10 Really Good Reasons to Come to Our Summer School

By Claire MacGillivray, Director of GISS

Monday 20 December 2022

Gordonstoun Students Participating In Summer School Program

The Summer break is a long one, and it’s also valuable time to make the most of, when young people around the world have a break from their school routines and a chance to do something exciting and different, but which can also be life enhancing educationally as well. This is why choosing the right summer experience can be so hard. What is the best thing to do, and why?

The answer to the first part of the question is quite short – come to the Gordonstoun International Summer School. The second part is much longer, so we’ve kept it to 10 reasons why GISS is the best place to spend three and a half weeks of that long Summer break.

It will be an adventure that you will never forget. You will travel to the North of Scotland and take part in an outdoor adventure programme which involves sailing, surfing, kayaking, climbing, gorge walking, paddle boarding and abseiling. And you will also enjoy an indoor adventure programme which includes art activities, design and technology, music making, drama and sport.
You will make friends for life, as you live and learn and play with young people from all over the world.
You will discover new passions – doing things you didn’t know you’d like or be any good at – like archery, or horse riding, or golf, or go karting, or taking photographs, or writing short stories or dune jumping on the nearby sandy beaches. Everyone is good at something. It’s just a question of finding out what that is! And GISS is the perfect place in which to do just that.
You will enjoy doing things you already know that you love, because if you already love any of the activities on offer – and they are not all listed here – you can experience them at Summer School, in a new place, and alongside some new faces.
You will be taught and helped by people who love what they do. Many of the staff come back to GISS time and time again, and they are hand picked by the Director of Summer School, herself a former staff member. With one staff member to every three students, there is always someone nearby to reach out to for support, guidance, and to help you enjoy every single opportunity on offer, either outside the classroom or in.
You will spend time in one of the most beautiful parts of the world; with time spent on Gordonstoun’s expansive 200-acre woodland campus, just moments from the sea; and time spent on the West Coast of Scotland and in the Highlands – areas of the UK that are universally recognised as majestic.
You will learn more about the rest of the world and the people in it. We pride ourselves on the International element of our Summer School, ensuring that we welcome students from as many countries as possible, creating a truly global community of different cultures, values, ideals and life styles.
You will stay in a friendly, safe place that is a bit of camp, a bit of home, and not very much like a school at all. Because of the international community, you will also eat internationally – experiencing a broad and diverse diet of delicious food which, along with eclectic fare, also speaks the universal language of chocolate fountains and marshmallows!
You will grow and change – whether you are 8 or 16 or anywhere in between, by the end of summer school you will be surprised how much you have changed through these new experiences, whether that is by being away from home, making brilliant new friends from all over the world, learning new skills, or brushing up some old ones. You’ll understand not only who you are, but also what you are capable of. And you will have so much fun doing it!
And because of what you learn here, your future choices will expand! Whether that is because your English language improves, or because you have refined the art of dialogue – the way you present ideas and opinions – or have learned how to work in a team and lead a team, or have written a piece of literary genius or have become a programming ninja or a still life photographer or a crack shot, or a scratch golfer.….the opportunities are endless.