October Half Term 2019A Message from the Head...As always, we ended the first half of the Autumn term with what is arguably THE event of the year, the House Music Competition. The standard of performance was yet again, mind-blowingly high, with a huge variety of musical genres on offer. Newby won overall (they were quite pleased as the photo above shows!) but the competition was nip and tuck all the way through with just a few points separating all three houses at the end of the day. Our FaceBook page has a gallery of photos from the event and a few of the videos have also been uploaded to our YouTube channel, including the one below of Jere literally raising the roof of the PAC! Thanks go as always to the House Leaders, Heads of Houses, House Assistants and House Helpers as well as to all the pupils for the massive effort that goes into putting on such a fantastic event. I shall miss hearing the singing around school when we return next week! New opening time for Youngers...As per my Isams communication to parents just before we broke for half term, please can I remind you that if you have a child based in the main Prep building (Youngers) then, from Monday 4th November, the doors will be open from 8.15am to try and alleviate car park congestion. If you are using this early facility, please drop your child off and vacate the car park as quickly as possible since hanging around for a chat will totally defeat the purpose of the initiative! Littlegates will continue to open at 8.25am. At the end of the school day, pupils in Upper 1 upwards will now be dismissed at 3.45pm and once again, please collect your child / children and vacate the car park promptly to free up space for High School collection. Those pupils waiting for school buses, staying for a club, waiting for High School dismissal time or going to Sundowners will be looked after in Youngers until 4pm. Can I also remind all High School parents that High School dismissal is not until 4pm so please do not arrive in the car park before that time in order to allow Prep parents to leave more easily. You will also find it much easier to park after 4pm! We will trial the new opening time for the second half of term to determine whether it is being utilised and if it is helping to make the best use of the limited car parking space we have. Lastly - I would remind all parents that the drop-off zone is for dropping off only. Please do not pull into that area and vacate your car. Thank you all in advance for your cooperation. The Fireworks Extravaganza is upon us, almost...This event is almost sold out now with just a few tickets remaining either via email to Mrs Wallis or via the ticket hosting website Eventbrite. Gates will open at 6pm and please do not arrive before this time as access will not be permitted. If you would prefer to park elsewhere for this event then the Muddy Boots cafe in Harewood has kindly offered us some space in their car park for the evening. If parking in the school car park then it is imperative that you follow the instructions of the staff directing you at all times. If you need to collect a child from Homework Club / Sundowners / The Gatehouse Nursery on Tuesday evening it would be very much appreciated if you could do so before 5.45pm so that the car park is totally empty before the gates are opened for the event. It's sure to be another fantastic evening and I look forward to sharing it with you all. I hope you have all had a great half term and I look forward to welcoming you all back to school on Monday. In the meantime, have a great weekend. - Dr Tracy Johnson - Verity's journey into poetryOne of our Upper 5 pupils, Verity, recently read her poetry at the Ilkley Literature Festival and has some of her poems published in the anthology 'The Night School Poets'. This is her account of how she began her journey into poetry... So, what happens when you are a thirteen-year-old teen and your mum thinks you could do with some extra help to improve your creative English? Well let me tell you what my mum did...she only went and enrolled our whole family on a “Write a Collection of Poetry” evening course for one year! She said it “would be a fun family thing to do!” I was amazed at the transformation of an ordinary school, as “how I know it” (through the eyes of a teen) as at night it became a hive of creativity and full of older people. It was like this school had a secret life at night. I admit, at the beginning I was dragged kicking and screaming - silently protesting to the hilt (AKA teen sulking being in full on 'huffing and tutting' mode). Not to forget the eye rolling at mum - I really did give her a hard time. Two years on from the experience I find myself saying, “My mum really does know best.” I even found myself enjoying and looking forward to our weekly poetry sessions. It was lovely to do something as a family. Meeting people from different walks of life has inspired me and made me more confident. I am also proud of the poetry I have written documenting the trials and tribulations of a regular teen. - Miss Verity Zaffar - A Meeting in the Sun by Verity Zaffar Mrs McDermott’s A to Z of half marathons Over the past two years I have been running an A to Z of half marathons. It has been quite a test trying to find places within a two-hour drive radius of Leeds that have half marathon events representing each letter of the alphabet! Last weekend I completed the challenge of Z in Zagreb, the Croatian capital. After all those miles of running I thought I deserved a little treat so I did the last one abroad. For the letter Z half marathon, I have been raising money for the Candlelighters charity, a Yorkshire based charity who support families facing children's cancer, a cause that has become very close to me over that two years since I started the challenge. If you want to find out more please follow the link: Above is a photograph of the medals I earned along the way, the eagle eyed amongst you will note there are not 26 medals here, rather frustratingly, a few races didn’t give out medals (I still have the race numbers as evidence of the events instead!). - Mrs Colette McDermott - Ecuador Expedition 2020 - Friday Tuck Shop Next summer the Lower and Upper 6th form will head off on their expedition to Ecuador where they will be involved in local community projects. To help raise money for the families out there, a tuck shop will be held every Friday from 3:15pm - 4:15pm in the PAC foyer. Please help us to raise some much needed funds! - Mrs Helen Arnold - Orla's showjumping success in Switzerland Last weekend one of our Lower 6 pupils Orla Duffy competed in Chevenez, Switzerland. She jumped in 6 classes, winning 4 of them and was placed 2nd in the other two. Sunny won her two classes and was placed 5th in the small tour final. Vales Blue Song was 2nd on the first day and won the small tour final. Atlanta jumped clear to help secure a win in the Nations Cup team event for Ireland and was placed 2nd in the Grand Prix. What an amazing result - well done Orla! Quick Links To Popular ContentArticles from ...Parents & Friends of GatewaysDon't forget to put 28th November in your diaries for our annual Festive Fayre! Join us from 2.30pm in the Performing Arts Centre for festive treats, refreshments and much more. - Mrs Kathryn Dyer, Chair of the PFA - Reminder : Please be aware that we are a nut free school so if food is being brought in from home please make sure it doesn’t contains nuts. This includes selection boxes of chocolates as many of these contain some nut options. |