Head's Blog 23/9/11

23rd September 2011


Dear Parents

I hope that you have received the Examinations 2011 Leaflet which was posted earlier this week. Our excellent results certainly ensured that we started the term with much to be proud of.

I was pleased to welcome back parents and girls to our High School Curriculum Evenings last week, and trust they were informative. Please do not hesitate to contact us at any time should you have any queries or concerns. Similarly, staff in Littlegates presented the Numeracy curriculum to parents of our Reception Class; as ever, it was a lively presentation involving conkers and feet!

As a Head, the one thing that you really miss is teaching. I am, therefore, back in the classroom teaching geography to Upper 3, and I hope the girls have enjoyed the lessons as much as I have. In addition, you may be aware that I have been visiting and observing lessons and shall continue to do so throughout this term. The warmth of welcome I receive is always gratifying and, of course, I love the opportunity to see, and be a part of, what the girls are doing. Our younger girls scrutinise me very closely so I have learnt that I have to look my best on these days! They make some delightful comments.

We welcomed girls from Upper 3, Lower 4 and Upper 4 back to School on Monday following their team building weekend at Carlton Outdoor Activity Centre. The girls entered into all the activities with ‘gusto’ and didn’t allow the torrential rain to dampen their spirits.

The first of this year’s Master Class Programme took place this week with ‘Hold the Front Page’. Some of our Lower 3 pupils were joined by pupils from Bardsey Primary School and Brodetsky School to become young reporters for the day, creating the front page of a newspaper. The course focussed on news reporting, interview techniques, headline writing, picture selection and page design from our guest host, author and journalist Yvette Huddleston.
On Wednesday we welcomed again our Spanish exchange guests and pupils from Mendebaldea School in Vitoria to enjoy a week in Gateways and Yorkshire. They were impressed yesterday by their visit to Harewood House and today are heading to Skipton and down into the caves. Thank you for kindly hosting girls.

We have been piloting ‘Pasta King’ meals for High School pupils at lunchtime this week and, judging by the queues, it is a great success! We will adjust the lunchtime rotas next week to enable all pupils to enjoy these dishes, including Prep.

On the sporting front, the term has started tremendously well with netball players of all ages recording some impressive victories over our rival schools. Next Tuesday, hockey training and team selection commences, the girls will train on astro turf at the Weetwood Playing Fields of the University of Leeds and will be coached by a hockey specialist. As a once keen hockey player who has hung up her boots, I’m delighted to bring this competitive dimension to the School.

Some of our senior sports girls went ‘Gold’ on Wednesday, attending a national Girls Schools’ Association conference in Birmingham, titled ‘Girls go Gold’. They joined hundreds of girls from across the country and listened to some impressive speeches, in particular Dame Kelly Holmes.

Our senior choir performed in Leeds Town Hall last Saturday; they sang beautifully and were a credit to themselves and the School. We enjoyed an insight into their performance in this morning’s whole school assembly. May I kindly remind you that parents are very welcome to join us at assembly on Friday mornings? We commence at 8.45am. Also, please do continue to ‘spread the word’ that every Friday morning is ‘Open Gates’; we warmly welcome prospective families to see our school in action.

‘Heads Time’ continues and I look forward to meeting girls from Prep and High School at Wednesday and Thursday breaktime ~ I am pleased to see their ‘commended’ work but also just love the opportunity to talk with them.

The School Council has held two meetings so far and has given me much to think about! I have reported back in assembly today and am responding to their requests on a venue for GBay, year group Common Rooms, lunch rotas, water fountains and aerobic classes.

Lunchtime picnics have introduced new members to the Houses and have strengthened the House spirit. The girls really appreciate the new picnic tables that have been kindly purchased for them by FOG. We are fortunate to be well supported by our Parents’ Association, who extend a warm invitation to you to join them at their Annual General Meeting on Monday 10th October. I look forward to seeing you.

Dance classes and activities are, as expected, enormously popular proving the Studio to be a great asset to our School. Indeed, Break Dancing arrives next week!

Girls continue to be busy devising new methods of raising much needed funds for their expedition to Cambodia in June 2012, and are in training for the trek across Cambodia on 7th October. I know they would value your kind support.

You will have noticed from the website that we are currently in the process of developing it in line with our new prospectus (expected any day now!). I would welcome any feedback or ideas from you on how we can ensure this is a most effective form of both communication and information.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Y Wilkinson
Headmistress

Head's Blog-First Week Back

Harewood, Leeds LS17 9LE
Tel: 0113 2886345 Fax: 0113 288 6148
Email: gateways@gatewayschool.co.uk

9th September 2011

Dear Parents

It has been a real pleasure getting back into the swing of School again. School has settled well and I have enjoyed welcoming everyone back.

