. Then I thought OMG
what am I going to write about? So I started to
do some research. I talked to friends, family and
even to the Headmaster, who I chanced upon
on a golf course. One friend, Ian Strachan, had
spoken at his old school and said don’t tell them
what to do. Tell them what happened to you. So
that was it, I decided I was going to write about
my life and some of the lessons I have learnt,
As part of my research, I read a talk given by OG Mags Mackean and
thought how can I compete with her extraordinary experiences after
leaving school? I felt she was a dynamic speed boat rushing through
the waves of life whereas I am more of a battered old rowing boat
being buffeted around by the waves. So if you’re not the speed boat
type listen and I’ll tell you what happened to me.
I was born in India during the Second World War, the first son of two
army officers. Two years later they left the army, my father to farm
outside Brechin and my mother to be a doctor at the local hospital,
Stracathro.
I went to Brechin High School and at 12 was sent to Gordonstoun
where my grandfather had advised Kurt Hahn on the school diet and
my uncle was one of his first pupils.
Fifty years ago Gordonstoun was very different from today. There
were no girls, no Sports Centre, no Grand Chapel. It was pretty
rudimentary; however the school still revolved around the axis of
Gordonstoun House and the Round Square. More importantly, the
principles of Kurt Hahn which have served me, as well as the school, so
well over the last 50 years were exactly as they are today.
As part of my research, I discovered all of my old school reports. School
reports were a bit different then. They weren’t shown or discussed with
you. They were sent to your parents. So your concern was that they
didn’t contain anything that upset them. Unread and forgotten for over
fifty years, thank Heavens! For what they reveal is a pretty average (at
best) sort of chap with only one or two redeeming features. Here are
some examples:
“A bit lazy when all goes smoothly”
“Unless I am mistaken he has virtually no reading habits”
“His tidiness in all things calls for much needed improvements.”
“Industrious jobsman not the craftsman”
“Endeavour seems greater than interest at the moment”
On classwork, which out of 113 reports I found only nine “A’s” – all
from the same teacher in the same subject – wherever you are Mrs
Petrie ‘thank you’!
When I gave my wife my final report to read I asked her if this reflected
the man she married. She said “Yes, absolutely” which is worrying
because up to now I have always trusted her judgement.
However, there are a couple of redeeming features:
“He is a cheerful, good humoured type who gets on with his peers and
the junior boys”
“At his best only under some kind of severe pressure he must not play
safe” and my favourite
“Where there is a ball there is Barton” –written by Geoffrey Trubridge,
my housemaster, who sadly died in my fourth year at school.
As I look back now I can see that it is those things that have shaped
and driven my life. Almost without my conscious knowledge they have
influenced all that has happened to me. All identified at 17! So read
your school reports, particularly when they refer to your character, and
learn about yourself.
So what happened?
To the immense surprise of the Director of Studies, Mr Burchardt, whose
12
last report on me read “a very determined boy who has done well to
take two ‘A’ levels”, I actually got three and went to University and had
a wonderful year at St Andrews. All those things in the Report drove me
along. I played rugby for my college, hockey for the University, learned
squash and got on with everyone.
Unfortunately no reading habits, no interest at the moment and the less
than industrious jobs man wasn’t good enough and I was booted out.
This was a family disgrace. My grandfather was Chancellor of
Glasgow University and no one in the family had ever failed exams
before.
My father who was desperate for me not to be a farmer (he’d been
through the great depression of the 1930’s when farmers suffered
dreadfully) took me into his accountant – a small local firm and I
was indentured to five years of adding up numbers in a small room
in Dundee. However, the University admin wasn’t very good and I
continued to live and play sports with my undergraduate friends!
But it was the office 9.00am to 5.00pm every day, bar two weeks
holiday, for five years. When I finished, having passed all my exams,
I applied to do an MBA at Strathclyde and I got in! I had omitted to
mention in the application form that I had failed at St Andrews and
when they found out they were furious. However, term had started and
the fees were paid so I was allowed to stay and I passed the exams.
So I finished up 7 years after leaving school as a CA with an MBA – to
everyone’s – including my own - surprise.
I decided to go to New York so I bought a return ticket for £59 and
went in search of work. It wasn’t as easy as I thought. I had no money
and no contacts so I stayed in a hostel, sharing a bed with three. We
each had an 8 hour “shift” in the bed in a room with eight other beds
that were shared in the same way, so 24 people slept in that room. I
had the bed from 12.00pm to 8.00am.
The best job I could find was as an elevator (lift) operator. I really
discovered what it was like to be poor. After six months I returned to
London to find a job that better suited my qualifications and budget.
Now this was a pattern that would crop up again and again in my life.
If things were not going well I’d up sticks and move on.
The unknown journey has always excited me and made me do things
– not always successfully - that others may see as a bit risky. Anyhow,
I found a job as a management accountant with a company called
Hunting. A few months later, in January, an opportunity arose – at very
short notice – to go to Canada. Hunting had an aviation subsidiary
which sold and repaired planes and was in trouble. They urgently
needed a finance man and others, more experienced than me, had
said no. I couldn’t wait and after a heavy negotiation the Company
agreed to my one condition. That they would buy me a winter coat
because I had heard that it was cold there in the winter.
So I arrived in Toronto with a squash racquet, a pair of pyjamas and the
clothes I stood in – including my new coat.
I was delighted to discover that squash was played in Canada and I
was immediately introduced to a group of particularly well connected
young Canadians at the Toronto Racquet Club. After my first game (it
was doubles) we had a beer and the other three went into a huddle,
then one of them came over to me and said look we are one short
in the house we live in. Would you like to come and live with us.
Well I did and two of them have remained life-long friends and more
importantly it was through them that I met Anne, my wife of 40 years.
We had a lot of fun together and I shared their lives, their families and
their country cottages! They were very generous to me.
The business was a disaster and I spent most of my time inventing
stories to pacify angry creditors. We had a small team of 4 or 5 and
we got together and devised a plan to save the business, mostly closing
the bits that didn’t make money and after three years of very hard work
we saved it, made it profitable and I was offered another job – but in
London.
Well, that led to another crisis. Anne, who I had been going out with
for a year said she would only join me if we were married. So after
a brief but intense negotiation we agreed. That was on a Monday
morning and we were married on the Friday – she really knows how to
close a deal!
Anne’s parents thought she must be pregnant (she wasn’t) and mine
didn’t know as they were on holiday and out of contact – but we were
happy.
Once we had settled down in London my work, which had been
interesting, became rather dull and I had a young boss so the prospects
of promotion were not that good. Most of my excitement was coming
from playing squash, doing up houses with Anne and with the children
– two sons who had appeared in our lives.
Then I saw an advert for a job in Hong Kong and went for an interview.
I went home to Anne and after we found out exactly where Hong Kong
was, she said no. But then I was offered the job. So I promised her it
would be like a one year holiday (it wasn’t) at someone else’s expense
so off we went, me to work for Jardine Matheson, a great Hong Kong
trading company made famous by J Clavell’s book “Nobel House”
as a management accountant and Anne to fight with their housing
department for better accommodation which she won hands down!
So now that I have become a Chairman person, something I could
not have imagined when I left school. In fact, it is a bit hard to believe
even now. I don’t feel like a chairman sort of person, I’m still that
untidy, lazy boy who doesn’t read a lot and would rather be chasing a
ball.
Anne and I still travel but now mainly privately, egged on by her who
complains if we haven’t visited somewhere exotic in the last six months.
My return to Gordonstoun helped to tick that box!!
As a result of my talk to the Sixth Form, I have for the first time tried to
analyse what has influenced and guided my life and what lessons have
I learned.
I’d like to divide them into two.
External – excluding luck which affects all our lives.
Internal – Back to that school report of fifty years ago.
First the ‘External’
IMy parents. When I was younger - I was not particularly close to
them. That came later. But they did two huge things for me.
After six months there was a similar experience with a subsidiary in
crisis. This time in the Philippines – another visit to the atlas. It was a
large public company Jardine Davies. I was sent down to investigate
and it soon became apparent it was rapidly heading for bankruptcy.
I was installed as Finance Director and we assembled a team and
formulated a plan for the company. It had 25 different businesses and
our plan was (again) to get out of the 15 that didn’t make any money!
Many of that team are still close friends although they live all over the
world. Outside work, life was fun. We had a large house, servants
and I played squash, rugby and cricket for the Philippines although the
competition to get into the team wasn’t too severe and most important
of all our daughter arrived. After three years we had turned the
business around.
1.They sent me to Gordonstoun which widened my horizons and
which I will talk more about in a moment.
It was 1980. I was now in my mid-30’s and Jardines offered me
the chance to be the Finance Director of an embryonic insurance
business in London. Well Anne was ecstatic, especially when I told her
the company would pay all our expenses including taxes and school
fees – so off we went, this time with her full approval. Two years in
London, then back to Hong Kong for a year then back to London. They
were exciting days and I thrived on the constant challenges all that
movement brought.
I can still remember Henry Brereton teaching us that those who were
academically clever should never look down on others who were good
at other things. To be able to draw or kick a ball were much more
complex tasks than simply remembering stuff. Boy did I remember that
– it suited me very well! The lesson I have carried from that is that you
must have a balance in life between “work” and “play”. Other things
– they are equally important.
Back in London in 1983 I had a call from Henry Keswick, the Chairman
of Jardine Matheson. “John” he said “I have fired your boss and
I would like you to run the business” What a shock! But what an
exciting opportunity. So I went back to the former CEO’s office and sat
in his chair and wondered what to do next. So I called in his secretary
and told her what had happened and said, Stella, what do you think we
should do?
“I think you should tell everybody” Good idea!
So I gathered the senior executives together and told them what had
happened and asked them for their support and then the same question
“What do you think we should do?” We sat down together and made
a plan to grow the business. So for the next 18 years we worked
together expanding the business all over the world. Today, the business
we started with nothing, is worth over £2 billion, something of which I
am very proud.
I retired as Chairman ten years ago and started a new career as a nonexecutive director. I was very lucky to have a head hunting friend who
“sold me” to companies. I have now served on the Boards of twelve
public companies and I have been chairman of seven of them. When
I went to myfirst interview I was told – “you’ll never get the job”, but I
went anyhow and did get it. So always have a go.
Although they were mostly in different businesses they all share the
same characteristics. They are all teams of people who work together
– sometimes in quite challenging conditions – to be successful. The
moment I passed over the threshold of any one of them I felt I was part
of their team and I would do all I could to help them succeed. I am still
chairman of two, NEXT and EasyJet.
2.When I was a complete failure my father found me a job and a
training that changed my whole life.
One word about parents. You will receive advice from many people
but none will be offered more utterly and completely in your interest
than that of your parents. They really want you to succeed. So listen
carefully to what they have to say, but you don’t have to follow their
advice. It is your choice.
IIGordonstoun
The big lesson from my time at Gordonstoun was that there is a
balance in life. Particularly between body and mind.
That balance in life has been very important to me. The balance
between work, sport, and later, my family. I pursue each with
commitment and passion and they have rewarded me with friendships
and happiness, each in a different way and all complementary. When I
failed in one I took great comfort from the others.
Now to the ‘Internal’ – me and that school report.
I’ll ignore the bad traits – no reading habits – lazy – untidy, though they
all still exist and Anne works very hard to cure them, and concentrate
on the three positive ones.
1.He is at his best only under some kind of severe pressure. Well,
as you probably gathered, I manufactured that by travelling and
searching for new things. I found the unknown journey exhilarating
and made me do things, not always successfully, that others may
see as a little rash. I found these exciting and stimulating although
I am not sure the family were always as enthusiastic. In our 40
years of marriage we have lived in over 20 houses we have called
home. I’m very grateful that they came along.
2.“Where there is a ball there is Barton”. My passion for sport has
given me immense pleasure and made me many, many friends. My
interest in squash even found me a wife! Although I am unable to
play many of them now I still have pleasure in watching – almost
anything that has a ball.
