9th September 2022
A Message from the Head...
As you will all have heard, Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II passed away peacefully last night at her beloved Balmoral Castle. Senior royals made their way to be with her in her final few hours and today the tributes to her have been flooding in from all over the world. The UK’s longest-serving monarch was renowned and admired for her dignified, stoic and inspirational life of service and it is fair to say that we will not see another head of state like her in our lifetimes.
As a school we await guidance from the Department for Education regarding any official actions or closures that we may be subject to in the next couple of weeks and I will of course update everyone once I know more.
Sad news aside, it has been lovely to welcome everyone back into school this week.
Our new Reception, Upper 3 and Lower 6th pupils joined us on Wednesday so that they could settle in before all of the other year groups returned yesterday.
Having received a warm Gateways welcome, some of our new starters posed for a group shot this morning (picture above) and we hope that they all have a long, happy and successful Gateways journey ahead of them.
Coming next week ... a full update on our new 6th form centre, a summary of our A level and GCSE results from the summer and our usual articles from the various sections of the school.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
- Dr Tracy Johnson -
Pupil News
Gateways girls represent Team GB in Junior European Ultimate Frisbee Championships
On 5th August pupils from Lower 5 travelled to Poland for 10 days to represent Team GB in the Junior European Ultimate Championships. The girls have been playing Frisbee at school for a couple of years with Mr Crosby as their coach and were spotted at the Club National Finals last year by GB selectors and encouraged to trial for the GB squad.
They played for the Ladies U17 squad competing against many European countries. After a successful pool stage they ended up in the bronze medal match. Unfortunately it was not the result they hoped for and they finished in fourth place after losing a tough fought match against Germany. The silver lining was that they were crowned 'Spirit Champions' which meant all their opponents scored them highest in rules knowledge and use, fouls and body contact, fair mindedness, positive attitude & self control and communication. In a sport that has no umpires or referees this is quite a big deal!
What a brilliant week it was and a wonderful experience for the girls. 5/22 of the squad were made up of Gateways girls thanks to the fantastic coaching from Mr Crosby. Well done to Izzy & Lucy Dyer, Elle Johnson, Coro Hickman and Chloe Brogan, we are all very proud of you!
- Mrs Kathryn Dyer -
Ruby wins silver at international gymnastics competition
Well done to Lower 4 pupil Ruby Yang who travelled to Switzerland in July to perform display gymnastics with the Leeds Gymnastics Club Senior Display Team and Great Britain at Eurogym 2022.
Ruby said,
"As the days to the competition got closer, I became even more nervous as this was my first time performing internationally. I was in Switzerland, Neuchatel and I stayed at College des Terreaux. I was there for 8 days and went with 25 team members and 6 coaches. This was a big event; there were possibly 1000+ people from all of Europe - hence the name 'Eurogym'. I performed 3 times, but the main event was performed at 'Eurogym for life', which was where everyone's performances were accessed by the judges. It went very well; we won silver and got a card from the GBR team. Next year I am going to be performing in Amsterdam at a competition called ‘Gymnastrada’. This experience has taught me teamwork and given me confidence for the future."
Cherry and Fudge settle in
Our extra-furry new starters have settled in well on their first week at Gateways. Cherry, our school puppy, spent most of her time in the Prep School making herself comfortable in Mrs Wallis's office resting and has thoroughly enjoyed her interaction with pupils, in particular with Miss Avison's class and Mrs Hallam's class.
Cherry is now 19 weeks old and really enjoys meeting people; pupils and teachers alike have quickly fallen in love with her and I think she will continue to enjoy her role in school. Her tail wags as soon as she gets out of the car and arrives at school each morning. She made her first appearance in the welcome back assembly in Prep and she will be making an appearance in a High School assembly next week.
Littlegates has also had a new addition - Fudge the rabbit! Fudge has taken up residence in the outdoor learning environment. The pet shop owner told us that Fudge is in need of a lot of love and we thought that made her perfect for Gateways! It's safe to say she is settling in nicely and the children and staff love having her around.
Careers Fair 2022
Are you able to offer your extensive knowledge, skills and expertise for our up-coming Careers Fair taking place in the library here at Gateways on Thursday 6th October?
Our Careers Advisor Mrs Sharrock is looking for parents or members of the wider Gateways community from a range of career sectors to attend the event for a couple of hours on the afternoon of Thursday 6 October and join us for informal chats with Year 10, 11 and Sixth Form pupils.
The aim of the Careers Fair is to open up pupils’ awareness of the huge range of career roles available and the variety of pathways to qualifications and training. Access to people working within these sectors and the chance to ask questions about the day-to-day work is a vital element of effective decision-making for young people managing their future choices.
Please click here for more information. If you think you may be able to offer advice in a particular area of business and are available that afternoon please email Mrs Sharrock - Marlene.sharrock@gatewaysschool.co.uk
Firefly
Our main parental communication system is called Firefly . Please find below pdf guides for parents and pupils on how to use this app.
Please note - the School Handbook is also available on Firefly - this can be found under the resources/parents section and contains lots of useful information.
- Mrs Karen Titman -
Dates for diaries
Parents can check Firefly for details of all school events. Key events happening next week are:
Individual and sibling photos - Tuesday 13th September
Lower 4 HPV Vaccinations - Wednesday 14th September
Upper 3 residential - Wednesday 14th - Friday 16th September
