13th January 2023
A Message from the Head...
If it's not too late to say it, I'd like to wish all our readers a very Happy New Year and say that I hope 2023 proves to be a good year for you all.
This week we welcomed everyone back to Gateways after the Christmas break. Everyone has settled back in very well, including Cherry who was very excited indeed to be back with all of the pupils and staff. She is pictured above on a walk with Pre-Reception earlier this week!
Of course, not everyone was able to relax over the break as our Upper 5 pupils were only too aware that on Tuesday of this week they would have to sit the first paper in their GCSE Mathematics exam series. The second one will follow hot on its heels next Tuesday and we wish them all the very best of luck for that. Then, when the results are in, the pupils will be able to choose either to stick with their grade and give up maths in order to concentrate on their other GCSEs, to resit in the summer and get a better grade or to opt to study for an extra GCSE in the form of Further Maths eventually taking that in the summer alongside their other subjects.
New staff starters...
Three new members of staff joined us at the start of term and they are pictured above. From left to right:
Mrs Alison Taylor replaces Mrs Kelly as our Examinations Officer so she has had a baptism of fire arriving with us only to find she has 2 GCSE papers to quickly administer!
Mrs Ivana Anderson joins us, also replacing Mrs Kelly, this time in terms of her maths teaching!
And last but not least, Miss Sarah Iveson joins the Learning support Department as a specialist Learning Support Tutor.
I hope you will all give them a warm Gateways welcome if and when you come across them.
- Dr Tracy Johnson -
Pupil news
Sixth Form pupil Faith awarded Highly Commended for her environmental presentation
Eager readers of the newsletter may remember that back in November, I wrote an article in the High School section about one of our Year 12 pupils, Faith Falinya.
Faith took on the challenge of Gresham College’s first competition that asked students to make reasoned arguments in a 5-minute video presentation that would promote deeper understanding of the environment and develop oracy skills.
Over 360 applications were submitted from students across the country so we are incredibly proud of Faith who received a Highly Commended certificate for her video on her chosen topic of “What should the UK Government do about the environment that will benefit your generation?”.
Huge congratulations to Faith who we hope will continue to use her wonderful debating skills in future.
- Mrs Elizabeth Hayward -
Alumni Mehak Sood wins poster competition and has her first article published
Former pupil Mehak Sood is currently studying medicine at Leeds University and has recently presented at her first medical conference.
Mehak had a poster screen presentation session based on her research followed by a Q and A session from consultant surgeons. Her poster won a prize at the event and in addition to this she has also had an article published (which she is a named author on) - click here to read. This is a fantastic achievement for one so early on in her University studies. Very well done indeed Mehak!
High School awards assembly
On Friday morning we held our awards assemblies to celebrate the achievements High School pupils over the course of the Autumn term.
Subject awards were handed out for excellence and effort. Excellence certificates are for those pupils who have attained the highest academic results in homework, class work and module tests. The effort award is given to pupils who have worked hard and put a lot of effort into improving their own performance, within a subject, in a sustained way. Not everyone receives a certificate whereas some pupils can receive a few because of their excellent work ethic which we must acknowledge and reward.
Certificates were also awarded for house points including Upper 3 as the best year group, Adam Gibson (Upper 3) as the pupil with the most house points and platinum certificates for those gaining more than 200 house points.
We also celebrated the 42 pupils across High School who received absolutely no conduct marks during the Autumn term,achieving a Clean Slate Award. In fact, the number was so big that we couldn't hand the certificates out in assembly and they will therefore be given to the pupils by their Form Tutors instead.
Mrs Holmes, Dr Johnson and Mr Davidson are currently in discussions regarding the introduction of a suitably fitting reward that we might be able to allow pupils who achieve this award across all three terms to enjoy - more on this in due course!
- Mrs Karen Titman -
