Gordonstoun

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Gordonstoun House

Gordonstoun (originally in full, the British Salem School in Gordonstoun) is a Scottish private school. It is often referred to as a public school, although strictly this is an English term.

1 History
2 Ethos
3 Alumni
4 Boarding Houses
5 Aberlour House
6 External links
7 References

[edit] History

Located in a 17th century house near Elgin, Moray, in Scotland - next to RAF Lossiemouth - it was founded as an international school in 1934 by the German educator Dr. Kurt Hahn. It was named after the first school established by Hahn, Schule Schloss Salem (School of the Castle of Salem) in Southern Germany. Although a fierce German patriot, Dr. Hahn had to leave Germany after the Nazis gained power, mainly on account of his Jewish background and critical stance towards national socialism.

[edit] Ethos

Hahn blended a traditional private school ethos with a philosophy derived, at least in part, from that of ancient Greece. This is most notable in the title "Guardian", denoting the head boy and girl, which Hahn took from Plato's Republic; the adoption of a Greek trireme as the school's emblem; and, most notably, a routine that could be described as spartan. He placed a high emphasis on militaristic discipline and physical education, particularly outdoor activities such as sailing and hill walking. It is therefore appropriate that the school's motto should be "Plus est en vous" (More is in you). The school formerly had a (possibly undeserved) reputation for harsh conditions, with cold showers and morning runs as a matter of routine and physical punishments, known as "penalty drill" or PD, in the form of long runs through the Moray countryside.

During World War II, the school temporarily moved to Llandinam in Wales.

It is best-known as the school attended during the 1960s by Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, on the recommendation of his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who had himself been one of the first students to attend Gordonstoun having previously been educated at Salem in Germany. Princes Andrew and Edward eventually followed in their father's and elder brother's footsteps. Of the four princes, three (Philip, Charles and Edward) were appointed Guardian (head boy) during their time at the school. Princess Anne, the Queen's only other remaining child, was not educated at Gordonstoun, which at that time was boys only. However, she did send her own two children there and also served for some time on the school's board of governors.

The school has changed since Prince Charles's time there. It had been a means tested school with boys from varied backgrounds, the rich paying far more than the poorer families. It had not been a popular school and was not really on the list of schools to which the wealthy wanted to send their boys. However after Charles's sojourn there it became fashionable. It later became, and remains, a co-educational school.

William Boyd has written in detail about his time there in Protobiography, although he never mentions the school by name.