Christmas 2014 Edition

The Gateway Gazette

Message from the Head Teacher

Well Christmas is almost upon us and everyone is frantically trying to get shopping finished and preparing for over eating etc… Christmas 2014 will mark the end of my first Autumn term as Head Teacher of The Gateway School and although it’s been hard work I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.I would like to take this opportunity to thank my Senior Leadership Team who have been fantastic throughout. I would also to like to thank the teaching, support and admin staff who have been so supportive in these early days. It is very much appreciated.Last, but by no means least, I would like to extend my thanks to you, our parents and carers, who have continued to support the school and work so hard with our tutors and family liaison to ensure the best outcomes for your young people. Events such as the MacMillan coffee morning this year showed just how committed you are to supporting the pupils and the school. Thank you.This newsletter is designed to give you some information regarding exam results and progress data but also to give you a flavour of the extra curricular activities your young people engage in to develop strategies and approaches which prepares them to be good citizens.We are due for and Ofsted inspection in the New Year and I am clear that these activities, the continuing high level of attainment and the continued commitment of pupils, staff and parents/carers will mean that we will rightly be recognised as a school community which really does work for the maximum success of everybody.Have a great Christmas and a happy New Year.

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Important DatesFriday 19th December 20143.15pm Last day of term

Monday 5th January 2015Teacher Training Day

Tuesday 6th January 2015Start of term for pupils

Conor Renihan

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Strike Team

On the 23rd of March 2014, two of our Key Stage 4 learners John and Joe travelled to Bristol as part of JKD-Kali Northampton's Strike Team to compete in the GSBA (Global Stick & Blade Alliance) National Stickfighting Championships.

British titles were at stake as well as a chance to be selected to represent Great Britain at the GSBA World Championships in Rome in July this year.

John and Joe both fought their way through their division, eventually reaching each other in the finals for a heard fought battle to become British Champion, and by only one point from one judge in the 4th round it was John who came away with the Gold and Joe with the Silver.

Based on their strong performance both have been selected to represent Great Britain at the World Championships later this year! 

PE and Sport

It has been another successful year on the sporting front. Yes, we have won matches, trophies and medals but we have increased participation across the school when it comes to representing the school in inter school fixtures and Project Ability events. The pupils have tried new sports such as Goal Ball and Sitting Volleyball. These two sports, which feature in the Paralympics, have given the opportunity to experience sport from a different angle, particularly Goal Ball because this is a game for the visually impaired so everyone has to wear a blind fold to play. We had a Goal Ball team representing the South Northants and Daventry area in the Sainsbury’s Summer Games at Moulton College. The boys worked well as a team and performed very well.

In the Sainsbury’s Winter Games, the school represented South Northants and Daventry in both Table Tennis and Sitting Volleyball.

The Key Stage 4 football team won the football tournament at the GOALS football centre going through the day unbeaten. We have attended mini tournaments organised by MK Dons at their Woughton on the Green training centre. In the last tournament, the Key Stage 4 team won all their games, producing some of the best football of the year.

Lunchtime is an important part of the day where the pupils can relax after their meal, doing something they enjoy. We offer activities such as football, pool, bingo, and ICT. This year we have introduced the Youth Challenge. This is a scheme run by The Youth Trust whereby young pupil are encouraged to participate in organised

THE REAL PROJECT

REAL was set up in 2009 to offer a new and exciting alternative curriculum for all those young people who are not engaging with main stream education.  

This may be due to a number of different reasons, but whatever the reason we will offer every young person that we work with the chance to start again and feel included in an innovative and interesting education programme where we aim to build self-esteem and confidence but actively work to improve behaviour, attendance and  to re-engage young people with education

 

We strive to engage young people in a wide range of positive activities and to develop them as young adults, at a pace that is suited to that young person and with subjects and experiences that means they are interested and therefore willing to partake.

 

The activities we offer include, various sports such as angling, kayaking, climbing, cycling, BMX cycling, scootering and indoor sports during the winter. We also offer courses in horse care, cookery, construction, woodland management and we grow a lot of our own food. All the courses are practical rather than academic and are very hands on.

 

REAL is currently working with a group of young people from The Gateway School.

FAIRFIELDS SCHOOL ENJOYS DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY AT THE

GATEWAY SCHOOLDue to the successful programme in design and technology last year the link between The Gateway School and Fairfields School continued this year.

