Friday 11 May 2012

Head's Letter 11 May


11th May 2012

Dear Parents

The examination season is upon us yet again!  Today we have wished Lower Sixth students every good fortune as they begin their study leave for their AS examinations and, yesterday,  the Upper 5 pupils celebrated completing their two year GCSE courses with a pizza lunch and an autograph signing session with friends and staff.  All of the Upper 5 girls have sat their first GCSE today, iGCSE Mathematics.  Our best wishes go to all girls and, of course, we remain here to support their revision during their study leave.  I politely ask that all visitors onto the school site during the examination season are considerate of our candidates and heed examination notices.

I would like to thank parents and pupils for their support at our recent Open Days; we had healthy interest in the School and much praise was received for the girls who accompanied visitors on tours.  The soap making activity proved popular and Schofield had a wonderful aroma during the process! 

We were very pleased to welcome Dr Tracy Johnson to our Open Morning and I know she enjoyed meeting both current and prospective parents.  Dr Johnson will be making several visits to Gateways over the next couple of months and I shall be working closely with her to ensure a smooth and effective handover. 

Lower 4 enjoyed a fantastic residential visit to Edinburgh over the weekend of the 27th to 29th April – they had a packed programme of activities and visits and certainly had much better weather than we were experiencing in Yorkshire.  Staff commented on how pleasurable it was to accompany the girls – great ambassadors for Gateways!

The LEAP team, Embrace, enjoyed success at the annual LEAP awards on the 26th April.  They were awarded first place for, ‘Best Trade Stand’ at the Valentine’s Fair in the Merrion Centre, and two second places for ‘Most Improved Company’ and ‘Best Marketing’.  This is a great achievement given that our girls are a year younger than all other competitors from local schools. 

The Upper 3 Parents’ Evening on the 3rd May had a very different feel for me, as I am the Upper 3 Teacher of geography.   I enjoyed meeting parents and girls to discuss their progress.  It was a very positive evening and I am delighted that Upper 3 have settled seamlessly into the High School.


The GCSE and AS Drama examination performances were excellent and enjoyed by audiences of pupils and parents.  We wish the girls every success.

Our Lower 4 team of chemists competed yesterday in the annual Festival of Salters Chemistry at Leeds University.  Their task was to solve a murder using forensic tests and we are delighted that they secured second position in a tough competition against other local independent schools.  Well done girls!

Our congratulations go to Mrs McDermott who successfully completed the Belfast Marathon!  She finished in the top 20% of all female runners in 3 hours 50 minutes and has raised over £800 for the School charity, CamKids.    We are very proud of her!

Last Wednesday 2nd May, we welcomed two players from the Yorkshire Jets Superleague netball squad to run a coaching session with members of our netball teams.  The session was organised to thank the netball squads for all their hard work over the season.

At the recent Leeds Netball presentation evening, our girls who are district representatives received medals and our successful U14 Team was presented with the Benfield Cup – a proud moment for all the girls!

I would like to thank everyone for their support of ‘Onesy’ Day last Friday; we raised over £400 for CamKids.  We then went ‘Pink’ yesterday in support of a group of Sixth Form students who are participating in the ‘Race for Life’.

Last Friday several members of staff and I visited Westholme School to learn, first hand, of their experience of the new ISI Integrated School Inspection regime.  It was a very helpful visit and we thank the staff at Westholme for their time and support. 

We are being visited by Ofsted next Tuesday morning.  They are carrying out checks on behalf of the Holiday Club organisers ‘Camp Explode’ as part of their Ofsted registration.

I am pleased to inform parents that the Stella Programme, which supports our able and talented pupils, has been reviewed and updated; it can be viewed via our website.  I hope you have all had the opportunity to visit our ‘new look’ website; we would welcome any comments and feedback.

As part of her new role as Leader of Teaching and Learning, Mrs. Wilson shadowed Lower 4 on Thursday to gain insight into their experience of a school day.  She reports that, “Throughout the day all the girls were interested and engaged in a wide variety of activities,  sometimes in groups or pairs, discussing, debating and reflecting on exactly what they were learning, including some very challenging ideas and concepts.  It was really interesting to observe how comfortable and confident they felt with their teachers and each other and were willing to stretch themselves academically . Much of the time they were enjoying themselves so much they didn't realise they were learning.”   At the end of the day Mrs. Wilson summarised her observations to the girls and they completely agreed with her.

Congratulations to Mr Holloway on becoming a Dad!  Baby Daniel arrived earlier this week – Mum, Dad and baby are doing well.




I would like to remind parents of the FOG ‘White Tie and Tiara’ Ball on the 23rd June at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate.   I am very much looking forward to an entertaining event and hope to see many of you there.   At the recent FOG Committee meeting, I was most impressed by the auction prizes, from holidays in the sun to pampering and evening dinners.

I warmly invite parents and pupils to the Summer Concert next Wednesday the 16th May.  It begins at 6.30pm in the Performing Arts Centre.

Preparations are now underway for our annual Prize Giving, the highlight of our year.  I would like to remind parents that Prize Giving is being held on Friday 29th June this year so that the girls embarking on the Cambodia Expedition can be part of the celebrations before they leave. 

Yours sincerely
Mrs Y Wilkinson
Headmistress