This week, students at The Gateway Academy marked World Book Day with a range of engaging activities. Year 7 and Year 8 enjoyed a special World Book Day assembly celebrating the joy of reading and the power of storytelling.

In their lessons, Year 7 explored the theme of twisted fairy tales, considering how familiar stories can be retold from different perspectives. They also took part in a fun “Villain or Not?” fairy tale quiz, where they decided whether well-known characters were truly villains or simply misunderstood. The activities encouraged lively discussion and helped students think more deeply about characters and how stories can be reimagined.

We were delighted to attend the annual Thurrock Jack Petchey Awards Evening, where eight of our students received awards in recognition of their outstanding contribution to the Academy.

It was wonderful to see their parents and carers in attendance, sharing in this special moment and celebrating their achievements. Several families expressed their appreciation for the support, guidance and encouragement provided by The Gateway Academy. One parent shared, “The opportunities the Gateway pupils get are like none other — thank you for everything you all do at the Gateway.”

It was a fantastic evening celebrating our students’ incredible accomplishments. They represented the Academy with pride and should be extremely proud of their achievements.

Welcome to Issue 2 of The Gateway Times, our newsletter created especially for parents and carers.  Inside, you will find important updates, practical tips and useful information, along with highlights from our school community and a look at what is coming up next.

Year 9 Parents and Carers Options Evening – Thursday 23 April 2026 at 1600-1900

Year 8 Parents and Carers Evening – Thursday 26 March 2026–16:00–19:00

Since September our compassion group have been working hard to raise awareness of issues within our community and have collected 400kg of food for Thurrock Food Bank and raised money for local homeless shelters by selling and delivering candy canes and teddies. 

The Mental Health Ambassadors have held events for world mental health day, anti bullying week and are currently working on a project to look at resilience and wellbeing with year 7 students.

Our latest project is to spread love and kindness across The Gateway Academy in preparation for Valentine’s day with roses, sweets and other presents available and kindness nominations for staff and students.  Any money raised will also go towards the Thurrock food bank and other homeless charities.