The Record - Gordonstoun

around the boarding housesDuffusBy Mr Andrew Lyall, HousemasterPlewlandsBy Mrs Claire Sapsford, HousemistressIn a year when we have heardthat Duffus is going to move ontocampus, we continue to go fromstrength to strength and remain, inour eyes, a fantastic home awayfrom home tucked away at the endof the drive.This time last year the departingYear 13 students presented theHouse with its own flag and we nowhave a Duffus House Flag Serviceat the beginning and end of everyterm! Below the fluttering flag wehave 14 nationalities that makeup the global family of the Houseand, as is usual for any House atGordonstoun, we have seen successin numerous guises across thespectrum.We have welcomed the firstGordonstoun Fire Scholar, HamiltonBurr, through our doors at thestart of the year. Amongst Fireresponsibilities, Hamilton has alsogone on to be selected for theScottish Rugby U17 squad. DouglasJardine, who leaves us after fiveyears in the House, won the inter-House Cross-country for the fifthconsecutive year (two as a juniorand three as a senior) - a verycommendable achievement anda hard act to follow! Two Duffusboys in the last 12 months havepassed their Private Pilot’s Licenceand were able to fly planes beforethey could drive cars!We say goodbye to not onlydeparting students this term butalso three members of staff. DaveMcCallum leaves to take up afull time post in G-House afterfive years as a tutor; RichardCavaye, after two years as a tutor,moves on to be the Year GroupLeader for Year 9; and finally,Mark Wildman, who has been afantastic AHM, leaves Duffus andGordonstoun for pastures new.They have all been committedto the House and leave with ourthanks and best wishes.Plewlands House has had manysuccesses this year, and every singlemember of the House has manythings to feel proud of. Not onlyhave we fared well in inter-Housecompetitions, but we also stageda huge event which raised moneyfor our House charity, Parkinson’sUK. The event was mastermindedby Colour Bearer and Year 13student Fiona Tattersall, and sawmembers of our household reelingcontinuously for 12 hours in ourCommon Room. Sustained by MissMullan’s never-ending supply ofsnacks, the girls skipped, jigged andspun their way to raising over £1600for this very worthy cause. We had afew casualties - socks worn through,blisters and very weary limbs - buteveryone was elated to get to theend and see our fabulous grandtotal.The philanthropic spirit hascontinued throughout the year too,with many of our Year 12s and 13sraising money to go off on variousprojects across the world in thesummer months. Delicious brownies,cake pops and rocky road havebeen on the menu to buy in theHouse; we have quite a collection ofyoung entrepreneurs!The House tuck shop has beensuccessfully manned by three pairsof Year 12 over the three terms,and they have made a big effort tostock Fair Trade goodies. Indeed,Plewlands girls Fiona Sutherlandand Elizabeth Armstrong (Year 13)have been at the forefront of theschool campaign to gain Fair Tradestatus. They have worked tirelesslywith Mrs Henderson and therefectory to raise awareness of thisimportant issue, and the FairtradeBake-off certainly did this in style.All the Houses were challengedto bake a cake using Fair Tradeingredients and our team whippedDave McCallum Richard Cavaye Mark Wildman6