So here are one or two pieces of learning I take from life. If you have
a passion never, ever lose it. Nurture it and develop it. It doesn’t have
to be sport. It could be painting, reading, acting, collecting stamps –
even politics – it doesn’t matter. It will help you to balance your life and
bring you friends and pleasure and, who knows, maybe even a spouse.
13
3.Now to the third and by far the most important. I only learned this
in later life but it is this that has given me, a boy of average ability,
what success I have had in life. Do you remember that ‘cheerful,
good humoured type who gets on with his peers and the junior
boys”. Well that turns out to be a bigger asset than any academic
or sports achievements.
It doesn’t matter where you are, Canada, Hong Kong, the Philippines,
the world is about people and people are basically the same
everywhere - they have the same needs and desires. They will bring you
frustration and disappointment but they will also give you excitement,
pleasure and success.
with them. Be part of a team – in whatever role – in whatever field
and help it be successful. Helping others to succeed will bring you
more pleasure, opportunity and success than you can imagine. Today
as a chairman person I still feel I am part of a team in each of the
company’s I work in and I know without that team I am nothing.
Whether you are a speed boat or rowing boat, remember you are
travelling on a sea of people. It is through working with and helping
people that you will find success and happiness.
John was appointed as Chairman of Next in 2006 and of easyJet in
2013.
So my sincerest piece of advice is learn to listen to the people around
you, learn to work with them, learn to play with them, learn to share
SOME REFLECTIONS ON LEADERSHIP
by Chris Millar (Cumming 1966)
I recently wrote to the Principal having felt inspired by his email
informing us that Dr Eve Poole was to be the next Chairman of the
School Governors – in my opinion an inspirational choice. His
announcement made me for the first time ask myself the question; in
what ways had my experience at Gordonstoun influenced my working
life particularly, given Dr Poole’s expertise, in the areas of leadership
and ethical behaviour. I also thought that perhaps, if I wrote down my
thoughts, it may possibly be of interest to Dr Poole as she takes on her
new responsibility.
My Experience:I arrived at Aberlour House in January 1959, having previously been
to a boys only prep. school in Devon. I had an uneventful time
at Aberlour and moved on to Gordonstoun in January 1962. For
the next two years I produced what, for others, must have been a
relatively uninspiring performance both in the classroom and on the
playing fields. My one great joy was being a member of the school’s
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Fire Service. However by the time I moved on to the Sixth Form, the
Gordonstoun system suddenly took a grip of me and by the end of
my penultimate year I had become a ‘Colour Bearer’ returning in
the September to find that I had now been selected as the ‘Helper’
in Cumming House. The following term I was made ‘Guardian’, a
position I held until I finally left the school in July 1966.
Having gained a third A-Level after leaving Gordonstoun, I went on to
read International Politics at Lancaster University. During this period I
joined the Royal Navy and despite having a great time in this service
decided to resign my Commission in 1977 and fortunately was able to
immediately join the Royal Dutch Shell Group.
In Shell I held a number of managerial positions, before finally in my
last five years becoming the Director of International Procurement,
globally responsible both for the conduct of this activity and for the
professionals within the discipline. The Shell culture was very much
based on shared decision making, principally exercised through
committee discussions, where the most skilful and successful managers
learnt to ensure that all participants felt that they had been listened to
and their advice and concerns taken into account.
Throughout my career leadership, managerial skills and ethics played
an all important role. My chosen discipline on the commercial side of
Shell’s business, in particular, demanded the constant demonstrative
exercise of strict moral principles. Both in the Navy and in Shell I
was responsible for leading teams that varied in size from a few tens
to a few hundreds; the latter in particular being often a broad mix of
nationalities.
So now having been retired for several years it seems useful to look
back to better appreciate the role played by Gordonstoun in the way I
conducted myself in my Naval and business career.
The Plato Legacy
Kurt Hahn’s thinking when he created ‘Gordonstoun’ was heavily
influenced by the writings of Plato and in particular through the
thoughts expressed by Socrates in Plato’s ‘Republic’. Socrates
describes a hierarchical society, but one nevertheless based on
equality of opportunity; thus there are no slaves and no discrimination
between men and women. Indeed both genders are to be taught the
same things, so that they are able to make the same contribution to
society based on their respective skills. At the top of his hierarchy,
immediately beneath the ‘Philosopher Kings’, Plato describes a class
of ‘Guardians’. Their role, as their name suggests, is to ensure in a
caring and just manner that the guiding principles of the society are
adhered to. The next level down is a class of ‘Producers’, again based
on their respective skills rather than levels of wealth. A number of
specific provisions aim to avoid making the people weak, for example
the substitution of a universal educational system for both men and
women, instead of the traditional emphasis of Greek society principally
on music, poetry and theatre. Throughout this entire hierarchy all of the
citizens are able to advance and take on more responsibility. However,
while these provisions apply to all classes, the expectations of behaviour
and responsibility from those nearer the top are much greater than from
those lower down the organisation.
It is interesting to note straight away how Plato’s thoughts so easily
apply to the modern business world. For instance, through Socrates,he
points out the human tendency to be corrupted by power inevitably
leads down the road to timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny.
From this, he concludes that ruling should be left to philosophers,
who are the most just and therefore least susceptible to corruption.
This “good city” is depicted as being governed by philosopher-kings;
disinterested persons who rule not for their personal enjoyment, but
for the good of the city-state. How true all this is of today’s CEOs
and business organisations.Managers who are simply driven by their
personal ambition or love of honour, succeed no more than those
who give no direction and delegate aimlessly to their subordinates,
leaving them collectively to make decisions. In my experience the
great majority of those in the work place much prefer to work in an
environment where the direction is clear and constant, while at the
same time their views are listened to and demonstratively taken into
account.
The School Motto
I cannot emphasize enough how inspiring the School’s motto has been
to me. ‘Plus est en Vous’, which we translated as ‘More is in you than
you think’, still resonates in my mind and is a positive encouragement
in a broad cross section of situations, both in the work place and
elsewhere.
Gordonstoun’s Tiered Structure
In reflection of Plato’s society Hahn broke away from the traditional
English public School structure which simply had, at the top end, a
Head boy and Prefects, while the rest of their school population had no
particularly described responsibility, except perhaps on the playing field
and in unofficial social groupings (i.e. school boy ‘gangs’). In its place
Gordonstoun had a tiered structure denoted by a simple small strip
of material worn off the breast of a sweater. Most importantly pupils
advancedthrough this organisation from day one of their time at the
school. Each level carried with it, on one hand an increasing degree of
responsibility, while on the other an increasing sense of freedom. While
the lower levels were selected by the Housemasters, the upper end,
the ‘Colour Bearers’, were selected by their peers. The Guardian was
appointed by the Headmaster from amongst this latter group.
Looking back, I can now see that my experience of Gordonstoun’s
internal structure prepared me well for both of my major work
experiences. In the Navy for instance it never occurred to me that
there was some sort of significant divide between officers and ratings;
but on the contrary that the total ship’s company were a team, with
each individual having an important contribution to make. Within this
structure the officers and the Senior Ratings collectively provided the
necessary leadership. In Shell too, I instinctively felt that the individuals
within my various teams all had a significant input to make to any
decision making process. Middle managers needed support on one
hand and room to perform their duties on the other.
The Promotion System
The School’s all-embracing system instinctively created an environment
that recognised leadership at all levels within the structure. This in
turn led to both respect for others and in my experience a caring
environment. ‘White Stripers’, for example, quite rightly felt that they
had as much right to express and opinion as a ‘Colour Bearer’ - and
that their opinion was to be taken into account. Again this is a good
example of involving the relevant people in any decision making
process. An equally important aspect was that there was never any
question of the most senior boys being able in any way to directly
punish their juniors. The natural respect within the system was sufficient
to ensure that the leadership demonstrated by one’s seniors was to
be followed. This overall sense of universal accountability provided a
critical aspect that was irreversibly woven into this structure, namely a
strong sense of compassion.
I once was lucky enough to have breakfast with Kurt Hahn and he
specifically talked to us about the importance of always retaining a
compassionate nature in one’s life. In particular he talked about the
lessons to be learnt from the parable of the ’Good Samaritan’, clearly a
favourite Bible story of his.
Perhaps surprisingly in retrospect, religion did not seem to play a big
part in our daily life at the school. We certainly had two Ministers
on the staff, one Church of Scotland and the other Presbyterian and
they not only led worship, but also took the regular religious studies
classes*. Chapel as it was called was for most of my time held in the
‘Services Centre’, St Christopher’s only opening during my last year
in the school. For me the Michael Kirk was a place of meditation and
quiet solitude, its spiritual significance enhanced by having to approach
it along the ‘Silent Walk’.
* Interestingly the only time I recall being introduced to Plato’s Republic
and its significance to the School was in a religious studies class;
otherwise it was seldom, if ever, mentioned!
An important feature of the school day was the nightly completion of
the ‘Training Plan’. In retrospect this check-off list, which among other
things included 2 x warm washes, 2 x cold showers, 2 x clean teeth, 60
x skips etc., was relatively mundane, but the fact that you completed
it on your own and that, except in the first year, nobody else looked at
your record, provided a major contribution towards one’s self honesty
and self-discipline. An all important aspect was that if you failed to
complete the daily tasks a pre-ordained number of times,you would
have to give yourself a walking punishment, which again you undertook
in your own free time.
This emphasis on self-honesty led inevitably to good self-discipline. You
had to be organised to complete these various types of tasks during
your day in addition to the normal school routine. Again looking back
I now appreciate that this practice became instilled in me and allowed
me to keep on top of my work throughout me working life.
15
Cumming House
There was also a strong sense of the value placed on trust. I mentioned
it in relation to the training plan, but in reality in pervaded every aspect
of our daily life at the school. This too has been a good lesson, for
it led to not just being trusted by the teachers, but also to a high level
of trust between the boys themselves. In the work place also, when
a manager delegates it is critical that the recipient feels that they are
being trusted to simply get on with the task.
This whole system was an excellent introduction to ethical behaviour;
on one side the ability to trust others and on the other the importance
of being truthful with yourself, with your staff and, in business with
your customers. I am certain that we never discussed this concept
at the school, but it nevertheless has remained with me as a legacy.
Undertaking a walking punishment in your time without any form of
supervision inevitably leads to a regime of self-discipline and honesty in
one’s own life.
The Services
The various services were a very important part of school life. Examples
such as the Fire Service, the Coastguard and the Mountain Rescue all
instilled in us both a sense of responsibility and of community. The
contribution we made was to more than just within the bounds of the
Gordonstoun estate. In other words our actions could and did have
repercussions for others, often for people we would not otherwise have
met; againan important lesson in business. For example, I worked in
Nigeria for three years and it was always critical to keep constantly in
mind that our actions could, if done well, benefit a local community,
but if done badly could equally cause unnecessary hardship.
Participation in the activities of the Services also allowed individuals
to build up a level of courage. If you are faced with a burning house
or are searching on a snow swept moor it really challenges one’s own
sense of self-preservation – a sense that by using the skills you have
been taught you can overcome that fear to benefit those who are
clearly in greater peril and seek help. Equally importantly it provided
increased levels of stress in an otherwise relatively benign school
environment. Whether it was burning scrubland or searching for a
person on a dark, snow clad moor we had no option but to come to
terms with the effect such experiences were imposing on our physical
and emotional responses. In a great many ways this was invaluable
experience when in later life I was faced with making decisions in
what appears to be an increasingly complex business world. I did not
think too much about this at the time, but when I look back I am more
able to appreciate that my ability to make what turned out to be quick
but nevertheless sound business decisions perhaps had its roots in
experiences I had had directing the fighting of fires!
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Sailing and Expeditions
Today’s leaders have to appear to instinctively operate in a volatile
and complex world. At Gordonstoun, through the build-up of personal
courage when faced with the wiles of nature, the sailing experiences
in the Moray Firth and onboard the school’s yawls in particular made
an important contribution to an individuals’ ability to manage in an
environment which so easily could be filled with uncertainty. Likewise
weekends spent camping and exploring in the Cairngorms taught one
skills in self-preservation and gave an opportunity to demonstrate active
leadership. As a teenager leading a group of one’s school mates high
up in the Cairngorms, occasionally in adverse conditions,quickly taught
us how to plan ahead using the best of the information available, how
to set a target and how to ensure that one’s team bought in to and felt
comfortable with the leadership that we provided.
