Following the recent story of Gordano School’s Head of PE, Emma Harradine, gaining fresh insight and inspiration at the European Team Table Tennis Championships in Croatia, the team at BBC Radio Bristol connected with her for an in depth interview to explore how those experiences are being brought back into the school community and how she’s hoping to inspire the next generation of coaches.

During the feature, Emma spoke about her involvement in the two-year national coaching programme “She Coaches,” through which she travelled to Croatia as part of the England table tennis teams. She reflected on her lifelong love of table tennis—beginning at just nine years old—and her journey to becoming England’s No.1 in the Over-40s category.

Emma also shared her impressions of the thriving veterans sporting scene and offered a unique behind-the-scenes perspective on the European Championships, including insights into the self-management and professionalism expected from elite athletes. She explained how her love for sport and the experiences gained through international coaching directly influence her work at Gordano School—from inspiring students through real-world sporting examples to showcasing pathways for females into coaching and leadership roles.

Finally, Emma expressed a huge thank you to Gordano School for its continued support, particularly to the Head and her team, whose encouragement has enabled her to pursue these opportunities and bring that inspiration back to benefit the students.

The feature offers an engaging look at how international sporting experience can enrich school sport, helping to foster ambition, resilience and opportunity among the next generation.

Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds (around the 40-minute mark of the 12.11.25 show): https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/p0h3nph2

Gordano School is celebrating the success of 49 A Level students who took part in the UKMT Senior Maths Challenge. 7 received Gold certificates, 9 received Silver and 16 received Bronze. 

We are delighted to celebrate the achievements of Natalia, one of our former students from Gordano School, who has recently completed her undergraduate Master’s degree in Engineering Science at Brasenose College, University of Oxford.

In her reflective student blog post, Natalia shares an inspiring account of her four years at Oxford.

A journey she describes as “intense” but also “the best decision she ever made.” From engaging with world-leading academics to dancing at college balls, Natalia embraced every opportunity that came her way.

Her time at Oxford culminated in an innovative Fourth Year Project titled “What the Fork? A Robotic System for Personalised Kitchen Drawer Organisation.” Combining humour with high-level research, Natalia developed a robotic system capable of sorting kitchen items intelligently, even integrating a Large Language Model (similar to ChatGPT) to adapt to different users’ preferences.

Natalia also writes warmly about the friendships and experiences that defined her time at Brasenose, from debating quirky topics in the Junior Common Room to enjoying the legendary weekend brunches (and over 300 hash browns!).

We are incredibly proud of Natalia’s success and the creativity, curiosity, and dedication she continues to embody. Her story is a wonderful example of where passion for learning can lead — from Gordano School to the heart of Oxford’s Engineering Science community.

Congratulations, Natalia, on your outstanding achievement!

It’s been a thrilling term of rugby across the year groups, with plenty of grit, determination, and standout performances!

Every year, our Languages Department proudly celebrates the European Day of Languages – a Europe-wide event held annually on 26th September to promote linguistic diversity and cultural awareness.