The Gateway Primary Academy 

Governor’s Newsletter, July 2022 

Welcome to the Governor’s Newsletter of The Gateway Primary Academy for the Summer term 2022. 

After two years of disrupted schooling through the lockdowns, the Governing Body has been pleased to see that pupils have had a full year at The Gateway this year. We recognise that this has not been without its challenges in itself including: periods of self-isolation for individual pupils, outside Christmas performances and even most recently a heat wave! 

The Governing Body would like to extend their thanks to Mr Cassem and all the staff at The Gateway, for their continued support to all the children and their families. They have worked extraordinarily hard to ensure the children have been taught a high quality, broad and balanced curriculum which has been enhanced through the return of trips, visits and visitors. The outcomes of this broad and balanced curriculum have continued to be very good and as a Governing Body we were pleased to see the outcomes of the phonics screening, multiplication check and KS1/KS2 SATs. A well planned catch up program has been delivered across the school supporting individual/groups of pupils to close the gaps in their learning which has supported pupils when making very good progress.  

Alongside the academic achievements this year, pupils’ wellbeing and their personal development has continued to be central to The Gateway’s work and this has been evident when visiting and speaking to children and was also reflected in the responses to our parent survey completed earlier this year.  

We would also like to thank the parents for their continued support to the school and the children throughout this academic year. 

The Board of Governors 

The Board of Governors has three overarching responsibilities:  

• Setting the strategic direction for the school 

• Holding the school to account for its educational performance 

• Ensuring the financial health and probity of the school, and making sure it delivers value for money 

In discharging these responsibilities we ensure that the educational and developmental needs of every pupil are met in full and that our children are provided with an outstanding primary-level education that gives them the best possible start in life.  

The Governing Body has continued to meet on a termly basis and we have been able to recommence monitoring visits in person following nearly two years of working virtually.

Our monitoring visits have been closed linked to the school improvement plan and have included lesson visits, meetings with subject leaders and meetings with children to discuss their learning. It has been exciting to see the children’s progress and listen to them speak so passionately about what they have been learning throughout this year and gather feedback from them on their time at school.  

After two years as a governor, Mrs Fourie has had to step down from the Governing Body due to work commitments. We would like to take this opportunity to thank her for her commitment and dedication to the school and the Governing Body.  

Mr Harman has joined the Governing Body as a community governor and has taken on responsibility for health and safety and premises.  

You can find further information about the roles and responsibilities of our Governing Body, including pen pictures on the school website.  

School Curriculum: 

The staff at the Gateway Primary Academy have always been committed to creating a curriculum that educates the whole child, academically, environmentally, socially and culturally. They have continued to organise projects, workshops and school visits this year, both at school and externally, making sure that the learning experiences of all the children have been enhanced.  

The children across the school have benefited from a range of visitors including: Roots Into Food focussing on healthy eating, guide dogs focussing on the work of charities and most recently road safety workshops. Year 1 and 2 have also enjoyed participating in theatre workshops to enhance their topic learning. CRIBBs has continued to enhance the children’s learning through shows at Christmas, money workshops and transition work for Year 6.  

All children have had the opportunity to go on a school trip linked to their class topic. Swans thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Godstone Farm and Herons enjoyed visiting the sea life centre. Kingfishers have been to Shorne Country park. Swallows have been to Lullingstone and Woodpeckers enjoyed their river visit. Kestrels took part in an outdoor adventure day and during our visit spoke confidently about how they had overcome their fears. Eagles have had a busy year and most recently went to PGL.  

World Book Week was once again a highlight this year, with the theme of Traditional Tales with each class taking a different twist on this. A range of creative work was completed linked to this and the Readathon was a huge success again this year. Thank you for your support with this event. The governors were very pleased with the new books which were able to be purchased a result of this event.  

The whole school Jubilee celebrations were a lovely way for the whole school community to come together and the children spoke fondly of their picnic on the field following an assembly sharing their work on the Queen through the decades. The tea towels organised by the PFA were a great addition to the celebrations. Thank you to the PFA for organising and arranging the selling of them.  

Sporting Events 

It has been great to see The Gateway being able to return to sports events this year. The children have enjoyed participating in a range of events, for example: boccia, District Sports (both Dartford and Swanley) and a range of football events. It was great in the full Governing Body meeting to hear how well the children had represented the school and how they had demonstrated the school values when participating in sporting events.  