The Lesson of Equality in the Classroom
Plato placed significant emphasis on equality within education, not just
between gender groups, but also across all individuals. Hahn’s system
of work assessment in the classroom skilfully reflected this requisite.
For instance, it fully recognised that we all individually have specific
skills. So assessment was based not on the constant recognition of the
academic brightest within a class, but took into account individuals’
capabilities. Thus the brightest and the least bright could well end up
with the same assessment; indeed if the former had clearly not worked
hard enough they would be marked down as a consequence.
In the workplace too we all have specific skills and the good manager
very much needs to recognise and encourage this amongst his team.
For example, some are natural buyers, while others are natural
sellers; some are by inclination engineers and others Human Resource
professionals. At the same time we all need to learn from those
we work with. Thus the best buyer fully understands the needs and
practices and needs of the sellers with whom he deals. The best CEOs
both fully understand the capabilities of their teams and of the market
place within which they seek to successfully operate.
A Final Thought on Leadership
Robin S Sharma wrote “Leadership is not about a title or a designation.
It’s about impact, influence and inspiration. Impact involves getting
results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your
work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.” In many
ways this sums up well what was quietly instilled in me during my time
at Gordonstoun, now 50 years ago!
GORDONSTOUN TO HOLLYWOOD
by Daniel Gerroll (Bruce 1968)
Daniel Gerroll
Daniel with the great Marian Seldes in The Royal Family
From Gordonstoun to Hollywood is as far as it sounds. From short pants,
knee socks and open neck shirts in the dead of winter to palm trees, Malibu
pants, swimming pools, acres of tennis courts, sparkling beaches…. in the
dead of winter.
I spent approximately nine years as a Gordostounian (Wester Elchies and
Aberlour House were run under the same ethos as the senior school) and
about nine years in ‘Hollywood’. Both are, of course, a state of mind as
much as a geographical location.
If I were to store individual moments from both ‘states of mind’ I think I would
collect more from the Gordonstoun bank than from the Hollywood one.
Seven is very young to begin a boarding school education, granted, but
when eight comes around the tears shed at seven become the water source
for the new growth you have just become. As a young boy one emerges
from the numbing pain of homesickness into the chest lifting pride of
independence. So start the best memories:
The back woods with its hierarchy of schoolboy tribes building rickety forts on
the weekend. Laramie and Fort A anyone?
The first and each subsequent time the Gordonstoun Pipe Band marches up
the driveway. Dressed from the waist up in evening grey and from the waist
down in proudly swinging kilts. The drum major hurling the staff into the air,
the bass drum booming boastfully and the melodic wail of pipes that even
today [often heard in the most incongruous places… outside Grand Central
station in New York City for heaven’s sake] gives this half Jewish Sassenach
a thrill.
Stepping in to bat on a warm Scottish summer afternoon with cricket pads
still damp from whitening and making spindly legs almost tumble over each
other while trying to appear warlike.
The weekend expeditions, clambering up Ben Rinnes and scree running our
way back down.
Of course there were always those pesky 40 minutes class that seemed far,
far longer and the morning porridge we’d cut our way through to get to the
dollop of brown sugar in the middle. The embarrassment of being offered
’tea, milk or nout’ and choosing nout thinking it might be some Celtic
specialty only to discover it meant nothing or neither.
But back to the pros at the expense of the cons. One week every term was
spent sailing out into the choppy North Sea in the 39 ft clinker built dipping
lug cutters. [Did I make that up or was it really what they were called?]. But
not just the sailing and the timing of knots of which I’m sure most of us only
remember one or two, not just the joy of splicing rope successfully but… the
hot apple pies at the Hopeman bakery.
None of which of course is much preparation for a life on the stage.
It was only in the fifth or the lower sixth that drama became part of my
Gordonstoun experience. First there was holding a spear in Henry V staged
outdoors in the magical Round Square, then my first speaking part in
Macbeth. Well it was intended to be a speaking part but the prompter had to
do most of the speaking for me as I stood frozen in front of the visiting Royal
Family who had come to support their young Prince who was very impressive
in the title role… until I came on and almost ruined it. I used to wonder why
stage fright has not been an issue in my professional life. Writing this piece
made me understand why. I got it all out that one night in 1966! [Oh I do
wish we were allowed photos of the production].
London in the sixties was, shall we put it mildly, a little different. Long pants
and long hair, girls, popular music available 24/7 and not just for half an
hour on Thursdays when Bruce House would gather to watch Top of the
Pops.
And then there was theatre. Lots of it. Inexpensive tickets to see the greats
of that period. Classical actors were still accorded the adulation of rock
stars. The young actors coming out of the drama schools were very unGordonstoun. Films depicted rugby in working class mud fields rather than
the pristine expanses of manicured privilege. Some of us hid our plummy
accents, some bore them proudly.
Thanks to the Gordonstoun Association one can read with fascination of the
diverse routes our graduates have travelled.
So… for a period of a few years I went ‘Hollywood’. In 1986 I was cast in
that rare beast the grand big budget studio comedy, Big Business, released in
1987. It starred Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin and boasted a terrific supporting
cast. Still somewhat ‘stiff upper lip’ by education I had actually at one point in
front of the stars, the supporting cast and crew to be asked if I wouldn’t mind
demonstrating some reaction to the situation. So much for ‘doing nothing’
being the art of film acting.
To many in my business Hollywood is the ultimate destination. Once there,
there is no guarantee of continued success. Many actors plant themselves out
there amid the orange groves and it has been said perspicaciously, eventually
turn into oranges themselves. The live stage rather than the sound stage has
always been my working home so having done my ’time’ I sprung myself and
my family and returned to bright lights of Broadway. But it was a delightful
sojourn while it and I was glad to escape before transmogrifying into a citrus.
If there were bold comparison to make it would be this: Gordonstoun can
prepare you for almost anything in life (including Hollywood); Hollywood
could never prepare you for Gordonstoun.
Daniel has appeared in many films and TV series. Following a major role
in Chariots of Fire (1981) in 1980, he moved to New York, where his early
work garnered a Theatre World Award and an Outer Critic Circle Award.
Going to Hollywood in 1987 to appear in Big Business (1988), he stayed to
play a variety of roles on TV and film. He later returned to New York in order
to indulge his first love - the theatre. In 1999, he won an OBIE award for
sustained excellence in theatre. He recently appeared in the Oscar winning
film Still Alice (2014).
17
GORDONSTOUN memories
by John Bloomfield (Hopeman 1973)
I returned to Gordonstoun after 41 years, primarily to introduce one of my children (Justin 12, pictured right) as a potential new
student. It was refreshing to again experience Gordonstoun’s unique location,Round Square and the boarding houses, and the
breadth of facilities available to students. Moira Shearer from the kitchen staff, the only staff person from my vintage, gave me
a warm welcome.
I arrived at Gordonstoun, age 15, from Canada, as a 6th form entrant, initially in Windmill, then Cumming, and ended up as
the color bearer for the first co-ed hostel, Hopeman. The school left a more decisive footprint on me that I probably gave it
credit for, in a number of significant ways:
1.Self-reliance and independence: It was initially lonely and tough going, adapting to a different culture, different
sports, cold showers, and morning runs. I had however some prior experience roughing it, having worked summer jobs
at factories and construction sites. The education system was also more demanding and was initially a challenge. I credit
Gordonstoun for providing the initial trauma to overcome, instilling in its students skills in dealing with a diverse range of
personalities, and a lifelong appreciation for adapting to foreign circumstances. During my career, I would often arrive in a
new country knowing no one, with no emotional or financial support, and valued the challenge of making a difference in
new circumstances. I never did return to Canada, and became a citizen of UK, Zimbabwe, S. Africa, and more recently the
U.S.
2.Exposure to Gordonstoun’s diverse international community whet my appetite and curiosity about the world, and I
was keen to sample foreign cultures, wine, women, and song. By the age of 25 I had traveled as a destitute backpacker
through most countries in the world, including visiting Gordonstoun contemporaries in Europe, Malaysia, Australia, New
Zealand, and S. Africa. Exploring poverty first hand in Asia, S. America, and Africa, I was struck by the resourcefulness,
intelligence, good humor, and support networks of the world’s poor, which led to a career as a development economist in
the front line combating poverty, inequities and injustice.
3.Quality education: Gordonstoun provided access to UK tertiary institutions, and I graduated in economics and
development economics from LSE and Cambridge. At Cambridge I was recruited by Anglo/De Beers starting out as a
management trainee in Johannesburg, rotating between Anglo divisions domestically and abroad. Unbeknown to the
authorities at the time, I’d been active in the anti-apartheid movement in both the former Rhodesia, and S. Africa, and
thrived on the subterfuge. By day I was flying in Anglo’s corporate jets learning their extensive businesses, and by night,
strategizing with activists in Soweto. I suspect that my “subterfuge” history began at Gordonstoun, when I would sneak out in “disguise” to go to parties in Elgin.
4.Appreciation of individual uniqueness: My career spawned several continents, and professions and I currently reside in New Mexico heading up a nonprofit
that develops supportive housing for the mentally ill, elderly, chronically homeless, in mixed income/mixed use communities. Some of our residents have PhD’s
and Ivy League qualifications, but were felled by a mental illness in their prime. Our projects are important catalysts for neighborhood revitalization, and have
won several national awards. In our communities the emphasis is on humility, tolerance, respect, and dignity, where our residents look out for each other, and are
invested in the broader community, no doubt attributes that resonate with the Gordonstoun community.
GA CAREERS CONVENTION
On October 30th, 9 OG’s returned to school to take part in the GA Careers Convention. They met with all of the Year 11 pupils in the afternoon and in the evening had supper with
members of the Sixth Form to discuss university and career options and life beyond Gordonstoun.
18
maybe it’s something
about gordonstoun
by Hobart Earle (Cumming 1979)
When I left Gordonstoun in 1979, Brezhnev was in the Kremlin and two of
the present-day members of the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra were in
Afghanistan. Without their musical instruments. We were on different planets,
and the idea that the Soviet Union could cease to exist wasn’t even an idea.
The world evolves, indeed: today, I speak Russian many days of the year,
and bear the title “People’s Artist of Ukraine” – a country that wasn’t even an
independent, sovereign nation until 1991.
Looking back, my life’s unusual geographic path seems natural, but the truth
is, the only constant over the years for me has been music. Everything else has
changed beyond recognition. I never intended to be principal conductor of an
orchestra in a country at war, but the tragic events of the past year have driven
home the power of music as a unifying force for peace and good will.
As a guest conductor, I’ve enjoyed making music with musicians on four
different continents, and it’s reassuring - just to give one example - to perform
works by Greek, Georgian, Armenian and German composers in Bangkok
with the Southeast Asian Youth Orchestra and realise that many barriers have
been transcended.
Although I thought little of it at the time, I remember a brief conversation
from many years ago. I had just completed my thesis defense at Princeton
University, a presentation in front of all the professors, followed by a question
and answer session. I must have been slightly nervous, but as I recall, I
enjoyed giving my presentation without thinking twice about it. When it was
all over, one of my professors came up to me and praised the manner in
which I had handled myself. To my amazement, he went on to say: “maybe it’s
something about Gordonstoun in you”. ‎(He was familiar with Gordonstoun
and knew all about Kurt Hahn. Indeed, he was a walking encyclopedia on
countless subjects).
I remember being taken aback at my professor’s comment, but I suppose
Gordonstoun instilled in me a love of the stage and a passion for performing.
I’m sure my thesis itself was nothing out of the ordinary, but apparently - so I
was told - my “performance” during my thesis defense was.
My years at Princeton were an extension of all the performing I had done
at Gordonstoun, ‎but far more importantly, an invaluable experience in
the study of composition and music theory. Performers, I believe, have an
entirely different outlook on music if they’ve studied composition themselves.
Moreover, spending time around composers (as I did constantly during my
university years) opens up an entirely new world: composers tend to think
differently about music than performers do.
