7th October 2011
Dear Parents
I would like to thank you, and the pupils, for your support at our recent Open Days. We were blessed with excellent weather which showed the School at its best. The pupils, as ever, were our best ambassadors and they received many words of praise from our visitors.
I was pleased to meet parents at our Upper 3 ‘Meet the Teacher’ evening; I know parents and teachers value the opportunity to meet early in the year and be reassured about how well the girls have settled into the High School.
Parents of Reception Class children were ‘put through their paces’ practising and refining their spelling ability at the Literacy Workshop.
I would like to thank parents for completing the school improvement questionnaire; the information will inform our planning. The significant majority of responses were positively reaffirming with one or two areas where we need to review. With this in mind, may I politely remind parents that our School policies are available for you to read on the School Website? I will also resume sending my ‘Head’s Blog’ through Schoolcomms, as well as publishing it on the website, to ensure it is received directly by parents. In addition, we are also ‘tweeting’ our latest news and updates. You are able to follow Gateways on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gatewayschool. We are currently working on a re-development of our website, any ideas are welcome.
I am continuing my programme of lesson observations. It is good to get out of my office and a privilege to observe my teaching colleagues. I love, of course, having the opportunity to be part of what our pupils are doing.
Mr Keeton and Mrs Derrig are, I am pleased to say, making steady progress during their convalescence and are looking forward to joining us again once fully fit. In the meantime we are grateful for the support of Mrs Widera who is a fully qualified and experienced teacher of art. Her work involves preparing, planning, assessing and delivering our schemes of learning, including examination specifications.
We continue to support eco friendly initiatives at Gateways and have recently appointed the pupil Eco Representatives for each year. We remain very keen to reduce the School’s carbon footprint and during the summer we changed our waste collection company so that all the School’s waste is now recycled. We joined the national ‘Girls Go Green’ initiative last Monday with a special assembly presented to School by the Eco Representatives.
I was please to represent the Gateways community at the ‘Thanksgiving Service’ last Friday afternoon for the late Earl of Harewood. It was a fitting tribute, with beautiful music, for a remarkable man.
‘A Play in a Day’ was the latest workshop in our programme of ‘Master Classes’ last Wednesday. We welcomed Year 6 pupils from Harewood Primary School to create and perform a play with our girls in Lower 3. The day’s activities included improvisation, memory exercises and use of props which all supported the final productions. For those pupils interested in further drama experiences, I would mention that we are hosting Stagecoach Workshops during the October half- term break suitable for 3 to 6 year olds and 6 to 16 year olds. Details can be obtained from the School Reception.
Congratulations go to Josephine Dobson, Upper 3, and Lois Coleman, Lower 4. Josephine won first place in the Yorkshire Tumbling Championships last weekend and Lois has been selected to play netball for the Yorkshire County Squad. Hockey training has been very well received with many girls attending, and enjoying, our Tuesday sessions at Weetwood Astroturf pitch. Break dancing has arrived too! We welcomed Mr Jaron Joiner to run a Master Class with High School girls – they loved it!
We welcomed Mr James Archer from the Theo Trust to our Cycle Tour 2011 Assembly on Tuesday morning. The girls cycled 220 miles and raised £2,500 in support of the Theo Trust helping the charity to support Russian orphans. Mrs Titman is to lead the Cycle Tour in 2012 and is already making plans – watch this space!
The recent Community Outreach assembly highlighted the importance of involvement in the wider community, both local and worldwide, and the charity for this year was announced as ‘The Cambodian Childrens’ Charity, ‘Cam Kids’. This charity was set up to support poor or abandoned children in Cambodia; orphans, street children, children living in poor rural areas and those affected by natural disasters, such as flood or famine. The charity carries out specific projects and has funded the construction of an Education Centre at the orphanage in Takeo in Southern Cambodia which girls from Gateways will be visiting as part of their Expedition next Summer. ‘Cambodia Friday’, today, was particularly exhausting as girls ‘virtually’ trekked, by various means, the 546 kilometers across the country. A fantastic effort and great fun! I thank you for your donations and kind support of this expedition.
Mrs Wilcox, Head of Prep, has asked me to politely remind parents in Littlegates that School commences at 8.40am, with our doors opened at 8.30am. This removes the necessity to wait outside, particularly in inclement weather. May we ask for your co-operation to ensure the safety of all of our children, including those who are in the care of our ‘Early Birds’ staff, at the beginning of the day.
Last week, pupils took part in the House Group Charity Challenge where six house groups presented ideas for an innovative charity event to be held on the 17th November. The challenge will raise money to support ‘Cam Kids’. There were some very imaginative ideas and the winning team will be advertising their event very
shortly! Do add the date to your diary!
Yours sincerely
Mrs Y Wilkinson
Headmistress