While taking part in one of their weekly training sessions on the Moray Firth, the Gordonstoun Surf Lifesaving students encountered a pod of 10 dolphins. They were about to end their training session for the afternoon when they were suddenly joined by the dolphins for half an hour of fun in the water. This is a busy time of year for our senior students, who are working hard for their GCSEs and A levels and this will have provided much needed relief from their studies.
The Surf Lifesavers are part of Gordonstoun’s Pool Lifeguard Service which is one of nine other services at Gordonstoun. Gordonstoun’s service programme is one of the largest and most diverse of any school in Britain and has been an integral part of Gordonstoun’s curriculum since 
1936 when the ‘Watchers’ service was founded (this service was the precursor to the Coastguards). Students between the age of 7-18 take part in community service in some form. Senior students give their time to service for at least one afternoon a week, but many services require far greater commitment. For example, students in the Gordonstoun fire service are on call 24 hours a day, one week in three, whilst the Tech Team support chapel seven days a week and last year ran about 430 internal and external events over the school year.
We believe that taking part in community service benefits young people in different ways – taking on real responsibility helps them gain compassion, self-esteem and learn the importance of contributing to society. They learn to put other people’s needs before their own which helps nurture empathy – a crucial skill for the future. We also find that by seeing things through, they gain greater resilience which in turn enhances their academic performance.
Philip Schonken, International Co-ordinator and Head of Beach Lifeguards at Gordonstoun said; “The experience our students had swimming with dolphins during their service training session to become Surf Lifesavers is just one example of the many magical things about this part of the world and it really highlights the wonderful opportunities presented to students at Gordonstoun. I can’t think of a better way for them to have de-stressed in preparation for their exams.”