I left university with a far deeper knowledge of the ‘inner-workings’ of music
than I could have possibly imagined when I arrived. However, putting one’s
knowledge into practice is a vital task for any performer, and fundamentally so
for a conductor. At the time I graduated from Princeton, I spoke fluent French
and Spanish, but these were of little use to me in delving into the depths of
scores by the likes of Wagner, Mahler, Bruckner or Richard Strauss, never
mind Alban Berg and his contemporaries. And so, off I went to Vienna, not
just to learn German, but to absorb the performance tradition in this unique
musical capital.
Today, when asked to give advice to young musicians, one of my answers is
simple: try to learn languages. So my theory goes (for instance): a deeper
knowledge of German helps to give performers a better feel for the way music
by German composers flows. In general, I think the same holds true across
the planet.
Aside from studying conducting at the Academy of Music, I attended
rehearsals of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (and all the other orchestras)
on an almost daily basis. I also decided to do the same thing Claudio
Abbado and Zubin Mehta had done during their student years: become
a member of the Vienna Singverein, a chorus with centuries of tradition.
As a result, I sang in numerous performances with the Vienna and Berlin
Philharmonics conducted by Herbert von Karajan, Leonard Bernstein and
Lorin Maazel, amongst many others.
Those were my unforgettable student years; learning my trade from the inside.
Nowadays, when I’m asked how I could’ve possibly managed to adapt to life
in the former Soviet Union, my first answer is to say I’ve been a foreigner all
my life. Of course, this is usually dismissed as superficial, so as a next step
I quote the school motto to my unsuspecting audience and say “maybe it’s
something about Gordonstoun in me.”
Hobart Earle, Cumming House 1974-79 ‎is Music Director and Principal
Conductor of the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra. He has guest-conducted
orchestras and opera companies across Europe, North America and Asia.
Hobart Earle conducting the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra in an outdoor
concert at the Potemkin Steps.
19
LIVING GORDONSTOUN...
AFTER GORDONSTOUN
by Nick Ringrose (Bruce 1995)
Nirvana, The Charlatans, Blur. Lumberjack shirts and Doctor Martin
Boots. John Major occupies No.10, and Mr.Pyper has just taken
the helm at school. Mixed common rooms and house dances. The
duplicitous audacity of girls wearing the shortest black skirts humanly
possible during the week, long floor-scraping kilts on the weekend.
Morning runs are virtually a thing of the past. Moria in the refectory
still scorns “Put that baaaaaack!” Sea Spirit excitement, and Saturday
afternoon buses into Elgin. Ridiculously early Sunday morning trips to
a windswept Aviemore snowscape. Running from bashers, and then
there’s the infamy of “The Lavvy”.
Now I’ve got you thinking about Gordonstoun in the Nineties haven’t
I? So many dreams and aspirations ago. For most of my peers (class
of ’95) we’ve either educated or stumbled our way through this and
that. Life has forced many into twists and turns, both personal and
professional. Relationships. Careers. Love and laughs. Achievements
and setbacks.
Inevitably though, if you are reading this you are still connected to our
school. The force is strong isn’t it? You are reminiscing now because of
those years spent holed up in our gorgeous Scottish estate, whether it
was the full run of five, or you were the erudite “Bentrant” surreptitiously
installed to raise our national scholastic ranking in your fleeting two
years. You have not cut ties with ‘Stoun because you can’t. It becomes
a part of you. Some call it institutionalized; I prefer to think of it as my
foundation. Gordonstoun built me.
On my very first day at the school, Ben Goss said to me in his most
gruff Lord Kitchener“esque” (think World War One recruitment posters),
“Ringrose, I want YOU to drain this place dry”. Ironically, (the irony
destined to rear its head in later paragraphs) I did not do that. In fact I
probably did the absolute, complete, mirror opposite.
Those of you who will (struggle to) remember me at school (considering
my flagrant lack of achievement) will know that I barely participated in
anything, let alone making it to a sporting match. I dodged morning
chapel for the best part of my last two years as it conflicted with my
adolescent routine lie-in. I avoided the most selfless of Services (like
Fire or Community Service) in order to fulfill my surfing fixation in
a kayak at Hopeman beach with the Corps of Canoe Lifeguards. I
dragged my heels at every compulsory exped, and thankfully only once
mistakenly volunteered for the winter skills expedition. I didn’t do well
in schoolwork, my A level results were abysmal, and my tutor dreaded
my apathy. Despite Gordonstoun literally bursting with opportunity,
this “sponge” didn’t drain anything. I think it hardly got wet. Hardly the
glowing post-school advertisement you expected, right?
20
But something happened after leaving school, and in the weeks
and months that have now turned quickly into years and decades, I
started to live my Gordonstoun life. Don’t ask me how or why, but this
lackluster seedling grown so un-inspiringly on those verdant Morayshire
acres blossomed into a life and whirlwind career that has continued to
thrive, challenge, and motivate me with such furious tenacity that would
make Kurt Hahn proud.
At 19 years old after experiencing less than a year of university I left the
UK for an “exped” of my own; an expedition that I am still undertaking
twenty years later. With rucksack behind me and a humble clutch of
travellers cheques in my pocket, I set out for the United States with the
intention of having a few months to clear my head. The only thing is, I
didn’t return to the UK.
Breath in, (apologies for the forthcoming narcissism) and....... GO!
Six years as a professional snowboard instructor exploring the hills
of Vermont then the splendid mountains of the Rockies in Utah, the
off-seasons spent back-packing, camping, and searching for waves
through the west coast, Central America, and Baja, surfing some
of the most isolated and perfect waves on the planet. Professional
sailing seasons in the Med, Florida and the Caribbean. Yacht crew,
yachtmaster, mega yachts, super yachts, and all sorts of yachts in
Greece, Antigua, St.Martin, The Virgin Islands and beyond. Over
10,000 ocean miles logged. Months of windsurfing and surf training
in Barbados. 8 years fulltime professional sailing in New England,
competitive sailing, race coaching, and marine management. Six years
as a part-time professional-grade Firefighter and recovery (scuba) diver
outside New York City (joining right after witnessing the horrors of 9/11)
in my post sailing downtime, concurrent to singing and playing guitar in
my bar band that gigged four to six times a month for five years. Music.
Marriage. Children. Took a flying lesson. Silly thing. Got hooked.
Dropped career. Flight training fulltime for eighteen months, then flight
instructor for seven years, entrepreneur, business owner, now a fulltime
airline pilot based in New York. Phew!
I cannot drive a normal desk. Mine has to be at 30,000 feet. Nothing
is too lofty for a Gordonstounian. Every day we are forced to make
decisions and weigh on the gravity of a poor one. But it’s all about
attitude, perseverance, and the strength of our “Hahnian” character
and “Plus est en Vous” spirit. Despite not realizing my Gordonstoun
potential until I left, my experience at this amazing school invariably
shaped everything that I have striven for since, and I am now in Ben
Goss’s words “draining this place dry”. I am far from stopping!
FROM NAUGHTY BOY TO NAUTI BOUY
by Clay Builder (Altyre 1995)
I was a member of Altyre House from ‘90 to ‘95. Gordonstoun School still
remains the 5 best consecutive years of my life.
I left school and after a very short, unsuccessful stint at University, decided to
enroll on a 1 year graduate programme at the UK sailing academy, IOW.
I completed my Yacht master as well as windsurfing, dinghy, kayaking and
diving instructor tickets. The sailing experience and kayaking at Gordonstoun
definitely set me up in good stead and I was the first student to ever pass the
entire graduate programme.
After completing the year, I was asked to work at the UKSA centre for the
summer, teaching children watersports. I soon learned to have eyes in the
back of my head, which came in useful a few years later.
I was lucky enough to be asked to work at UKSA’s offshore training facility in
Barbados, coaching future windsurfing instructors through a tough 6 week
programme.
After a year of fun, wave sailing and rum drinking, I decided to focus my
attention on a more lucrative career on yachts.
I started running flotillas in Greece and Turkey, guiding fleets of yachts for 2
weeks at a time around various coastlines. This is where the eyes in the back
of the head came in handy as I soon realized that adults on sailing holidays
were no different to children at water sports centre’s. The only difference
being the size of the toys and sailing areas as well as the addition of copious
amounts of alcohol being drunk by the holiday makers.
I was then asked to open up routes in Croatia, which is now the company’s
most popular destination.
After five years of flotillas and a winter season running a ski chalet in Norway,
I was headhunted and put to work, building a beautiful 30 metre carbon
sloop in France. I spent a whole year with a French team in a yard, installing
all of the deck gear, stepping rigs and completing sea trials on what can
only be described as a weapon on the water. We regularly sailed at 20 knots
in 10 knots of breeze with Code zeros flying and state of the art sails and
technology.
I spent 10 further years working on various sailing and Motor vessels up to 52
metres in length, doing both charter and private work all around the world.
During this I managed to gain my OOW 3000 T unlimited ticket taking me to
officer level and allowing me to be First mate and second in command.
I decided to add another string to my bow in order to make myself more
employable and with a love of food and drink, enrolled in several cookery
courses, starting with a one month course at the Grange in Somerset, where
I learnt to cook and present food with flare. I completed a 3 month Thai
cookery course near Bangkok and also a 10 day Indian cookery course whilst
travelling through Nepal and Northern India.
I was lucky enough to sail around the world with another ex-Gordonstonian,
Tash Wright, who was a previous school Guardian. She was Captain/
engineer and I was Chef/mate. Together we sailed a 62 ft yacht from
Scotland to Australia, for a private owner, over a 2 ½ year period. This
experience allowed me to dive with sea lions, Scalloped hammer heads and
Whale sharks in the Galapogos as well as snorkle with hump back whales
in Tahiti. I sky dived in New Zealand and surfed in Australia, met great new
friends and saw places and events that not many get the opportunity to see.
Whilst working on a busy 40 metre motor yacht in Southern France, on a rare
weekend off, I sat bolt up right in Bed at 4am and had a Eureka moment!
My company NautiBuoy Marine was born.
My concept was simple. A multi functional, inflatable floating raft, that could
be used by owners, captains and crew for a multitude of purposes. Quick
and easy to inflate/deflate and small enough to be easily stowed. It had to
be totally modular, connecting in every way possible, with a Teak foam top for
aesthetics.
Up until that moment, I was having to laboriously launch the yachts tender to
clean the hull of the yacht and carry out maintenance, only to have to spend
hours detailing the tender again which had to be guest ready for shore runs.
I was also spending vast amounts of time repairing jet skis and yacht transoms
due to ill-timed guest collisions.
The modular system now allows crew to create jet ski docks, runways,
watersports launch pads, etc, saving money and allowing crew to work
smarter, not harder.
The platforms also allow smaller vessels to have their own extra space, closer
to the water to swim, relax and enjoy luxurious comfort. Like adding an
inflatable balcony or conservatory to your floating property.
It has recently been nicknamed “inflatable lego”
After 4 years of prototyping and development as well as jumping in the deep
end, with very little business acumen, we launched NautiBuoy Marine in
London at a Super Yacht show.
We have been overwhelmed by the response.
We have sellers all over the world.
Although it is extremely hard work and often feels like I am pushing a large
atlas ball up a hill, I wouldn’t change it for the world. We have created our
own global Super yacht brand.
Next year we are adding SeaBob Docks and modular seapools as well as
cleaning products and small gaps we have found in marine based products.
The grand plan is to start landing helicopters on Inflatable heli pads.
Nautibuoy Marine has was recently awarded a DAME Design Award for its
innovative multifunctional inflatable marine platforms. Announcing Nautibuoy
Marine as the winner, the judges commented, “We appreciated the four years
of design that had gone into the production of the product and declared it a
notable winner in a hotly contested category.”
21
steering through the stars
by Felicity Sheasby née Higgins (Hopeman 1997)
As a teenager on expedition, I was more likely to be found looking
down into the dubious contents of my Trangia than looking up at the
stars. Fast forward (quite) a few years and here I am focusing on those
stars every day whilst working in Satellite Operations for the European
Space Agency.
