A Message from the Head...

The picture above might seem like an odd image to be leading a newsletter with, but I wanted to draw your attention to some debates which will be taking place at this event next week which might worry some parents.

Many of you will be aware that independent schools sometime get a rough political ride!  Various initiatives which have been mooted in the past have been charging VAT on school fees and removing the charitable status independent schools enjoy which enable them to qualify for tax relief on business rates.  These old chestnuts are re-surfacing at the Labour Party Conference next week and are to be joined by a motion to integrate all schools, seizing the assets of independent schools and merging pupil populations across both sectors.  There is also a motion to limit the number of UCAS applications that independent schools may make on behalf of their Upper 6th pupils.  Motions which gain approval at Conference might then become part of the Labour Party's manifesto for the next General Election.

Whilst this all sounds horrific and the language being used within these debates is certainly highly emotive, I just wanted to reassure parents that none of this is news to the independent school sector.  Our membership associations, such as HMC, ISA and GSA, have kept us fully informed of developments and they are working alongside the Independent Schools Council to monitor the situation closely, and to pursue a media and political strategy both to respond to the debate and engage with Labour on the plethora of practical difficulties that would be involved in implementing such policies.

One only has to contemplate where all of the circa 600 000  independently educated children would go if independent education was abolished to begin to see some great gaping holes in the finances of such proposals.  Indeed, how would the government manage to fund the provision of this number of additional school places overnight when it already can't seem to fund places for all of the children it should currently support?

So, do listen to the debates of course, one can never safely rule anything out, especially in UK politics at the moment, but this story has a long way to run yet and many problems must be solved before any such proposals could be implemented.

If you would like to read some articles which present a range of views on this topic, I have collected a couple along the way this week and uploaded them to our website.  Click on the image below to be re-directed to them.  Enjoy! 

On a lighter note, the Leadership Team charity challenge takes pace on Sunday, and we all have our fingers crossed to avoid the scenario pictured above during our 46 mile bike ride 'up hill and down dale' around what feels like most of North Yorkshire! 

I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported us so far - the total raised for Cancer Research UK at the moment stands at an amazing £1,801.60 !  It's not too late to add to our total though so please visit our Just Giving page here if you would like to support us.

The mini blog posted on our Facebook page tonight will be from Mrs Wallis and Mrs Bartle concludes the series tomorrow night with a moving tribute to her mother-in-law.

See you on the other side on Monday morning!

- Dr Tracy Johnson - 

Parents & Friends of Gateways

We would like to give notice that the AGM of the Gateways Parents & Friends Association, will be held on Wednesday 16th October 2019 at 8.45am in the Garden Room.  Everyone is welcome to attend this meeting so please feel free to join us.

Planning is well underway for our Festive Fayre on Thursday 28th November so please save this date in your diaries!  More information will be posted here over the coming weeks. 

The Fayre will start at 2.30pm and will finish at 5pm so, whatever your pick-up time, you can pop in to enjoy some festive treats and to get ahead of the game with your Christmas shopping! 

Friends and extended family are welcome to come along to this event too.  It was a huge success last year and we want to make it even better this year!

- Mrs Kathryn Dyer, Chair of the PFA - 

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