School Summer Fair  

A BIG thank you to the PFA committee and all the parents, grandparents and staff, who gave up their time to help out at our very successful Summer Fair. I’m sure that everyone who attended will agree that it was a great event and the children especially enjoyed it. Without the efforts of the valued members of the school community, these events would not be able to take place. The amazing total raised will provide additional resources for the children to benefit from.  

Summer Holiday Time: 

To the Year 6 pupils, we hope you have enjoyed your time at The Gateway and we would like to wish you all good luck at your new secondary schools. We hope you have a very successful and happy time in the years ahead. 

Best wishes to everyone associated with The Gateway Academy, we hope you all have a wonderful summer holiday and look forward to welcoming everyone back to school in September. 

Gaynor Oakes 

Chair of Governors 

The Gateway Primary Academy

Governors’ Newsletter

July 2021

Welcome to the Governors’ Newsletter of The Gateway Primary Academy for the Summer term 2021.

After what has been another challenging year, the Governing body would like to extend their thanks to Mr Cassem and all the staff at the Gateway Primary Academy, for the continued support to all the children and their families. The effort they have put in to making sure that the high standards of the school are maintained is truly appreciated, and this in turn ensures the best outcomes for our pupils.

It has been encouraging to see the impact of the additional sessions being run by the school to help with the time lost from the lockdown. However, while catching up on lost learning is important, we have been especially impressed with the whole school effort made to support the children with an emphasis on their mental well-being.

As a governing body, we would also like to express our appreciation for the continued support to the school and the children from the parents, during another home-schooling phase of lockdown earlier this year.

The Board of Governors: The Governors have three overarching responsibilities:

• Setting the strategic direction for the school
• Holding the school to account for its educational performance
• Ensuring the financial health & probity of the school, and making sure it delivers value for money

In discharging those responsibilities we ensure that educational and developmental needs of every pupil are met in full and that our children are provided with an outstanding primary-level education that gives them the best possible start in life.

Over the year, we have continued to meet as full governing body on a half termly basis. Alongside these meetings, we have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet virtually with teachers and groups of children from different year groups as a part of our monitoring. It has been wonderful to see the children’s progress and listen to them speak enthusiastically about what they have been learning throughout the year and gather feedback from them on their time at school.

The focus for our monitoring visits have been the wider curriculum this year and ensuring high standards in all curriculum areas – especially when returning from lock down. You can find further information about the roles and responsibilities of our Governing Body, including pen pictures of the members on the school website.

After many years as a governor, Mr Leachman has had to step down from the governing body due to work commitments. We would like to take this opportunity to thank him for his commitment and dedication to the school and the governing body.

School Curriculum:

The school has always been committed to educating the whole child, academically, morally, socially and culturally. Although it has been difficult to organise projects, workshops and school visits this year, through a lot of very hard work from Mr Cassem and his team, all the children have had the opportunity to access additional learning experiences outside of the classroom.

During lockdown, it was lovely to see Kingfishers participating in an online workshop linked to their Great Fire of London workshop and it was great to hear about the engagement from the whole class in this session.

In Term 5, as a part of the school’s ‘Knowing Me, Knowing You’ theme work, it was great to hear about the Roots into Food workshop and during one of our monitoring visits, the children spoke enthusiastically about the chicken teriyaki they had made and had thoroughly enjoyed eating.

Term 6 was a very busy half term for the staff and pupils at the school and during a recent governor’s meeting we heard about a variety of trips for all year groups which enhanced teaching and learning across the curriculum.

Swans enjoyed their trip to Godstone Farm to gain first-hand experience linked to their farm and animals topic. Herons had a great visit to the Sealife Centre and it gave all children the opportunity to visit the seaside in the afternoon. Kingfishers went to Shorne Country Park and worked alongside a park ranger to develop their understanding of different woodland habitats. Swallows went to Horton Kirby and developed their geographical skills when exploring a local town and Woodpeckers also visited Horton Kirby to carry out a rivers study. In Term 6, Year 5 visited Grange Water and it was great to hear about the children’s excellent teamwork and bravery when tackling some of the activities. Year 6 enjoyed their time at Gravity and participating in mini golf as a part of their end of year activities.