Just to dispel any illusions you may have, I’ve yet to see anyone wearing
a space suit at work, our canteen doesn’t serve space ice cream and
we don’t drive around the site on moon buggies.
Having said that:
My boss is the German astronaut Thomas Reiter who holds the
European record of 350 days in space. After that kind of experience I’m
amazed he finds my financial reports interesting.
I do get to help drive satellites, but more about that later; and
Does anybody actually like space ice cream?
What is the European Space Agency?
ESA works on the same theory as Gordonstoun, in that we can achieve
far more together than as individuals. By combining the financial
and intellectual resources of our member states we can undertake
programmes and activities far beyond the scope of any single European
country. Our aim is to provide and promote space science, space
applications and research & technology for exclusively peaceful
purposes. We do this by developing satellite based technologies and
investing in our industrial partners.
We’re split over eight main sites across the world from our main launch
site in Kourou, French Guiana to our Headquarters in Paris. Here’s a
short summary of just some of them:
At the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in
Holland we design and test satellites, and come up with fantastic new
concepts for missions. Here’s where you’ll find the best chance to drive
that moon buggy
If you head to the pool at the European Astronauts Centre (EAC) nearby
you’ve a good chance of seeing someone practicing a spacewalk in
a spacesuit. Perhaps you can also test the food before it’s sent up as
dinner on the on the International Space Station?
The European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) in Darmstadt,
Germany is where I am based. We control most of the ESA satellites
from here, sending and receiving signals via our network of ground
stations based all around the world. You might have seen us most
recently controlling the landing of Philae on Comet 67P from the
Rosetta Satellite.
What do you do there?
Like any large organisation, ESA requires support in the areas “behind
the scenes”. I’m a Project Controller, responsible for the budget and
manpower planning for the operations of all of the ESA Astronomy
satellites. I plan and control budgets from missions that have been in
orbit for 15 years to “back of the envelope” calculations for concept
missions. Trying to plan the operations costs for a mission that will be
launching 10 years in the future is definitely interesting, but when the
mission launches and the science data begins to flow down, it makes
all those challenges worthwhile.
I know it’s a cliché, but I genuinely enjoy my job. I work with people
who are at the top of their fields and most of them have wanted to work
‘in space’ since childhood. Sometimes it can test of all my people skills
to try to focus the attention of a fantastically intelligent engineer on
finance questions rather than orbit calculations, but it’s all part of the
job.
In satellite operations, everyone is motivated towards our common
goal, to get the satellites working in space, and producing the best
data that it can, on time and (most importantly for me) on budget. I am
very proud of our all of our achievements ranging from the headline
grabbing comet landing to the smaller technology demonstrating
satellite Lisa Pathfinder, recently in November 2015.
The question is ‘how did I end up there?’
In 2003, my (then) boyfriend and I relocated to Germany for his job. As
I had previous graduate experience working with the financial services
company Skandia Life, I came to work at ESOC as a financial planner,
initially as working as a contractor through Serco, and later as an ESA
staff member. 12 years, one wedding, one house build and two kids
later I still love living and working here.
What about the future?
The future for me is working on more new missions and trying to extend
our existing flying missions for as long as possible. If the moon buggy
development team need a controller, perhaps I may move to Holland.
For now though, the next time you glance up at the night sky, take a
look out for one those satellites working above you, and think of us in
Darmstadt steering it through the stars.
Sounds like a great place to work, how can I work there?
• STUDENT PLACEMENTS - ESA offers students the chance to have
a placement at ESA whilst working on their masters degree (e.g. three
months whilst preparing a thesis).
• YOUNG GRADUATE TRAINEE SCHEME (YGT) - ESA offers
around 80 places a year to graduates for a one year placement
working in one of the ESA establishments. Vacancies for YGT’s go
online once a year in mid-November. Note – applications are only
open to nationals of ESA member / cooperating states
• FULL TIME - ESA offers permanent posts in a full range of
competencies. For more information see www.esa.int/careers.
Can I visit ESA?
Keep an eye on the ESA website for tours or open days at an ESA site
near you.
The Gordonstoun Association and Felicity plan to organise an OGs
reunion in Germany in June 2016. On offer will be a tour of ESOC in
Darmstadt during the day, followed by dinner in the Frankfurt / RheinMain area.
For more information about ESA in general see www.esa.int
22
FEED THE WORLD
by Philipp Saumweber (Altyre 1997)
The dry and barren landscape outside of Port Augusta, a small town
about three hours’ drive from Adelaide, barely gets half a page in the
Lonely Planet’s guide to Australia. In this remote part of the country,
there are coal-fired power stations, lead smelters, mining operations,
a prison and vast tracts of overgrazed saltbush, that thrive on brackish
groundwater seeping through the arid soil. The indigenous fauna
includes poisonous redback spiders, king brown snakes, the occasional
emu or wallaby and a raft of insects, though mostly flies. This is a
harsh environment and it is no wonder that it has one of the lowest
population densities in Australia, itself renowned for being one of
the world’s most sparsely populated countries. The area around Port
Augusta, though, offers up an abundance of sunshine, seawater, and
land.
Entering the company’s Port Augusta complex from the scorching
outside desert, passing sun-tracking parabolic solar mirrors, the stateof-the-art desalination facility, a shiny power island, and computers
steering the operations, feels like you have arrived at tomorrowworld. The climate controlled air inside the greenhouse is laden with
the scent of ripening tomatoes and is in such contrast to the harsh
landscape outside, where it reaches a parched 40C for much of the
year. Thousands of plants are drip fed with water so pure, that micronutrients and minerals are added to the water in the ideal doses for the
crop. Beneficial insects are carefully placed to prey on pests, avoiding
the need for pesticides and harmful spraying of the crop. This really
is a farm of the future where nature is mimicked to replace extractive
forms of farming.
It is here that I chose to build a company that helps solve some of the
world’s food problems by harnessing these abundant resources. The
company, Sundrop Farms, grows food in state-of-the-art glasshouses
using a unique proprietary technology developed to harness renewable
resources – mostly sunlight and seawater – while making use of land
not traditionally considered for agriculture.
Growing the Sundrop Farms way allows us to save massively on water,
land and fuel costs vis-à-vis our competitors. This cost advantage has
allowed the Sundrop team to win a long-term supply agreement with
Coles Supermarkets, one of Australia’s largest supermarkets. As such,
we are currently undergoing a 100 fold expansion to 20 hectares, due
to be completed in early 2016, which will produce more than 15,000
tons of vegetables annually for markets across Australia.
While attending fire service call-outs, sports practices, or out on
expedition in the Highlands, I must confess that I never contemplated
a career in agriculture. After Gordonstoun I read Economics at
Dartmouth College, completed an MBA at Harvard, and my chosen
career path took me from Goldman Sachs to hedge fund management
to the family investment office. My resume could not have read finance
any clearer. However, while at the family office, I was looking at an
agricultural investment proposal and was struck by the challenge
to feed an ever growing world population with ever less natural
resources – land, water, and energy. Having led several investments
in the agricultural space I eventually traded in my City office for a
container office in Port Augusta to start Sundrop Farms from scratch in
2009. Today, as the CEO of Sundrop Farms and I have proudly built
the company into the world’s first commercially and environmentally
sustainable arid climate agriculture business.
Growing food in the desert sounds quite counterintuitive and seems
like something an enlightened futurologist might have dreamed up
for the 21st century. Most crops actually grow better in high light
environments, such as deserts, but here high temperatures and fresh
water availability are usually an impediment to plant growth. The
Sundrop Farms system uses solar power to create the heat, electricity,
and desalinated water needed to feed and power Sundrop Farms’
growing operations – creating ideal conditions for natural plant growth.
As the world’s population continues to grow, Sundrop Farms is making
it possible to de-couple food production from finite resources to grow
the world’s food industry, not just profitably but also sustainably. I,
together with most of the senior Sundrop Farms team have recently
moved back from Australia to new headquarters in London, where
we are building on this agricultural innovation for arid climates and
coordinating expansions into the Middle East, North America and other
supply-constrained markets around the world.
to
feed
an ever growing
world population
23
recipe for success
by Laura Beaumont (Plewlands 2003)
Bella Blackett (Windmill, 2004) and I both dislike the word team
building. We prefer to use the term breaking down barriers. And that is
exactly what we do on a daily basis, helping both very small and very
large companies bring their teams together. The answer to our secret
lies in cooking. Venturi’s Table, our London-based corporate cookery
school offers a variety of group classes, ranging from making and
enjoying a full 3-course dinner through to learning the skills of pizza
or pasta making and working with clients to create bespoke menus or
challenges for the groups. The school can host groups of 7-70 guests
and we regularly welcome teams from companies including GSK, BP,
Google, Blackrock to name but a few. And despite our distant fond
memories of Moira in the refectory shouting “Poot thaat baack,” this is
not a motto that we have adopted at Venturi’s Table, where guests are
invited to very much make themselves feel at home. Think of it not as a
strict cookery class, but more like a fun time away from the office where
you are able to enjoy being creative in the kitchen with a glass or two
of fine wine and without the tedious planning, shopping and washing
up that normally go hand in hand with cooking.
We both credit our time all those years ago at Gordonstoun with
helping us achieve the success we have today. We firmly believe that
the school’s approach to an all-rounded education, which encourages
you to explore and push yourself to achieve your dreams, has helped us
to take chances and given us the confidence to take on any challenges
we face.
Passionate about food since a small child, on leaving Gordonstoun
Bella spent a month on a cooking course before doing a ski season in
France working as Head Chef in a chalet. On her return, she secured
work experience with an events company who were putting on a party
with a huge budget. The excitement of seeing her creative concepts
come to life quickly drew her in, and with this goal in mind Bella
embarked on an Events Management degree and quickly secured her
first job with a well know events company in London. Over the years,
Bella worked on events ranging from intimate dinners to large-scale
extravaganzas for over 1000 guests.
Turning my foodie dream into a reality was more of a bumpy path.
Having graduated with a Business Management degree, I worked in
Management Consultancy for a few years. However, the city life was
not for me and at the end of every stressful day all I longed to do was
play around in the kitchen experimenting with new and exciting recipes
and cook for friends. With a business plan of setting up a children’s
cookery school written on a piece of scrap paper, I took the plunge
to leave my secure job mid-recession and trained for six months
at Leith’s Cookery School. After a couple of years of working as a
24
freelance chef and teaching cooking whenever the opportunity arose,
I stumbled across Venturi’s Table where the buzz and the atmosphere
of the kitchens quickly drew me in. Admittedly, teaching a bunch of
corporates wasn’t quite teaching children as I had once dreamt (adults
are much less likely to listen!), but the beautiful kitchens, fun classes
and almost party-like atmosphere quickly won me over. On learning
that the company’s founder was looking to retire and threatening to sell
the business to someone who would not carry on the legacy she had
created, I decided to take matters into my own hands and it didn’t take
much to convince Bella to join me.
Having been running the company now for almost a year, Bella and I
have been non-stop and loved every minute. The Gordonstoun ethos
of ‘Plus Est En Vous’ is never far from our minds with the many hurdles
we have had to leap over and processes involved in running a business
that we have had to learn as we go. This certainly seems to be paying
off and the cookery school is growing in leaps and bounds. We have
slowly moved Venturi’s Table away from purely being Italian-themed to
introducing delicious new recipes and more exciting menus. The hen
and stag party classes we have created are quickly becoming legendary
and our kitchens have hosted many a celebrity and Michelin starred
chef filming their latest TV shows. The company’s catering arm, Italian
Secrets Catering, has also catered for numerous different private and
corporate events both hosted in the school’s stunning kitchens and
across London.
And so what have we learnt since taking on Venturi’s Table? Well, we
believe that the powers of making pasta or profiteroles are stronger
than you might think! We are repeatedly told by our clients that the
experience of cooking and sharing delicious food together in our
beautiful kitchens really has helped break down boundaries within their
teams. The teams often arrive at the school as a cluster of microgroups and leave happier and more relaxed with the foundation of
relationships much stronger within the team as a whole.