We have welcomed three new members of staff; Miss Lindsay Taylor to lead the Drama Department, Mr Andrew Copeland joins the Prep Team as Head of Prep PE and Games and Mr Andrew Trotman who joins the marketing department on a one year placement. We are also delighted to extend a warm welcome to 52 new girls and boys of all ages who have joined us. We had hoped to be joined by 5 international girls in the High School having secured the Tier 4 status of ‘a highly trusted sponsor’ with the UK Borders Control Agency; what a pity, therefore, that their relocation and accommodation arrangements have prevented this at this time. We shall keep in touch with them!

I am extremely proud to announce that our public examination results were excellent once again, the girls, and their teachers, have much to celebrate. At A2 level, 46% of all passes were awarded A* or A grade with 81% A* to B grades and 100% pass at A* to D. In this year of competitive university entrance, 92% of girls secured their first choice university and are preparing to head off to Warwick, Durham, Imperial College, London, Edinburgh and even Idaho in the States! At AS level the girls achieved an 11% increase on last year with 65% A to B grades. August brought celebration for the Upper Sixth girls as they attended Graduation Dinner. It was a very positive evening for the girls and their parents and everyone enjoyed an excellent meal prepared by Brian and his team – especially the pudding! We have just received our Value Added figure from the University of Durham for Post-16 qualifications, confirming, once again, the very positive difference that our teaching and learning makes to the attainment and achievement of our girls.

At GCSE, 100% achieved 5A* to C grades, including Maths and English and 55% of all entries were passed at A* to A grades. 13 subjects, including Maths, English Literature and English Language, achieved a 100% pass rate. In ICT, 95% of grades were at A* and A in ICT with 68% at A*. In geography 93% of grades were at A* and A, with 60% at A*. 24% of all candidates gained straight A*/A grades. In addition, our first 'early entry' for Lower 5 girls studying GCSE Religious Studies yielded really impressive results; 25% of girls achieved A* and 96% achieved grade B or above.

During the summer break there has been some exciting new developments to our facilities. A state of the art Dance Studio has been created in the Sports Hall Gallery and Miss Fox will be introducing dance into lessons and extra-curricular programme. We have also created a new Sixth Form Study in the Dower House equipped with new PCs; in fact 46 new computers have been installed throughout the School with plasma TVs being installed in Youngers Hall and the Sixth Form cellars. A new Listening space has been created out of an old locker room in the Dower House and a new PE office has been created in Youngers. We have restored some of the lovely old wooden floors in the Dower House, and for the safety of all, we’ve installed a new alarm and security system with CCTV (externally) throughout the School. We have also erected the first ever rugby posts at Gateways! We are grateful for the tireless work of the Maintenance Team.

Next week, Upper 5 students will have the opportunity to experience further Sixth Form life and curriculum. We hope this informs positively their future choices. I look forward to meeting individually with all our Upper 5 students to discuss their progress and future choices in the weeks ahead.

Well done to the pupils and parents who travelled 220 miles coast to coast on our annual cycle ride. Once again this year we were able to support the Theo Trust by inviting three Russian children to join the ride. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience and cycled every inch of the way. I know Flamborough Head was a welcome sight and my thanks to go to everyone involved for their support.

Our new prefects are going to be great school leaders. Last week they undertook a two day training session with enthusiasm and bags of chocolate! I enjoyed a very pleasant evening with the girls on Thursday.

The new Physical Education kit is very impressive and well-liked by the girls. Pupils have returned wearing their uniform with pride, although as in other schools, we are watching the hemlines of skirts very closely! Thank you for supporting us in ensuring your daughter’s skirt is of the appropriate length. A parent has recently asked me to consider introducing black trousers as an optional item of school uniform. I would welcome your views, please. I shall ask School Council to discuss this also.

The full list of staff can now be found on the School Website – www.gatewayschool.co.uk. Should you require any further information please contact the School Office.

Thank you to parents and girls in Lower 4 and Upper 4 who joined us yesterday evening for our first in the series of Curriculum Evenings; I trust it was informative. I would draw to your attention that these sessions are primarily for parents although, should childcare be problematic, your children are welcome to accompany you. On Wednesday and Thursday of next week there are the Sixth Form and Lower 5 evenings respectively, I look forward to welcoming you.

We are all looking forward to another great year at Gateways.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Y Wilkinson
Headmistress