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Go to child profileGordonstoun Nova Scotia is approached through an 18 acre orchard. Architecturally designed, net zero energy school buildings include residences, classrooms, gymnasium, science labs, technology centre and a gathering space. On-site food production is sourced from the school greenhouse and locally. The school faces south overlooking a lagoon and the Annapolis Basin. The site includes equipment storage sites and faculty housing. Several playing fields, the lagoon and access to the Bay of Fundy complete the school.
What learning looks like now: Prior to reopening schools will: • Conduct a deep-clean of all school indoor environments, including classrooms, bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms • Decide on any regular testing procedures and advise pupils and parents accordingly. Support Covid-19 testing wherever possible • Evaluate and adapt any medical procedures to ensure compliance with the recommendations of public health bodies • Ensure that staff do not work (or have contact with pupils) if they have symptoms, have tested positive or have been in contact (within the last 14 days) with anyone who has • Provide a suitable isolation area to care for pupils who show symptoms and/or test positive • Train staff in the safe management of boarding houses under new guidance and school procedures and in Covid19 nursing for appropriate staff • Advise parents, guardians and agents of the school’s policies on contact sports, trips and external matches, school assemblies and the provision of boarding during which students have leave passes and half-term holiday https://gordonstoun.org.uk/latest-news/an-update-on-coronavirus
Can boarders live on-campus? N/A
Gordonstoun, Scotland, was founded in 1934 by Kurt Hahn, and though times have changed, the strength of the school reflects the ideals that he hoped to express. While he’s not as well-known as some others who developed ground-breaking programs in the early part of the last century—Maria Montessori, Rudolph Steiner—you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who has had a greater effect on how we think about education. Hahn's list of accomplishments is a hint: he founded the Salem school in Germany and Gordonstoun in the UK, both renowned for all the right reasons. (In addition, Gordonstoun is famously the alma mater of three generations of the British royal family, including the Duke of Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales.) In addition, Hahn created three co-curricular programs that are now delivered around the world: Round Square, the Duke of Edinburgh Award, and Outward Bound. That one person was involved in all is astonishing. At any rate, they all express what Hahn wanted education to do, namely to give students a sense of purpose and prepare them in mind, body, and intellect to go out and change the world for the better. Which, actually, is something he knew something about. As an educator in Germany, he encouraged his students to speak out against the rise of national socialism. For that, he was arrested, put briefly in jail, and then emigrated to England as a political refugee. This was a man who knew what the world could do, and what in turn we could do to affect change within it. Gordonstoun Nova Scotia is the first satellite school of the one Hahn founded in the UK—in time there may well be others—and is created to extend its work. Academics are rigorous, following the liberal arts model. There is also an attention to challenge by choice, encouraging students to reach further in terms of their academic, physical, and social development. In addition to mastering the core curriculum, students are asked to consider how they can serve their communities and are then encouraged to do just that. Outdoor education, understandably, is a focus, and the location, to say nothing of the campus itself, are resources in that regard. While some of the ideas that Hahn helped usher into international consciousness—it’s not so unusual these days, for example, to think of educating the whole child—Gordonstoun Nova Scotia is uniquely positioned to take the tradition of the school and extend them it creative, cutting-edge ways. Certainly, it has a lot to offer to students locally as well as those arriving from across the country and around the world.
Some private schools offer International Baccalaureate (IB) programming. The "Diploma Programme" is offered to students in the final two years of high school, while the "Primary Years Programme" (ages 3 to 12) and "Middle Years Programme" (ages 11 to 16) serve as preparation for the diploma program.
Program | offered |
---|---|
Primary Years | |
Middle Years | |
Diploma program | |
Career-related program |
Focus | Special needs |
---|---|
Science and technology | Gifted |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Evolution as consensus theory | |
Evolution as one of many equally viable theories | |
Evolution is not taught |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Biology | |
Chemistry | |
Ecology | |
Geology | |
Meteorology | |
Physics | |
Physiology | |
Zoology |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Acting | |
Dance | |
Drama/Theatre | |
Graphic Design | |
Music | |
Visual Arts |
Subject | offered |
---|---|
Computer science | |
Robotics | |
Web design |
Flexible pacing style | offered |
---|---|
Subject-streaming (tracking) | |
Multi-age classrooms as standard | |
Ability-grouping (in-class) as common | |
Frequent use of cyber-learning (at-their-own-pace) | |
Regular guided independent study opportunities | |
Differentiated assessment |
Subject Type | offered |
---|---|
Learning strategy and study counselling; habit formation | |
Extra support and minor accommodations for children experiencing subclinical difficulties |
Subject Type | offered |
---|---|
Accommodations | |
Modifications | |
Extra support |
Read our guide to special needs schools and special education
Program | offered |
---|---|
Full-time gifted program (parallel to rest of school) | |
Part-time gifted program (pull-out; parallel to rest of class) |
Curriculum delivery: This information is not currently available.
Program | offered |
---|---|
Custom subject enrichment (special arrangement) | |
Custom curriculum compacting (special arrangement) | |
Guided independent study (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Cyber-learning opportunities (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Formalized peer coaching opportunities (specifically for gifted learners to coach others) | |
Custom subject acceleration (special arrangement) | |
Career exploration (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Project-based learning (custom gifted arrangement) | |
Mentorships (custom gifted arrangement) |
Competitive sports: N/A
Recreational sports: 1
Gordonstoun Nova Scotiadoes not offer any clubs or extracurricular programs.
9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
Day | $41,340 | |||
Boarding | $68,900 |
Grades | Gender | Living Arrangement | Enrolment | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Group 1 | Gr. 9 to Gr. 12 | Coed | Boarding | 600 |
Group 2 | Gr. 9 to Gr. 12 | Coed | Boarding | 288 |
Total enrolment | 888 |
Average class size | 15 to 20 |
% of international students (total enrolment) | 86% |
Number of different nationalities within student population | 5 |
Five-day boarding program offered | No |
% in boarding (grade-eligible) | 100% |
9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boarding Enrollment | 150 | 150 | 150 | 150 |
Class Size | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
Assessment | Required | Grades |
---|---|---|
Interview | ||
SSAT | ||
SSAT (out of province) | ||
Entrance Exam(s) | ||
Entrance Essay |
Application fee: $1,000
Registration fee: $0
Deposit:
N/A
There is a $1000.00 application fee which is non-refundable
This is the percentage of applicants typically accepted into the school. So if 50 students are admitted out of 100 applicants, the school has an overall acceptance rate of 50%.
Creating Gordonstoun Nova Scotia with the traditions and ethos of its parent school in Gordonstoun Scotland is an exciting challenge. The 184 acre Annapolis County school site overlooks the Annapolis Basin with access to the Bay of Fundy. Nearby there is historic Annapolis Royal, Kejimkujik National Park and Champlain’s first habitation at Port Royal. Students and faculty alike will be the founders, an experience no subsequent class will share or enjoy. The curriculum brings the highest world standards set by the International Baccalaureate Organization in the form of the Diploma Program. But Gordonstoun both in Scotland and Nova Scotia is much more than just academics. There is a focus on the development of the whole individual - physically, mentally, artistically and socially. The Gordonstoun watchwords of teamwork, responsibility, resilience, achievement, service and internationalism are central to the ethos of Gordonstoun Nova Scotia.
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