A huge thank you must go to Toni Reynolds and Kim Hardey, who very generously gave up their time to run two excellent revision sessions. This wouldn’t be possible without you going the extra mile for our students, and it is very much appreciated.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support Year 11 in so many different ways during this important time.

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 had a brilliant day, Barking Abbey School Students were an inspiration.

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.

Our deputy head students Kara and Fatim work with Year 7’s to support their work and also talk to the whole year group in assembly about issues that are important to them at the moment.  They have spoken about the need to be resilient and next week they will talk to them about revision techniques and the importance of revision. 

1. Careers fair for the entire academy on 12th March
2. Revision resources and strategies to share in assembly and in tutor time
3. Clubs to promote skills for the CV
4. TV show for the academy showing the importance of aspiration and resilience including interviews with Mrs McLaughlin and Kara Meade (Deputy Head Girl)

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. 

A huge well done to everyone for handling such a complex task with maturity and skill.

They’re working hard on their shaping, crimping, and presentation techniques, and the attention to detail is really showing. Keep up the great work – the results are looking delicious!

The U16 boys came together and made history. The first club level team from the UK to ever make it to the finals in the X-Mas Tournament in Belgium. Placing 2nd for Silver above some of the very best club teams in Belgium, France, Netherlands, Germany and beyond.

In many ways we were at a huge disadvantage having only practiced together once per month, and even then some of the players had only met for the first time on the minibus to travel out there.

The U14 boys with far less experience than the U16’s put themselves in the runners up final too. Losing their first game to the tournament bronze medalist, they then went on to win 3 games back to back.

I rewind back to September 2023 and Gators Basketball started out with just myself, Coach Stephane and a handful of players at one session once per week on a Saturday afternoon at The Gateway Academy in Tilbury.

Today we are developing some of the best players in the area and with the addition of Coach Aks we are also attracting elite talent from London and the surrounding counties to compete in high level International Tournaments that feature some of the best clubs, academies and players in Europe.

Students in Years 8 and 9 have been using Sparx Reader, a personalised reading platform that matches pupils with age-appropriate texts and checks understanding through carefully designed questions. Their engagement has been exceptional, with an impressive 2,127 books read and 2,753 hours of careful reading completed this term.

We are delighted to recognise our top readers:

Year 9: Archie R, Mckenzie T, James S, Adesola A, Eliza M

Year 8: Taybah S, Olivia B, Aisha S, Deborah E, Josephine K

Meanwhile, Year 7 students have been building strong foundations in vocabulary, grammar and comprehension using Bedrock Learning. The programme supports academic language development across all subjects and has been met with great enthusiasm.

Congratulations to our top Bedrock students:

Travay C, Oyindamola A, Shalom N, Deborah A and Talha K.

Well done to all students for their hard work and dedication this term — we are proud of the progress made and look forward to even more success next term.

We are increasingly welcoming visitors from other schools who come to see the outstanding work taking place here on so many levels. Most recently, we were delighted to host colleagues from BOA Academy, who commented:

“We thoroughly enjoyed the visit and came away with a wealth of ideas to reflect on for our own school. It was also truly heartening to see the journey the Trust has been on and to witness first-hand the profound impact it is having on the lives of the students it serves, both academically and in their wider development.”

What is clear is that, supported by our exceptional staff, our students are achieving success across a wide range of fronts. Our basketball teams are competing at a national level, academic achievement is above the national average, staff and student attendance continue to exceed national figures, and staff retention remains above 95%.

We are incredibly excited about how far we can go. We firmly believe our students have the heart, determination, and work ethic to compete with the very best — and the future of The Gateway Academy has never looked brighter.

Students in Years 8 and 9 have been using Sparx Reader, a personalised reading platform that matches pupils with age-appropriate texts and checks understanding through carefully designed questions. Their engagement has been exceptional, with an impressive 2,127 books read and 2,753 hours of careful reading completed this term.

We are delighted to recognise our top readers:
 Year 9: Archie R, Mckenzie T, James S, Adesola A, Eliza M
 Year 8: Taybah S, Olivia B, Aisha S, Deborah E, Josephine K

Meanwhile, Year 7 students have been building strong foundations in vocabulary, grammar and comprehension using Bedrock Learning. The programme supports academic language development across all subjects and has been met with great enthusiasm.

Congratulations to our top Bedrock students: Travay C, Oyindamola A, Shalom N, Deborah A and Talha K.

Well done to all students for their hard work and dedication this term — we are proud of the progress made and look forward to even more success next term.

The Gateway Academy’s musical production of Hairspray, performed on the 9th and 10th December, was an outstanding showcase of student talent and dedication. The cast delivered fantastic singing, vibrant dancing and confident acting, bringing the story to life with energy and professionalism. The choruses were supported by selected children from the GLC primaries, who aspire to take part in future Academy productions and embraced the opportunity with enthusiasm and pride. A huge well done to everyone involved—from the performers to the teams behind the music, lighting, staging and technical support.

Their collective hard work created a truly memorable and uplifting show that the whole Academy can be proud of.

To celebrate anti-bullying day, the GA took part in ‘odd socks day’ again this year. This is to show the importance of us all being unique, in a fun and positive way.

Feedback:

“Firstly, I would like to thank you and Ms. Tanase for giving us the opportunity to host your Spanish-speaking experience at The Latin Plaza. We hope your students enjoyed the lunch menu and found the visit both enjoyable and enriching.

It was truly impressive to see how much Spanish your Year 10 students already know, and we’re confident they’ll have an excellent start to their GCSE speaking and listening exams.

On behalf of everyone here at The Latin Plaza, I would like to congratulate Gateway Academy on having such delightful students. They were courteous, enthusiastic, and a real pleasure to host, it was an absolute credit to both their teachers and themselves.

Please pass on our appreciation to your students and head of year. “

1. Effective military bag packing techniques.
2. Understanding how things are seen (sight and cover).
3. Practical drills on moving in different environments (with and without a weapon).
4. Techniques for camouflage and concealment.
5. Judging distance and using hand signals for silent communication.
6. The practical challenge of making your own shelter (basher).

The day concluded with well-deserved games of football, tug of war and roasting marshmallows around a campfire on Saturday night. Sunday shifted focus to adventure and teamwork with a range of challenging activities, including rock climbing, precision training with air rifle shooting, and the thrilling descent of the zip line.

All students conducted themselves exemplarily throughout the entire weekend and were a credit to the academy. Their positive attitude and commitment to learning were commendable. Looking ahead, the cadets will build on this experience by learning how to safely handle the British rifle (SA80) and will prepare for exciting future trips to live ranges to practice shooting.

• Head Boy: Emmanuel  
• Head Girl: Gavreilla
• Deputy Head Boy: AJ
• Deputy Head Girl: Kara

Watch the stunning video put together with students, reciting the ‘We are Gateway’ poem.

We now have 16 students as Mensa members at Gateway, a remarkable achievement.

Further tests are planned each term this year.

Photographed:

• Year 10: Elwen, Max, Sarah
• Year 9: Rosie
• Year 8: Joanna and Fikayo

The group cooked their own meals, prepared dinner and breakfast to fuel their adventure, and faced the physical demands of hiking with heavy packs across varied terrain. Despite the challenges, every student completed the expedition with determination and a well-earned sense of achievement.

Well done to all involved — a fantastic effort and a memorable experience!