Venturi’s Table hope to host a GA event soon, but if in the meantime
you would like to find out more,
visit our website www.venturistable.com
My Journey of Plan B
by Vanezza Zabert (Altyre 2004)
During those morning walks in 2003, from Altyre to the Chapel, I was
convinced that I would be following a linear career path after school.
Start a job, climb the ladder, step by step. But my journey turned out
different. It took me on a path of adventures, uncertainty, personal
innovation and one of purpose and fulfilment.
Whenever I meet with friends, they are hungry to hear of my latest
stories and adventures. And seem to enjoy a different perspective
to their routine jobs. And so it comes to no surprise that I write this
article, at the chaotic Manila airport lounge - about to head back to
London, and conclude a summer of work travels to Myanmar, Thailand,
Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines.
My initial interest in cross-cultural understanding, inclusive development
and poverty alleviation stem from my roots of being German-Filipina.
An upbringing in both countries (and ten years in the UK) enabled me
to get to know very different regions, which are on opposing poles of a
continuum, with regards to social, health and economic wellbeing.
During my AS-Level summer, I travelled to the Philippines, to see for
myself what it means to be poor, what ‘bottom of the pyramid wealth
creation’ meant, and to meet those individuals, who fight for their
survival on a daily basis.
“If you could wish for anything in the world, what would you like to
have for your Christmas present?” I asked Bryan, a six-year-old boy at a
Centre for Abused and Abandoned Children, in the Philippines.
His quick response was: “A birthday!”
At first, I was totally baffled and did not quite understand, until it was
explained to me that many children were found alone in the streets.
Bryan was very young, he did not know his name, age, and parents or
where he came from. Neither the Centre, nor the local government had
the equivalent of £10 to pay for a birth registration.
But really, Bryan was more thinking about all the birthday presents that
he missed out on, than his future prospects. However, without a birth
certificate he will not be able to attain other certifications such as school
reports, driving license, marriage certificate or apply for employment.
His young friends shared similar stories. This was a grim face of poverty
that I had not known.
and European students, to avoid a life of illiteracy. I was determined to
do something.
But the complexity surrounding poverty and its multi-dimensional
nature, pretty much slapped my nativity in the face.
That summer, my idealism was crushed. Like many, I did not consider
the importance of the local context, behaviors and bigger picture. And
it opened my eyes to the need to go much deeper into the importance
for holistic approaches. Simply pouring in resources, such as money will
not do, nor the idealistic view that humans behave rationally.
I learnt my lesson.
I set out on a path to gain a solid academic background in the area
that I am immensely passionate and enthusiastic about: International
sustainable development. Which is, “about finding creative solutions to
complex societal issues, that take into account the well-being of future
generations and not just our own.“
A Masters Degree from the London School of Economics in Population
and Development and currently an Executive Masters in Behavioural
Science, form the basis. However, I quickly realised that text books
alone teach you so much, to understand what is happing in reality,
it is important to go into the field and understand the root causes of
problems on the ground.
In my current role as European Director for the Philippines’ leading
development foundation, my favourite part is to travel with students of
business and development degrees, to Southeast Asia.
As part of their experiential learning programmes, with topics focused
on: sustainable development, global leadership, cross-cultural
intelligence, social entrepreneurship and human-centred design
thinking.
My initial plans from those early walks to Chapel did not materialise.
I am glad they did not.
“If you organise your life around your passion, you can turn your
passion into your story and then turn your story into something
bigger - something that matters”
(B.Mycoskie, founder of Tom’s Shoes)
Having met Bryan and the others, I wanted to support the children out
of poverty through educational sponsorships. Raised by friends, relatives
25
A PASSION FOR SERVICE
by Katie Marsden (Hopeman 2005)
Earlier this year I returned to Gordonstoun for the first time since
leaving at the end of sixth form. It was the ten-year reunion for the
class of 2005 and gave me just the excuse I needed for a weekend
break on the beautiful Moray coast. My husband (or fiancé as he was
at the time) was keen to join me having heard me talk so much about
my time at school. However, as I am sure is a common experience
on visiting Gordonstoun, I don’t think it was until we were walking
the school grounds that he first truly understood what I had failed to
articulate about the uniqueness of a Gordonstoun education. Like the
current sixth form who presented that day on their recent experiences
volunteering internationally, I know that by the time I headed off to
university after two short years at Gordonstoun, I was fired up with a
passion for public service, a commitment to do my best while helping
others and a recognition of the importance of an international outlook.
Throughout my time at university my commitment to work in public
service stayed with me and during my final year I applied for the
Fast Stream, which offers an accelerated route to leadership in the
Civil Service. The programme enabled me to work in a number
of Government Departments, undertaking a diverse range of jobs
including roles in policy, strategy, finance and project management.
I would be happy to talk to anyone about it if they are interested in
applying.
Having completed the Fast Stream programme, I am currently
working for the Welsh Government in the Welsh Treasury. Whilst I am
thoroughly enjoying my role developing innovative financing routes
to support public infrastructure investment, the Gordonstoun motto of
‘Plus Est en Vous’ is never far from my thoughts and I have continued
to look for additional opportunities to stretch myself and to make a
difference. That is how I now find myself spending the next two months
in Lesotho, working to help an NGO mobilise resources and develop
its strategy and business plan for the next five years.
My placement in Lesotho has been enabled by the Welsh Government’s
International Learning Opportunities Programme, which gives Welsh
public and third sector workers the opportunity to work in sub-Saharan
Africa on development projects and, in doing so, enhance their
leadership skills. Since 2007, the programme has delivered 143
projects in sub-Saharan Africa, including projects in Uganda, Lesotho,
Zambia and Cameroon. These assignments focus on enhancing
the skills of participants whilst contributing to the UN Sustainable
Development Goals and adding value to existing Wales for Africa links.
The Kingdom of Lesotho is a small, mountainous and landlocked
country, completely surrounded by South Africa. Lesotho is classified
as one of the Least Developed Countries and more than half the
population live on less than $1.25 a day. The country has the second
highest HIV / AIDS prevalence rate and average life expectancy
stands at 48.7 years. I arrived here in early October and despite
the significant challenges facing the country, have found the Basotho
people I have met to be optimistic about the future and committed to
improving the well-being of all. They have also been overwhelmingly
welcoming and made me feel immediately at home in this fascinating
country.
I am fortunate to be working with She-Hive Association, which was
established in 2012, and works towards the eradication of genderbased violence in Lesotho. Despite enacting a number of gendersensitive laws, a recent study reported that 86% of women in Lesotho
had experienced gender-based violence in their lifetime. It is in this
context that She-Hive Association provides psychosocial support, legal
and medical referrals, livelihood support and undertakes advocacy
and awareness-raising campaigns with the aim of strengthening legal
and judicial systems. Whilst She-Hive Association is providing support
to survivors of gender-based violence, it also undertakes preventative
action aimed at breaking the cycle of abuse and there is a focus on
integrating projects to support women living with HIV / AIDS.
The organisation is ably led by the charismatic ‘Me ‘Mamakhethe
Phomane and staffed entirely by volunteers, whose dedication and
professionalism is inspiring, and whose commitment to expanding the
organisation to help more women and families I can’t help but admire.
However, as with many such organisations, a lack of finances is a real
issue and there is a need to move to a more sustainable resource and
funding model if the excellent work is to continue.
During my eight weeks, I will be focusing on helping them in this
endeavor. However, there is a significant amount of competition for
funding and a lot of work to do. Never have I been tested more on
the principles that underpin a Gordonstoun education – Challenge,
Service, Internationalism and Responsibility - and I would be very
grateful if anybody has any advice for me or, indeed, for She-Hive
Association.
Eight weeks is by no means enough time and whilst I am hopeful
that I can make a contribution while I am here, I am sure this is
only the beginning of my continued relationship with this incredible
organisation.
If anyone is interested in knowing more about She-Hive Association, or
thinks that they might want to get involved, please do get in touch.
She-Hive Association jewellery making class to help women become financially
independent.
26
crossing the chalbi
by Oliver Tillard (Cumming 2005)
The expedition took place in Northern Kenya. The plan was to be the
first people to cross the Chalbi Desert unsupported. The idea had been
dreamt up by myself (Cumming ’05) and Henry Haselock (Cumming
’06) whilst reminiscing about the days at school spent out on the hill.
Both of us had embraced the outdoor education Gordonstoun provided
us with and had undertaken a number of expeditions since leaving
school. Henry has crossed much of Mongolia on foot and spent time in
the jungle in Belize. I had cycled across the USA and led expeditions in
Bavaria before joining the military. The only criteria for this expedition
were something that was achievable in 2 weeks and also hadn’t been
done before. A detailed search of the world’s deserts presented a
number of possibilities. Of the many options the Chalbi Desert, a
virtually flat, sandy desert of over 100, 000 kilometres squared seemed
perfect. The route consisted of travelling east to west across the desert’s
widest point, a distance of 190km. As it is one of the driest and most
arid regions of East Africa we would have to tow trailers with enough
water, food and supplies for ten days. Attempting the expedition
unsupported meant we had to be totally self-sufficient and able to cope
with any situation in the 40 degree heat. Accompanying us along the
way were two armed rangers in a support vehicle providing protection
and useful mediation if any situation got out of our control.
The expedition started from Nairobi with an eight hour drive north to
Marsabit. This small rural town, the last population centre before the
border with Ethiopia, was to be our starting point. From here we set
out, each trailer laden with over 100kg. It would be useful to add that
up to this point the plan was going as it should have done and previous
experience had served us both well. Lessons learnt at Gordonstoun and
in later life meant that our ability to con-plan and foresee problems
had prevented a number of snags occurring along the way. Initially our
biggest hurdle was the fact there was very little known about the route
we were about to undertake. The armed rangers thought the plan was
ridiculous and made little effort to hide their delight at being paid for
ten days up front; they firmly believed they would be home in two.
The first couple of days were without drama. The heat was taking some
getting used to and we had started to get the hang of manoeuvring
the rather unwieldy trailers. The landscape could best be described
as Martian, the odd tree surrounded by enormous and overflowing
ancient lava flows. Local tribesmen, mostly goat herders of the Gabbra
tribe, occasionally crossed our path and took great pleasure in getting
harnessed up and pulling our trailers. This was until they got bored after
a couple of minutes and headed off to catch up with their livestock!
As we neared the end of the second day, spirits were high and we were
making good time. The “Plus
Est En Vous” spirit was strong
and our love for adventure,
born all those years ago
in the Scottish Highlands,
was being realised once
again. However, it soon
became apparent that our
trailers were not up to the
job and the wheel bearings
had begun to disintegrate.
This was a serious blow that
immediately shattered our
claim to an unsupported
desert crossing. We quickly
changed tack; we would carry
all of our kit in a Bergen, the
water would go on the vehicle and we would fill up what we needed for
each day in the morning.
With the new plan simply to be the first recorded people to cross the
Chalbi Desert we cracked on determined not to be beaten at this
early stage. Over the course of the next few days we made extremely
good time despite the weight on our back. We averaged 30km per
day and quickly became adept at putting up a poncho for shade
from the midday sun. The aridity of the desert meant there was no life
whatsoever so when we weren’t moving it was eerily quiet. We were
constantly taking on water, sometimes up to ten litres a day, and had to
be strict with each other to ensure we took rest at the appropriate time.
By the eighth day it was clear we were nearing civilisation again. Our
path was crossed by herds of camels and the flocks of sand grouse
suggested we were beginning to move out of the arid, dry desert.
Swelling and blisters combined with bruised shoulders meant we were
delighted to see our final destination; North Horr. In just over a week
we had covered 190km, drunk 140 litres of water and crossed the
Chalbi Desert at its widest point. It was an incredible journey in a
stunning and relatively untouched part of the world.
