24th February 2023
A Message from the Head...
On Saturday, 76 pupils and 8 staff returned from a fantastically sunny half-term week skiing in Folgarida, Italy.
With many of the skiers being first-timers, skills developed quickly and soon everyone was venturing higher up the mountain onto more challenging slopes.
Lots of photos of the trip were posted in various photo albums on our Facebook page with regular updates also being posted on our Twitter feed @gatewaysskittrip
Our annual ski assembly will be held in a few weeks when the 2024 trip will also be launched so watch this space for more news of that!
When school reopened on Monday morning after the half term break, the call was received from ISI advising us that our long-anticipated Compliance Inspection would be taking place on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Not quite the start to the week we had been expecting but hardly surprising given that we have been waiting for this inspection since October 2021!
My sincere thanks go to all staff, parents and pupils for completing the questionnaires which always inform the direction an inspection takes. I am also grateful to staff and pupils for their efforts taking part in interviews and work scrutinies etc.
The report will be available in 5-6 weeks and I look forward to sharing it with everyone once it is published.
Just before we broke for half term, parents, pupils and staff were invited to sum up Gateways, its ethos and its values in just 3 words.
This exercise was designed to elicit what everyone valued most about Gateways and about being part of our community.
The results have been summarised in 3 graphics above and a larger view of each graphic can be seen by clicking on the image itself.
Many of the words used by each of the three sections of our community are similar, yet it is interesting to see the different emphasis within each community. The larger the word the more times it appeared in the returns (apart from the labels PARENTS, PUPILS & STAFF of course!)
Thank you to all who took part in this important exercise which will help to inform the next stage in developing our school vision for the next 5 - 10 years.
As part of our preparations for World Book Day next week, the children in Key Stage 2 were visited yesterday by the author, Clare Povey.
Clare talked to the children about her writing and inspiration and then focussed on creating characters. She looked particularly at villains in children’s literature and gave the children tips on how to create intriguing, interesting villains of their own. The pupils will be following this up on World Book Day next week. More World Book day activities will take part in Prep next Thurs and High School next Friday. Look out for articles in next week's newsletter!
With no rest for the wicked, Mrs Wallis and I depart on Sunday for the annual Society of Heads conference for Headteachers. The theme this year is sustainability and I look forward to sharing some highlights with everyone in next week's newsletter. We will return to school on Thursday morning.
In the meantime, only a few tickets remain for the next Performing Arts event in the school diary - the Cabaret evening to be held on March 8th.
Please click the button below to read more about this exciting event and to secure tickets before they are all gone!
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
- Dr Tracy Johnson -
School Governor Mrs Borlant climbs Kilimanjaro for mental health charity Beyond
Our newest Governor is Mrs Julie Borlant, Old Gatewegian and parent of former Head Girl Jenna Borlant.
Mrs Borlant, along with a group of 15 people, including other old Gatewegians Rachel Woolford, Orla Duffy and Aileen Duffy, recently completed a gruelling fundraising challenge to climb Kilimanjaro for a small mental health charity - Beyond. It was an extremely tough challenge but they all made it to the summit and have raised over £42,000 for Beyond – an amazing achievement and a fantastic cause.
Pictured above from left to right are Mrs Borlant, Rachel, Orla and Aileen.
To read more about the challenge and the charity Beyond, please visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/julieborlant
Laura’s suit design worn by Emma Thompson at the BAFTAs
Laura Pitharas (née Marsh) attended Gateways from 1998 – 2009 and went onto study Menswear Tailoring at the London College of Fashion. Laura has a very successful career within the fashion industry and recently had one of her items showcased by Dame Emma Thompson at the BAFTAs. Laura designed the white tailored tux Emma wore to the awards event which has been featured in several leading magazines and on social media.
Click here to see Dame Emma Thompson referring to the Laura and the tux.
Laura’s luxury tailored designs are known for being sustainable; all garments are made in the UK with wool fabrics sourced directly from Yorkshire. Find out more on her website -https://laurapitharas.com or follow her on Instagram - @laurapitharas
PFA Spring Chocolate Fair
