Head's Blog 21 October

Half term is upon us once again! School has been as busy as ever this half term, sometimes it feels as if there aren’t enough hours in the day! I am sure that all pupils are ready to relax and recharge having enjoyed a successful start to the autumn term.

I trust that parents of girls from Lower 4 to Upper 6 are in receipt of the first set of academic attainment and effort grades for the year. This is the second year of this revised assessment system and Mrs Titman, Director of Studies, has included an explanation of the schedule with each report for your information. Essentially, we report to parents each half term either in the form of a parents’ evening, a summative report of attainment and effort or a detailed formative report. I am pleased to confirm that the majority of girls have worked hard and can be justly proud of their achievements. We have received confirmation of our ‘Value Added’ at GCSE, based on attainment in the 2011 summer examinations, and I am proud to say we made a quantifiable, positive difference of almost a full grade to each girl.

I am always impressed by just how much, in addition to their academic studies, that pupils are contributing to, involved in and achieving! Our activities have included residential visits to Carlton Outdoor Education Centre, a Lower Sixth geography fieldwork visit to Blencathra, Duke of Edinburgh Award bronze, silver and gold expeditions, considerable success in sports matches and tournaments, Conker Day, a musical concert at the Etz Chaim synagogue and Leeds Town Hall, the successful launch of this year’s LEAP programme, support for Amnesty International, theatre and curriculum visits, visits to Harewood for the National Schools’ Film Week presentations, Harvest Festivals and rehearsals for our forthcoming performance of ‘A Christmas Carol’. This afternoon’s House Music Competition will ensure we conclude on a high note in every sense!

The Great History Debate continued this week and we were pleased to welcome Mr Finan to act as a judge for the presentations. The depth of research and variety of presentation, in response to ‘why history matters to you...’, was very impressive and our girls should be rightly proud of their performances.

The Friends of Gateways Annual General Meeting took place on 10th October; I am delighted to announce that Mrs Abi Pick was elected as Chair, Mrs Melanie Malcolm as Vice-Chair, Mrs Kate Plews as Treasurer and Mrs Helen Wallis, Prep School Teacher, as


Secretary. I am very much looking forward to working with the new committee members whose enthusiasm, energy and commitment I value enormously. FOG events raise funds to enhance the provision for all our pupils and are great fun. I am grateful for your support. I know it is ‘full steam ahead’ to the annual Christmas Fair which takes place on Saturday, 19th November.

We are pleased to note that Mr Keeton is now fully recovered and will be returning after half term. We are very grateful to Mrs Teresa Widera who has provided excellent teaching during his absence.

The Careers Road Show on the 13th October was a very informative evening. Our grateful thanks go to the advisors who gave generously of their time to guide our girls through the minefield of career choices.

Congratulations go to Ms Julie Smith who has been appointed as Nursery Practitioner to provide further support in our expanding Gatehouse Nursery.

I have visited three schools in the past week to attend Head’s meetings of one form or another. It is always good to get back and appreciate what an outstanding school Gateways is. I am also undertaking an inspection of another school in the week we return after half term; it is a real privilege to be able to observe another school at work.

During this half term I have been meeting with groups of Upper 5 pupils to discuss their plans for their Sixth Form education. This has been a very enjoyable process and I hope the girls have enjoyed this as much as I have. I look forward to seeing girls, and their parents, at the Sixth Form Discovery evening on Thursday 10th November.

On Monday we held the third in our programme of Master Classes, this time with an art theme. The Doncaster based artist, Rosemary Firth led workshop sessions, with our own Lower 3 pupils and Year 6 pupils from Harewood Primary School, on batik making and mixed media painting. The pupils enjoyed the opportunity to sample different techniques to create their autumnal leaf and bark designs. Their finished work was impressive.

I have been presented with the draft copy of our book, ‘Gateways to Harewood’ today and I am looking forward to reading it next week. So much work has been inputted, so many hours of commitment, enthusiasm and dedication; my grateful thanks go to Mrs Sharrock, Mrs Stubbs and Mrs Burns.

My thanks go to everyone who supported our Harvest appeal for stationery items to support the victims of the Japanese earthquake. This was inspired by an Old Gatewegian, Alison Nemoto, who now lives in Japan and who experienced the earthquake first hand. Alison is teaching as a volunteer in Minami Soma City, the nearest town to the nuclear plant, and was very touched by the support she received from her old school.



Building on the enrichment that curricular and extra-curricular dance has brought to Gateways, we are currently preparing a bid for the award of Arts Mark status. I shall keep you informed of our progress.

Please could I politely remind parents that School begins with registration at 8.40am with teaching commencing at 8.50am in High School and Prep. I would be grateful if you could ensure pupils arrive on time. Thank you for your support; it ensures that the pupils have a prompt and ordered start to each day.

I wish you and your family an enjoyable autumn break and look forward to seeing you again on Monday 7th November.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Y Wilkinson
Headmistress

Head's Blog

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