Every week pupils from Fairfield’s school attended lessons on a Tuesday morning. This gave our staff and pupils the opportunity to work with and support these pupils in a variety of small wooden projects. Some interesting designs and ideas were produced and completed.

This proved to be a very successful programme as it allowed pupils from Fairfields to develop their skills when working with tools and machinery. Our pupils also benefitted from working together by developing social skills and believing in their own abilities. Some of our pupils displayed a real positive and caring attitude during these sessions.

As a result of the success of this programme we are looking forward to its continuation during the new academic year.

English Department – a day in the life of a ‘hot-house’ day

Over the last four years we have developed a method of working that has produced, quite simply, stunning results. These days have become even more important since we are now running two GCSE Courses within the subject area: GCSE English and GCSE Expressive Arts. The question we always face is simple: why do these days work? How is it that putting a class of students into one room, all day, produces the kind of results we’ve been having? Why indeed?

When we asked the students their comments emulated the outlook of the staff: “because we have more time to think about what we are doing” said one Year Ten student. This is very much the heart of the matter. Too often English and Expressive Arts are seen as subjects with active outcomes for assessment: write, read, speak, listen, make films etc. These ‘all day’ sessions give our students processing time and its thinking that is the most important part of any subject (and the most complex element to teach and assess).

When one considers the over-use of exams in assessing pupils’ learning (by definition a stressful, time-based situation that lessens students’ time to think) then the importance of us, as a school, in providing our young people with the time to think, reflect and to experiment with ideas is vital. However it works the fact is it does work and is now being utilised across the curriculum. Pupils are approaching work with mature attitudes, positive perceptions and increasing confidence, the atmosphere within one of these ‘hot house’ days is just incredible.

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Strike Team

On the 23rd of March 2014, two of our Key Stage 4 learners John and Joe travelled to Bristol as part of JKD-Kali Northampton's Strike Team to compete in the GSBA (Global Stick & Blade Alliance) National Stickfighting Championships.

British titles were at stake as well as a chance to be selected to represent Great Britain at the GSBA World Championships in Rome in July this year.

John and Joe both fought their way through their division, eventually reaching each other in the finals for a heard fought battle to become British Champion, and by only one point from one judge in the 4th round it was John who came away with the Gold and Joe with the Silver.

Based on their strong performance both have been selected to represent Great Britain at the World Championships later this year! 

PE and Sport

It has been another successful year on the sporting front. Yes, we have won matches, trophies and medals but we have increased participation across the school when it comes to representing the school in inter school fixtures and Project Ability events. The pupils have tried new sports such as Goal Ball and Sitting Volleyball. These two sports, which feature in the Paralympics, have given the opportunity to experience sport from a different angle, particularly Goal Ball because this is a game for the visually impaired so everyone has to wear a blind fold to play. We had a Goal Ball team representing the South Northants and Daventry area in the Sainsbury’s Summer Games at Moulton College. The boys worked well as a team and performed very well.

In the Sainsbury’s Winter Games, the school represented South Northants and Daventry in both Table Tennis and Sitting Volleyball.

The Key Stage 4 football team won the football tournament at the GOALS football centre going through the day unbeaten. We have attended mini tournaments organised by MK Dons at their Woughton on the Green training centre. In the last tournament, the Key Stage 4 team won all their games, producing some of the best football of the year.

Lunchtime is an important part of the day where the pupils can relax after their meal, doing something they enjoy. We offer activities such as football, pool, bingo, and ICT. This year we have introduced the Youth Challenge. This is a scheme run by The Youth Trust whereby young pupil are encouraged to participate in organised

Sometimes, however, the proof is, simply, ‘in the pudding’ as it were. Below are a number of extracts of pupils’ work that were produced in these ‘hot house’ days. The evidence speaks volumes about our school’s ability to adapt our working practices to meet with its students’ individual needs and creative ways of working; to allow them to produce their very best work. As our school saying goes: “working for the maximum success for every individual”.

In the poem ‘London’ Blake shows division.`

I think it’s about when the plague hit London “A mark in every face I meet, marks of weakness, marks of woe.” Is about how the people are scared or feel defeated by the plague. The word “cry” is implying that it’s a horrible and depressing time for the people. The thing that stands out the most is “The mind-forged manacles” it gives me the image of someone’s mind trapped in a box or they’ve got imaginary handcuffs on.”