Ollie and Henry’s trek was to raise funds to be divided between two
charities; Tusk, a small organisation which helps fund conservation,
community projects and education programmes across Africa. The other
is Veterans Aid, an organisation that works on the front line addressing
homelessness and addiction among veterans.
http://www.veterans-aid.net/crossing-the-chalbi-for-veterans-aid/
27
CYCLING ACROSS AFRICA AND LIFE
by Rory MacKay (Round Square 2007)
I reflect on those school years and mixed emotions are unstirred in my
mind. Memories of rules and thick stone walls, made habitable by the
friends and characters bound (for the most part) within them. Back then
I would not have regarded myself a high acheiver, a late developer
perhaps. However, my Gordonstoun education rubbed off on me in a
manner I could never have predicted and I have reached this juncture
with a story to share. A story of achievement.
was one of my favorite experiences; the rugged beauty of her
landscapes making the enormous expanses and searing summer
heat worth the toil; running out of water hundreds of kilometres from
anywhere was a dicey exercise. I headed inland to Botswana and the
Okkavango Delta, hitching a few rides across parts of the vast Kalahari
Desert. The riding and bush camping amongst lions and elephants in
these parts was absolutely awesome.
Fresh off an absorbing three weeks sailing the ‘Ocean Spirit of Moray’
up near the North Pole, I was thrust into the world. After spending the
best part of two years working odd jobs around Southeast Asia and
New Zealand, I moved to Australia to study architecture. It was during
my years in Brisbane that cogs began to spin and stars aligned. Late
2010, I undertook an internship with an architectural firm in Hong
Kong. This entailed spending three hours each day riding the metro, an
experience more akin to that of a tinned sardine than a human being.
This commute either side of days stuck in front of a computer didn’t
endear me to life in an office. My favourite activities soon became
reading adventure books and admiring the view from my desk. A seed
for adventure was planted in my mind.
Continuing in a north easterly direction I hit Zambia and Victoria Falls.
The nature of riding thereafter changed, as the empty deserts of the
south transformed into the populated forests of Zambia, Malawi and
Southern Tanzania. An abundance of people on the roadside bringing
with it a new set of challenges. Riding the Indian Ocean coastline
of Tanzania and Kenya was a great experience, backed up by then
circumnavigating Kilimanjaro. Onwards to the mountains of Ethiopia
and one of the most unique countries on this earth. Exploring at the
pace of a bicycle, I truly got a feel for the cultures and landscapes
navigated. Ethiopia was nothing short of a revelation.
Fast forward one year. Having restored an old road bicycle in Australia,
I flew it over to Vietnam and set off from Saigon heading north. A
month and 2500km later I had reached my target of Hong Kong! It
was such a satisfying endeavour as I really got to know myself and the
places I passed through. As people, we all seem to be searching for a
purpose. There was something beautiful about the simplicity of cycling
as a form of adventure; getting from A to B felt immensely purposeful
because my progress was tangible. I knew this would spur me onto
bigger and better things.
Another couple of years passed as I knuckled down and completed my
architecture studies in Australia. During my final year, I hatched up a
plan with an old friend to do trans-Africa on four wheels. I worked for
a while longer down under to raise funds and made preparations to
head to Cape Town end of 2013. Only three weeks prior to departure,
my friend wanted to put the trip back one year, I however was not
in a position to oblige. This was the time, this was the chance to do
something great! Travelling alone I lacked sufficient funds to purchase
a motor vehicle, so was pressed into a last minute decision as to my
means of transport across the continent. Sod it, why not by bicycle?
Without a moment to lose (literally on the day of departure), I grabbed
my old mountain bike from the garage, whacked it into a cardboard
box and made haste for Africa. After a few weeks of preparation and
travel around South Africa visiting friends, I embarked on what ended
up becoming a 16,000km adventure across eleven nations.
At the outset I wasn’t very sure how far I’d get and took it very much
one country at a time. First things first, I forged my way up the west
coast of South Africa. Riding north, the landscape became increasingly
arid untill I reached the heart of the Namib Desert. Crossing Namibia
28
This was followed by an epic descent into the Sudan and the Sahara
Desert onwards. Crossing this part of the planet tested every fibre
of my being. Getting poisoned in Khartoum and spending time in a
Sudanese hospital was a definite low point of the trip. I somehow found
the fortitude to continue, following the Nile up into Egypt and gradually
regaining my strength. Needless to say, it was surreal and incredible to
reach Cairo on that crusty old bicycle! Cycling from Edinburgh to John
o’Groats with my father was a fitting way to cap an epic five months on
the road.
After working for half a year in Scotland, I went on to travel the
Americas and Carribean before settling down in Hong Kong. I recently
founded an adventure & eco tour company called Wild Hong Kong.
Now, with running my own business and twins due in the new year, my
next big adventure is just round the corner.
No regrets.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
by Sarah Anderson (Hopeman 2007)
I will always remember the first talk Mr. Pyper, headmaster at the time,
gave the lower sixth class of 2005, emboldening us to never miss an
opportunity that passed us by. These words inspired me to create
a fresh start for myself at Gordonstoun. A school trip to Thailand
between my lower and upper sixth years opened my eyes to the health
challenges that basic human requirements like clean water mandate.
With a team of Karen villagers, we installed a plumbing system and
river dam to facilitate fresh running water. Before arriving, I thought I
was going to build a dam. When I left, I knew that I was involved in
protecting a village of Thai people from the problems arising from
stagnant, contaminated water—something that generations of humans
from the first world take for granted every day. I realized that the
knowledge of this fundamental right to health can be easily shared and
disseminated. It shaped my path of study, and ultimately, my decision to
pursue an undergraduate degree in public health.
My senior paper was a project in which we had to design an
intervention for a public health problem of our interest. I chose to
research the health implications of human trafficking. This fascinated
me because one typically thinks of human trafficking as a human
rights violation, without acknowledging the severe impacts it has on
populations. I designed a rehabilitation center in India for rescued
victims. My hypothetical intervention had the primary aim of restoring
health to the victims. A physical health assessment would be made
upon their rescue, including tests for TB, HIV, and STIs. I emphasized
the importance of a mental health evaluation, as many of the victims
suffer from anxiety, depression, and PTSD. After completing the project,
I was eager to see how my idea of a safe-house differed from one
already existing in India.
After graduating from the George Washington University, I went to
Mysore, Karnataka in South India to volunteer with Odanadi, an
organization that executes rescue operations and houses victims of
trafficking until they are finished with school. While my case study
emphasized the treatment of disease and mental health problems, the
home in Mysore focused largely on education and future life goals.
Although nutritional deficiencies were obvious in the underdeveloped
children, the main concern of the organization was that they be
educated and move forward in their lives with less vulnerability to
traffickers. My primary role was to act as an English teacher, as the
ability to speak English in India is crucial for professional and social
currency. While this experience illuminated the idealism of my senior
project, I knew that I hadn’t reached my full potential.
It was clear to me that in order for me to make a bigger impact in the
lives of those in underserved communities, I would need to advance my
education in public health. Having a strong mathematical background
and an avid interest in biostatistics, I decided to concentrate my
master’s degree in epidemiology, or the study of the causes and trends
in illness among populations. My passion for travel and living among
new cultures led me to pursue my degree in Stockholm, Sweden at the
Karolinska Institute.
I was fortunate enough to be at a university that gave me the flexibility
to write my master’s thesis outside of Stockholm for our final semester.
I saw this as the perfect opportunity to gain field experience before
settling into a career after studying. I connected with a research group
in Zambia based out of Emory University in the United States, as they
were planning the implementation of an electronic fingerprinting system
to track HIV among high-risk groups in their clinics. The timing was
serendipitous, and I spent three months between Lusaka and Ndola
conducting the pilot test of the new system. As an epidemiologist
trained in Sweden, the experience of data collection and analysis in a
developing country was incredibly challenging and rewarding, and I
knew I had chosen the right career path.
Despite having left home in Los Angeles at the age of 16 to attend
Gordonstoun, I still didn’t feel ready to return home when I finished my
master’s in June. I have since returned to the UK, where I’m working
as an epidemiologist at a consulting firm in London. Here, we research
and forecast trends in diseases in 30 countries globally, to facilitate
biotech and pharmaceutical companies in the allocation of their
resources. Having previously only worked for non-profit organizations,
this has been a fascinating opportunity see the full spectrum of global
health players, and to witness the interconnectedness of the public and
private sectors. I can sincerely say that my time spent at Gordonstoun
was paramount in my decisions to pursue opportunities abroad and
to take the career path that I did, and I’ll always be grateful for the
unwavering encouragement of my teachers and peers during and after
my time there.
29
jumping IN head first
by Emma Jones
(Windmill 2009)
Since leaving Gordonstoun in 2009,
one experience during my time
at school impacted me in such a
profound way that it entirely decided
my career path. Taking a year out
after school, I applied to the University
of Bradford, one of six global Rotary
With my former housemistress,
Peace Centres, to study Peace and
Natasha Dangerfield,
Development. The decision to pursue
whilst working (briefly) as an
Assistant Housemistress under her
Peace Studies was cemented by a
Headmistress-ship, 2013,
return trip I made to Rwanda during
United Kingdom
2010 where I revisited the project site
of a Gordonstoun International Voluntary Service Project undertaken in
Rwanda during 2005.
Originally, the Gordonstoun team had built a volleyball court in Kirehe
District (South Eastern Rwanda) for Kaduha Primary School. When I
returned in 2010, the primary school facilities remained much the same
although with the net missing, the volleyball court was clearly not in
use and the school was largely empty (the Government of Rwanda had
built another nearby to fulfil promises of nation-wide access to primary
education). Thanks to the intensity with which the Gordonstoun Project
had affected me and because I travelled without the original Rwanda
team to re-visit the project site, the decision to return independently
in 2010 meant that my perceived truths about charity, development,
volunteering and aid were called into question in a powerful and
personal way.
Returning to the project site and establishing the tangible impact the
project had made fuelled my concentration in lectures and my appetite
to professionalise my experiences when I enrolled at the University
of Bradford. During my degree, I sought exposure through modules
on conflict resolution, peace studies, security studies, development
economics and international relations and, in particular, a three month
internship with Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment
(ACODE) in Uganda which is, funnily enough, right next to Rwanda.
Interning as a first year undergraduate, I worked alongside highly
qualified peers and realised just how experienced and qualified one
has to be to work effectively in international development. During my
internship, I matured significantly and returned to finish my degree,
graduating with first class honours. On graduating, ACODE invited me
to apply for a position as a full-time Program Assistant, supporting their
Peace and Democracy Programs which I duly did; I wasn’t going to wait
to be asked again!
In the past year, I have returned to Rwanda as part of a delegation to
The ACODE Team at a team building event, Kampala, 2015
30
co-host a Regional Security Roundtable, the 4th so far. ACODE worked
with the University of Bradford and the Rwandan Peace Academy to
bring together military and security experts, academics and civil society
representatives to critically engage in a frank and honest conversation,
deepening the understanding of the security dynamics, threats, and
possible interventions to strengthen the security architecture of the East
and Horn of Africa. It was absolutely fascinating and terrifying in equal
parts and we are now busy organising the 5th one.
Within Uganda, the formidable Local Government Score-card Council
Initiative (LGCSCI) team have been endlessly patient with me as we
have navigated 30 districts in Uganda. My specific role within the team
is to provide administrative support and take the lead on collecting,
coding and analysing qualitative data on service delivery during project
activities as LGCSCI works to enable citizens to
demand excellence of their local governments and enables local
governments to respond effectively and efficiently to those demands
with the use of a scorecard tool (designed and developed by ACODE).
Meanwhile, the monthly State of the Nation Platform (STON Platform)
has exposed me to a variety of public policy issues and forced me get
to grips with them instantaneously; I’m now a co-author on issues as
diverse as the liberalisation of the pension sector, the militarisation
of the National Agricultural Advisory Services , the localisation of
post-2015 development goals, electoral violence, peace and conflict
in the Great Lakes Region (specifically Burundi and South Sudan) and
reducing levels of mortality in children under the age of five years old,
to name a few.
Life has certainly been one heck of a ride already, and jumping in
head first has been both an advantage and a disadvantage beyond
the cocoons of Gordonstoun. An ability to bounce back and just get
on with things is an undoubted advantage although I now realise
how much I took for granted in terms of the emotional and practical
support offered by staff at Gordonstoun. In an amusing turn of events,
I found myself working as an Assistant House Mistress immediately
after graduating from university (for my former head of boarding, Mrs
Natasha Dangerfield, previously of Windmill Lodge) and only lasted
three months because, sincerely, it was too difficult!