Parent Survey:

This year, once again, the parent survey will be conducted through Survey Monkey, please could I ask you to complete this, it is a great opportunity to let the governors know how you think the school is doing. The survey will only take 5 minutes to complete.

Swans - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/C589RPW

Herons - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VV79MGT

Kingfishers - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VV37HMH

Swallows - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/V7K2ZDP

Woodpeckers - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/V7DFHJM

Kestrels - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/V7RR5TH

Eagles - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/V7GP386

Summer Holiday Time:

To the Year 6 pupils, we wish you all very good luck at your new secondary schools. We hope you have a very successful and happy time in the years ahead.

Best wishes to everyone associated with The Gateway Academy, we hope you all have a wonderful, safe summer holiday and look forward to welcoming everyone back to school in September.

Gaynor Oakes Chair of Governors

The Gateway Primary Academy

Governor’s Newsletter, July 2020

Welcome to the Governor’s Newsletter of The Gateway Primary Academy for the Summer term 2020.

This year has seen unprecedented changes for everyone connected with The Gateway Primary Academy - pupils, parents, teachers and governors. The Governing body would like to extend their thanks to Mr Cassem and all the staff at The Gateway Primary Academy, for all their hard work in supporting the children and their families during time. The staff have worked hard to provide home-learning and support the children via google classroom. Staff have also supported pupils through phone calls, home visits and delivering food parcels provided by the YMCA.

As a Governing body, we have also appreciated the support from our parents at this time and we would also like to thank them for the support they have given their child, and the school during the home-schooling phase of lockdown.

The board of governors

The Governing body has welcomed two new members this year and with them they both bring a range of experience.

Over the period of lock down, we have continued to meet virtually, and have worked alongside the leadership team to support them when implementing government guidance. As chair of governors I visited The Gateway and it was great to see the guidance in practice, but more than that it was lovely to see so many smiling faces from the children, who were clearly so happy to be back at school.

We have continued to support the school in the strategic direction linked to the school improvement plan. Following The Gateway’s excellent results at the end of the 2019 academic year in English and Maths, this year’s focus has been on the wider curriculum and we, as governors, have each taken an area of the curriculum to support the school and this will guide our governors’ visits over the coming year when we get back to the new ‘normal’.

School Curriculum:

Within the curriculum, the school continues to be committed to developing the whole child, both socially, culturally, environmentally and academically. Up until March, there had been an array of school visits, visitors to the school, projects and workshops happening throughout the year. These enabled the children to link subjects that they are studying in class to the world around them, helping them to discover how academic subjects can equip them for later life.

In October, the children participated in a whole school ‘health and wellbeing week’ and benefited from visitors from: FRED and ‘Roots Into Food’ – the curry was great! This week gave children the opportunity to develop their understanding of how to be healthy and how to manage their feelings, computer use and the importance of asking for help.

Book week was again well received this year, with a focus on the children’s laureates across the school. The readathon was particularly successful raising over £1400. This meant the school was able to order over 600 new books across the school, which the children were involved in choosing. A big thank you to everyone who took part and supported the school.

Over the period of lock down, The Gateway held two theme weeks linked to VE day and the 7 wonders of the World. It was lovely to see all of the photos of the children getting involved when celebrating these whole school themes.

Sporting

Before lock down, The Gateway continued to build on its sporting success from previous years. In boccia, a Year 6 child was chosen to become a coach in Dartford and this was really great to see them share their love of the sport with others.

The girls’ football team also did very well winning the football tournament on National Women’s Day.

The school has achieved two sports awards for the commitment to sport before lockdown and then providing virtual opportunities to stay health during lock down. The school was one of only six schools which achieved this in Dartford.

Parent Survey:

This year the parent survey will be conducted through Survey Monkey, please could I ask you to complete this, it is a great opportunity to share your feedback with the governors.

Swans - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/C26QM32

Herons – https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/S7RQDWB

Kingfishers - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/S7TFKYZ

Swallows - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/S73XNJV

Woodpeckers - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/S7BFBCD

Kestrels - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/S76LPGV

Eagles - https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/S7ZJNMY

We would particularly like to wish the Year 6 pupils good luck at their new secondary schools. We hope you have a very successful and happy time in the years ahead.

Best wishes to everyone associated with The Gateway Academy, we hope you all have a wonderful summer holiday and look forward to welcoming you all back to school in September.

Gaynor Oakes

Chair of Governors