Then we see Bond in a bunch of crazy, violent and explosive scenes which

further reinforces that Bond is the strong one here. We finally see Bond driving a

car and almost running the female overwho is tied up and weak.Throughout the whole trailer she is shown as weak and an object of beauty nothing else.However Bond is shown as a strong cold-blooded killer who will kill anyone who gets in his way. Which is telling us that men are stronger than women.

The Casino Royale trailer uses sex, violence and cars to make the film look more interesting and make people go and

see it. The target audience is 12 year olds onwards.

The camera angles used are low angle shots and close ups (LAS, CU). When the camera looks up at Bond it makes him look bigger and more powerful. For example 1:42 in to the trailer we see a low angle shot of Bond looking strong and he looks like he’s going to save someone who is going to die. 1:57 also shows Bond in a low angle shot (looking powerful) and his power is added to by him holding a gun. This also happens at 1:11 – he’s in a lift holding a gun.

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Headlines on Achievement

Whole School literacy

Whole school literacy is an essential part of our success criteria for maximising the success of each individual and a key indicator of not only how our pupils may perform in exams but also how they will progress in all core and foundation subjects at all key stages.

Four years ago, students on reading and literacy intervention increased their reading age by 1.2 on average; three years ago it was 1.4; two years ago it was 2.6; in 2013 it had ‘levelled out’ to 1.9. This year it is 2.8!

Exam Results 2014

Last year we were rightly recognised by the LA for our pupil attainment and partly as a result of this we received a rating category 1 (outstanding). The clear reason for this is that we offer a broad range of meaningful and relevant qualifications which are planned and well thought out. Most of our pupils are foundation learners and will be operating at D-G levels (in relation to GCSE grades). This, coupled with the fragile nature of such factors as attendance, behaviour spikes, anxiety and other contributory factors such as syndromes and conditions mean that we work hard to provide a safety net of qualifications under the GCSE offer. This takes the form of Functional Skills English, Maths and Computing. We also offer a range of vocational BTEC qualifications which are designed to boost the pupils’ value added as well as enhance life skills.

Last year we had an excellent year in relation to our points averages (156.41) and although on the face of it this year’s average may appear to be below this, in real terms there has been an increase. This is because last year’s figures allowed for points to be added for Entry Level Certificate qualifications (ELC). This year they no longer carry points. If we apply this to last year’s figures the average was 118.19. This year it has risen to 125.38.

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Destinations

The key indicator for these qualification routes and outcomes, however, is that in terms of destinations all but one of our year 11 cohort is now in education, employment or training. Over the last 3 years these destination figures have seen an improving picture for our pupils. Moving from 33% who were Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) in 2010 to just 7% last year.

Attendance

Pupils whose attendance falls below 80% for a significant period of time are monitored more closely. Once these pupils miss 15 sessions in a term they are deemed to be persistent absentees (PAs), 11 pupils in Term 1. Parents and carers of these pupils are contacted by letter to highlight the concerns the school has regarding their attendance, particularly the number of unauthorised absences. These pupils are set a target for improvement over a two week period. If this is not met, or a significant improvement is made, then the Education Welfare Officer (EWO) will be involved. This is the case after Term 1 with 5 pupils, 3 of whom were causing concern last year. The EWO has written to the parents and carers of these pupils to set targets for attendance and in the case of the 3 long term PAs a date for a meeting has been set to plan the way forward.

Pupil Premium Statement

The Pupil Premium is funding provided to schools which is additional to main school funding. It is allocated according to the number of pupils on-roll who are eligible for free school meals (FSM), and an allocation for each pupil who has been ‘Looked After’ (LAC) for 6 months or more.

The school decides how the Pupil Premium is spent after assessing the Personal Education Plan for individual pupils. However, schools are to be held accountable for how they have used the additional funding to support pupils from low-income families. Please see The Gateway School website (http://www.thegatewayschool.co.uk) for information regarding how the pupil premium was spent in the last financial year, the impact of this funding, and the plans for future spending.

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To keep up to date with information and news about our school, please see The Gateway School website:

http://www.thegatewayschool.co.uk