Gordon's School CCF Brassard (And Cap Badge)..

[leigh kitchen]

I picked this up today, a Gordon's School Combined Cadet Force brassard, the title is in the school colours of green & yellow, the gold anodsed metal badge is the cap badge with the lugs very carefully removed.

Interestng in that the opportunity has'nt been taken to display the Gordon Tartan of the school's kilts etc on the brassard, but then if the tartan was displayed then presumably the school's name title would'nt be, & that's more easily identfiable than a patch of tartan.

I don't know a lot about Gordon's School, other than that it was a boys home set up by Queen Victoria in memory of General Gordon,, but a quick scan of wikipedia & the school's web site tells me:

Gordon's School was founded in 1885 by public subscription, at the express wish of Queen Victoria, as the National Memorial to General Gordon, who was killed at Khartoum in January 1885. Since its foundation, the School has been privileged to have the reigning Monarch as its Patron.

Originally a boys' home, and then a boys' boarding school, today Gordon's is a Voluntary Aided co-educational state school catering for full, weekly and day boarders. It is supported by the Gordon Foundation, an independent charitable trust established in 1888, which charges boarding fees for all categories of boarders.

Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools lists Gordons as one of Britains outstanding schools.

In inspections of Gordon's, Ofsted Inspectors have written; Gordons is an exceptional school with many excellent and outstanding features. Pupils behaviour and attitude to school was described as excellent, and relationships between staff and pupils as outstanding. The inspectors described the quality of the extra-curricular programme as going beyond excellence. Pupils emerge from the school as articulate, pleasant, well-rounded and confident youngsters. The quality of leadership was described as excellent and the inspectors wrote A very clear direction is set with an unstinting focus on the pursuit of excellence. There is no compromise on standards and the very good quality of education provided promotes high achievement.

Over the last ten years, Gordons has been regularly ranked in the top twenty non-selective schools in the country in the government performance tables.

Gordons is the most over-subscribed state school in Surrey with over five applications for every place.

CCF

The role of the Combined Cadet Force at Gordons School is to provide students with the opportunity to develop their powers of leadership, self reliance and resourcefulness.

The CCF forms an important part of the Schools extra-curriculum programme with all students joining the CCF in Year 10. Students may volunteer to join the CCF in Year 9 and elect to continue their training in Year 11 and during Sixth Form.

The CCF is tri-service offering students training in the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force services. Each of the three services meets on a Tuesday afternoon with support from School staff, Cadet Training Teams and current serving personnel.

As part of the programme, Cadets from each service participate in one field day per term which are normally held at military bases, for example, Royal Engineers Gibraltar Barracks in Minley, HMS Excellent and RAF Benson. Throughout the School year, students are encouraged to take part in weekend activities including orienteering, flying, sailing and field craft training. Each service holds annual camps and all students are encouraged to attend, which both, enhances their learning experiences and potential for promotion within their service. In addition to the training programmes, students participate in a number of group competitions including the National CCF Orienteering Championships; our Under 16 Boys team has held the National Champions title for the last three years.

Students are encouraged to participate in Combined Cadet Forces training. When they reach Year 9 of the school, they have the option of taking up Army training, RAF training, or Royal Navy training. In Year 10, this training is compulsory and pupils must choose a section for the duration of the year. These training activities take place after normal lesson times, (termed as 'period six' - being the period after the fifth and final period of lessons during the day) and are usually held once a week. They begin at around 4pm and usually finish between 5:00-5:30pm, after which students have dinner, followed by prep which commences at 6:30pm and finishes at 8:00pm. Staying for prep is optional for day pupils but recommended due to the supervision of various school tutors who are on hand to assist pupils.

Edited December 5, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

From the web site of "Windsor House" a girl's house, previously a boy's house named "Woolwich House" ("Windsor" with its castle is soooooo much more upmarket than "Woolwich" with its ferry):

Parade Practice

Parade practices are every Friday afternoon from 4pm to 5pm, this is instead of the students period six activity. Attendance at thesepractices is manditory.

Sunday Parade

The Sunday parade and service is an important part of the school's traditions-attendance at parade is a priority and is seen as a measure of the pupils commitment to the school - a register will be kept and will be taken into account when recommending pupils for prefectship. Parade uniforms must never be left lying around and should be hung up and cared for as they crease easily and the highest standards of turn out are expected.

The school's web sites show pupils in uniform with kilts, trews & headgear of Gordon tartan, & the cap badge as per the one on the brassard worn on headgear.

Personally, I think they all need a damned good haircut. Hrrrumph.

Edited December 5, 2009 by leigh kitchen

[leigh kitchen]

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[leigh kitchen]

Female Cadets, a closer view of the Gordan Tartan: