Autumn 2008 Newsletter
Dear Parents
The crowning moment of my career took place on May 8th at the Priory Church of St. Bartholomew the Great. At 11.30am the entire current Gatehouse community were together – 250 children, 38 staff and six Governors. In addition, to add jewels to the crown our founder Mrs Wallbank was present as well as Miss Eversole my predecessor. This moving occasion marked the 60th Anniversary to the day of our foundation, and back where we started at the Gatehouse of St. Bartholomew’s, where at the time Mrs Wallbank’s husband was the rector. I felt near to tears as the sun streamed through the windows of this beautiful church on the heads of your impeccably behaved children. I have never felt so proud, privileged or humble. We have talked of stewardship with the children and I am very conscious of the fact that we are all here for a small part of the hopefully long life span of Gatehouse School.
Much else has taken place this term but looking back they do not reach the heights of our anniversary. Music was an important part of our 60th celebration. It showcased individual musicians who played in church as well as our choir, orchestra, string group and flute trio. In the afternoon all the children took part in drama productions, each year group representing a decade of our 60 years with the Nursery movingly taking the future by singing Que Sera Sera. Our new projector in the hall set the scene for the different periods by displaying tantalising pictures of events that have taken place in the last 60 years. I was delighted that Mrs Wallbank & Miss Eversole stayed for this lovely part of the day. Mrs Wallbank enjoyed seeing her 2 grandchildren taking part.
The children perform regularly on their instruments when they have a piece ready for perfection, in our assemblies. Mrs Dana has discussed with me and the peripatetic music teachers an optimum age for children to take up an instrument. Broadly speaking, we recommend that aged 7 ( Year 3 ) is a good time. Children younger than this, unless they are from a very musical family cannot practise on their own and make little progress. However, it’s always best to discuss your individual child’s requirements with me, Mrs Dana or the music teachers. None of us want to stifle a future Mozart but equally we want music to be enjoyable and worth while for very young children.
The Summer Fete was I believe doubly enjoyable and near doubly financially successful. We were blessed with sunshine and a joyful crowd of big spenders. All the staff were in and helped the newly reformed Gatehouse Parents’ Association run the stalls and attractions. Mrs Hurley again orchestrated this complicated and enjoyable day and tells me that we have £3,239.55 coming our way, towards the new lower juniors’ climbing frame and sandpit. Thank you, and a particular thank you to Mrs Hurley for all her hard work.
Outward Bound has become a fixture in our calendar and Years 5 & 6 enjoyed their trip to the Lake District. Amid stunning countryside the children learnt new skills, challenged their inward fears, and returned exhausted and exhilarated from this important experience away from home. Miss Tighe and Mr Hosford also returned tired but relieved that this trip had again been safe and successful.
Mr Hosford has consolidated the fixture lists. Matches have been played in cricket, rounders, swimming and touch rugby. The girls and boys competed against Bancroft’s (played well- enough said!); against St Paul’s ( defeated by 20 runs ); against Westminster – Seniors ( won – close game ) Juniors ( lost - close game ); the girls played rounders against St. Paul’s ( lost but a close game ). In the Tower Hamlets’ swimming event the boys came second and the girls came third. In the Bancroft’s gala our keen swimmers did very well indeed. In touch rugby against Westminster Under School both the seniors and juniors won. These sporting fixtures give opportunity for a wide range of participants. Some children will be skilled and represent the school, others are keen players and can represent their house and enjoy the experience of being in a team. Our Sports Day was sadly a damp affair. The children and staff were determined to put on limited races and events in order to put to the gentle test, their training of previous weeks. I am grateful to all parents who were understanding and patient with the day which had to be flexible for safety reasons.
Many of the different classes have visited cultural venues including Tower of London, Museum of London, the London Aquarium, Epping Forest and the Royal Air Force Museum. These trips enhance and illustrate much of the work taking place in humanities and science at school.
Our After School Activities are very popular. Chess club continues to flourish along with Art club, Tennis club, Football club, Basketball club, Dance and Saturday Sport. Children have the opportunity to take part in these activities within a mixed age range. Like our House system, older children enjoy looking after their younger peers whilst the younger ones have role models to give them an indication of what life will be like for them when they are in the more senior part of the school. We feel the more opportunities our pupils have to try new subjects and learn new skills as well as acquire new knowledge all adds to our broad and balanced curriculum.
Academic excellence is a high priority on our agenda and we aim for progress for a pupil just mastering the first letter of his name or a girl converting mixed fractions into decimals. Taking into account the fact that we are a non-selective entry prep school our 11+ and SAT’s results have been exceptionally good this year. Y6 pupils are all moving on to choice schools. They have achieved a top scholarship to Bancroft’s, entrance to City of London Girls School, places at Forest, Brentwood, Queen’s Harley Street, Blackheath High, St Paul’s Cathedral School, St Aubyn’s, Felsted, Northbridge House, Portland Place, Anglo European at Hockerill, Raines and Christ’s Hospital. These children worked very hard, well supported by their parents to earn their places at these schools. The final results from our KS2 SAT’s have as you will have read in the press been delayed and I am unable in this letter to give a confirmed set of results but, looking at the interim marks we have been sent they look as if they will be the best ever. I will give you the final results in the next letter and they will be put on our website. May I remind you to glance at the website www.gatehouseschool.co.uk from time to time as this will keep you up to date with current information including dates, fees and staff list.
On the subject of staffing, many of you will already know that Mr Hosford & Mr Woolley are returning to Australia ( though not together); Mr Hosford has been at Gatehouse for 6 years and has really put sport on the map. I am still a little unsure as to how we have ended up as a regular on the fixtures’ list of schools such as Westminster Under, St Paul’s and Bancroft’s. We will miss him and wish him all the best as he returns to join his family. Mr Woolley has been with us for just over a year and we are losing him to his fiancée who unfortunately for Gatehouse, was offered a job back in Australia. We have to accept the fact that that is where Mr Woolley’s heart is and he must act accordingly. Janis returns to Germany and to his studies after a very positive year at Gatehouse. He has worked with all ages and stages and has been much in demand with teachers and children alike. We have another similar student, Farbod, joining us in September and he will be with the Smith family, who have accommodated Janis so happily.
In view of these departures we have taken the opportunity to move some staff to different year groups and our management structure has also altered. As you already know, from September, Mr Mylne will take on the post of Deputy Head. You may have heard that Miss Tighe’s plans have recently changed and I am delighted that she is able to take on the role of Director of Pastoral Care and continue on our Senior Management Team along with Miss Reidy. Also in September, Mrs Whitaker becomes the Upper Juniors’ Co-ordinator, overseeing the day to day smooth running of KS2. Mrs Korbay similarly becomes the Lower Juniors’ Co-ordinator. Mrs Lenaerts will become our Special Needs Co-ordinator working closely with Mrs Kasriel. Mrs Whitaker will take one of the Y3 forms and Mr Mylne will be form teacher to our additional Y4 class. We advertised in the TES and got a very strong response of over 30 applicants for a new PE teacher and a new Y1 teacher. After short-listing and interviewing, our first choice candidates accepted the posts we offered. Mrs Gordana Dainow will be one of the Y1 teachers. She is a very experienced teacher, having worked previously in the independent sector at Northbridge House. All next year’s Y1 have met her. Mr Tendai Huntley accepted the post of P.E teacher. Mr Huntley is also an experienced teacher and has personal experience of the independent sector having been a pupil at Caterham School.
I wish to pay tribute to all the staff at Gatehouse. Those who mend fences literally and metaphorically, those who teach way beyond the timetable, those who support and run clubs and activities, those who drive, those who type, those who add up. Everybody counts and whatever their role they contribute to what makes Gatehouse the special community that it is.
My final thanks go to you for choosing Gatehouse and trusting us with your children.
Mrs Belinda Canham
Headmistress
ICT SUITE
We have installed 24 new computers in the ICT suite. For the technically minded the specifications are as follows:
· Hewlett Packard DX2300 Tower Dual Core Pentium 160GB Hard Drive1GB Memory DVD+/-RW and built in memory card reader and optical mouse
· Hewlett Packard 19" TFT 1280x1024 Display
· Office Pro Plus 2007 including Publisher
· Hewlett Packard 2600n colour laser printer