Nevertheless, my initial trip to Rwanda with Gordonstoun left an
indelible mark on me that I have struggled to shake; it’s thanks to
the exhaustingly adventurous and original staff that I’ve found myself
living and working in Uganda, taking a motorbike to and from work,
crushing cockroaches, learning new languages, enjoying some of the
most incredible food and company I’ve encountered (aside from the
unendingly cohesive Windmill girls – we’re still in touch constantly via
whatsapp). As it stands, I hold Gordonstoun entirely responsible for my
current state of affairs; if I didn’t know there was more in me, I’d have
put the brakes on a long time ago!
MY TRIP TO ROMANIA
by Shalise Defreitas (Windmill Year 13)
My trip to Romania was an absolutely amazing experience and one that
I will never forget. I’m guessing you all know that the Romania Service
Project? Of all of the Gordonstoun International Service Projects
Romania is renowned for being emotionally challenging and I have to
say I was certainly challenged! Saying goodbye to all the kind people
we had got to know and the faces we became so used to seeing was
one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. At the end of the project
we were all deeply concerned for the future welfare of the young
people of whom be had become so fond.
During my time at Little John’s Summer School I became very close
to a brother and sister from the local children’s hospital named Raúl
and Georgina. They both suffered from Muscular Dystrophy, which
meant that their muscles will continue to weaken and waste away.
Raúl was a very bright character; very smart and he spoke very good
English. Despite his physical disability he loved playing basketball and
football as well as bouncing on the trampoline. Raúl and his sister were
preparing to leave the hospital and go back home to their parents and
other siblings. I do hope he and his sister are doing well.
Another pair of young people close to my age were Luca and Maria.
These two were best friends and both came from a rehab facility which
was within the children’s hospital. They had both been addicted to
drugs since they were about 13 years of age and they really wanted to
stop but given the environment in which they had grown up, it was very
hard for them. What really moved me about these two was that even
when they had only known me for a day they really opened up and told
me their stories. I am pleased to say that I felt that I did establish quite
a close friendship with these two over the course of summer school.
They also really helped out their Carers with the younger ones that
came with them from the hospital.
Inspired and moved by my experiences in Romania I have made the
decision to go on to study Child and Youth Studies or Childcare at
University. After this trip I have learnt to appreciate enormously what
the majority of people would take for granted. Many of the children
we worked with did not have their parents and they highly valued the
attention and friendship they were given. I feel that the experiences I
gained from the trip have readily prepared me for what I could face
in my chosen career. I believe that after this I am ready to face what
may come in my future and always have a sense of perspective on it
that has been enriched by my experiences in Romania. Romania has
changed all of us in ways that we never really expected.
I could have told you much more about my time in Romania but I
thought it would be best to tell you about some of the people I spent
time with and the profound effect the experience had on me. I do hope
I have given you a flavour of my incredible experiences and I would to
thank the Gordonstoun Association for enabling me get to Romania;
I really appreciate all your help and support!
31
OGGS
by Andrew Gordon
(OGGS Captain Windmill 1971)
After five years Angus Morgan the founding captain
of OGGS stepped down as captain at the AGM
in April this year. Angus was the driving force
behind establishing OGGS and over the past five
years he has encouraged and cajoled people to
join OGGS and get involved such that OGGS
is now well established with a good number of
members (95) and events. Angus was deservedly
given a good round of thanks at our AGM and
since his retirement from the captaincy his golf has
flourished as you will see from the results of this
year’s events.
Set out below is a summary of the events for 2015:
Ilkley – April
This was the 9th meeting held at Ilkley and the 16
golfers had the most delightful weather as the sun
shone brightly and there was no wind. A beautiful
and challenging golf course with the river Wharfe
running alongside a number of the opening holes
The Edinburgh Trophy
ready to gather straying golf balls. Phillip Campbell
played very well to win the day with 39 points.
The golf was followed by a highly convivial dinner
at which we had 26 people and we welcomed
Richard Devey and Steve and Kay Brown with news from the School.
Martin Scriven is to organise his 10th and last meeting at Ilkley in April
2016. Martin has been a wonderful and generous host over all these
years and it would be good to see a large turnout to support him in his
last year as host.
Moray - May
The Thursday and Friday before the GA weekend at the beginning
of May are now firm fixtures in the calendar for OGGS. The match
at Nairn on the Thursday against the School was played in beautiful
sunshine though there was a strong northerly wind coming straight off
the Moray Firth to remind us of those cold days learning seamanship
in Hopeman harbour! OGGS won the match 3.5 to 1.5. The School
team this year was made up of a number of younger players and
we can only expect that these players will progress into a better and
stronger team over the next few years under the enthusiastic leadership
of Ryan Denyer the master in charge of golf.
On the day of the School match we also held the AGM and a further
10 members of OGGS played Nairn following the match against
the School. We are indebted to Graeme Govan for making the
arrangements at Nairn not only for organizing the event but also
ensuring we could use the club’s boardroom for the AGM and allowing
us to have access to the club’s very interesting archives.
At the AGM we approved a donation of £500 from OGGS to the
School to support coaching for pupils and after the meeting a member
of OGGS very generously agreed to match this donation.
Our Annual Golf Meeting was held the next day at Castle Stuart, an
excellent modern links course with the most wonderful views over the
Moray Firth towards the Black Isle and the Kessocks Bridge crossing.
Another beautiful sunny day with thankfully less wind than we had
had the previous day at Nairn. We had 31 players at the event which
was won by Garry Welsh with 35 points on a countback from Andrew
Gordon with Harry Gow third on 34 points beating Andrew Lyall also
on a countback. Greg Carnie won nearest the pin and Matthew Tawse
won the longest drive.
This year we also had for the first time an over 70’s trophy (a pewter
mug) kindly donated by Greg Carnie. The inaugural winner was Angus
Morgan with 32 points, 22 gathered on the first nine. We can only
32
assume that the poor return on the back nine was due to tiredness
setting in following the wild celebrations he had had the night before
on his retirement as OGGS captain.
Lufness – May
At the invitation of Harry Waugh the Edinburgh event moved from
Brunstfield to Lufness in East Lothian. Lufness is one of the very best of
the East Lothian links courses, many say, particularly Lufness members,
that it is the equal of, if not superior, to Muirfield!
On Friday 29th May a select band met at the club for an excellent (and
long) lunch before teeing off in very good conditions. The final scores
were close with the Founding Captain walking off with the idiosyncratic
Edinburgh trophy. Once seen never forgotten.
London Scottish School Golf Society – June
Thanks to Bill Logan OGGS had a team in this match held at Denham
golf club and we managed a creditable third place out of 18 teams.
Stewart Melville won with 98 points and we scored 96 points (best 3
stableford scores from 4 team members). OGGS were represented by
Bill Logan, David White, Andrew Gordon and George Sutherland.
This is an annual event held in June each year at Denham which is a
fine Harry Colt course and the club is renowned for it’s excellent lunch.
Bill is keen to put out at least two teams next year and the date for your
diaries is Tuesday 28th June 2016.
Denham – September
Mike Doughty kindly organized this event for the second year at
Denham. We had moved it from July to September to encourage
more OGGS members to increase the participation from the 13 who
attended in 2014. Unfortunately the change in date didn’t swell the
numbers, but as for all the other OGGS events this year, we were
blessed with wonderful sunny weather. Ian Durrant ran out the winner
again this year with 34 points even after having had his handicap cut
by 2 from the prior year. Mike Doughty was second on 33 points with
Bill Logan finishing third. Andrew Gordon won the longest drive.
I would like to finish by giving my personal thanks to all the organisers
of the events and to Martin Scriven our treasurer and Brian O’Connor
our secretary for the time and commitment they have all given to
providing a successful programme of events over the past year.
OGGS MATCHES 2016
ILKLEY
Friday 15 April 216. 10th Anniversary Meeting.
MATCH V THE SCHOOL
Thursday 28 April 2016 at Nairn
AGM to be held prior to the match
ANNUAL OGGS TOURNAMENT
Friday 29 April 2016 at Castle Stuart
LSSGS TEAM EVENT
Tuesday 28 June 2016 at Denham
EDINBURGH & LONDON MEETINGS
Dates and locations to be advised
33
announcements
MARRIAGES
GROVE, Sally (Hopeman 1997) to Simon Keen on April 5th 2015
DOAK, Jaime (Plewlands 2002) to Blake Roger on August15th 2015 in Scotland
OBITUARIES
POULSON GARETH - 1953
HALLAM HAROLD (SAX) -Duffus 1959
LT COL KEITH MCINTOSH - Hopeman Lodge 1951
BEADLE MARTIN - 1954
HUGH MONCKTON - Windmill 1966
JONATHAN NEALE - Gordonstoun 1946
GEORGE LOWE - Altyre 1955
JOHN R FABER - Duffus 1948
THE DUKE OF FIFE - Gordonstoun 1948
RICHARD W HARBINSON - Round Square 1964
CHAMERLAYNE-MACDONALD Alexander - Altyre 1977
ALEXANDER MORGAN - Bruce 2009
COLLINS Ian - Round Square 1953
JOHN FRIEND - Gordonstoun 1957
THE REV WALTER VERNON STONE - Round Square 1937
COLONEL BEN ARKLE MBE TD - Round Square 1943
SIME Marjorie - Former Staff
Jonathan Janson – 1950
HALLAM HUGO - 1956
David Urquhart – Cumming 1970
The Gordonstoun Association
requests the pleasure of your company on
GA
Day
at Gordonstoun
Elgin, Moray IV30 5RF
Saturday 30 April 2016
This year GA Day coincides with the Junior Highland Games at Gordonstoun
and will conclude with dinner in the evening.
Please contact the GA Office if you would like to attend.
E: [email protected] T: 01343 837922
34
If you wish to share the news of your graduation, engagement, marriage, births
or notify the Gordonstoun Association of a bereavement,
please contact the Gordonstoun Association Office. Tel: +44 (0)1343 837922 or Email: [email protected]
THE GA 200 CLUB
THE GA 200 CLUB
YOU COULD BE IN
WITH A CHANCE OF
WINNING £1000!!!
The GA 200 Club requires more members.
Membership of the GA 200 Club costs just £30
a year. If you join the GA 200 Club you will
be doing your bit to help current students. The
surplus money that GA 200 Club generates
goes into a fund known as the Student Support
Fund which is available to students who require
financial help in order to participate in overseas
projects, such as the Thailand Water Project,
the Romania and Ethiopia Projects
Consideration is currently being given by the
GA Committee to increase the prize fund to
the following top annual prize of £1500 (from
£1000) May & Nov to £750 (from £500) and
the remaining months to remain at £40. Final
go ahead can only be given once the number
of members has increased from 110 to 145. In
the interest of all please apply for membership as
soon as possible, multiple numbers can be held.
The annual GA 200 Club £1000 prize is drawn
during the AGM, which this year will be held on
GA Day, at school on Saturday 30th April 2016.
As well as the £1000 prize drawn in May there is
a £500 prize which is drawn in November and
also a £40 prize drawn during each of the ten
remaining months of the year.
If you are interested in becoming a GA 200 Club
member, please contact the GA Office
by email [email protected]
or phone 01343 837 922
to request an application form.
35
upcoming Events
Calcutta Cup Weekend
Edinburgh
Saturday 6th February 2016
The GA Annual
London Dinner
Fino’s Wine Cellar, London
Friday 11th March 2016
The GA Yorkshire Dinner
Ilkley Golf Club
Friday 15th April 2016
GA Day 2016
Gordonstoun
Saturday 30th April 2016
GA Gathering
Germany
Friday 17th June 2016
GA Gathering
South Africa
Cape Town
Tuesday 19th July 2016
The GA Annual
Edinburgh Dinner
New Club, Edinburgh
Friday 26th August 2016
Year Group Reunions
Do you have a story you’d like to see published in the next edition of this magazine?
If so, please get in touch with the GA Office: [email protected] | +44 (0) 1343 837922