Keeble Gateway Academy

7th September TRAINING DAY

8th September Back To School

W/C 21st September Harvest Festival Visits

9th October Whole School Winter Panto Jack and the Beanstalk

23rd October TRAINING DAY

26th October HALF TERM

2nd November Back to School

3rd November - 10th November Scholastic Book Fair

3rd December Flu Immunisations

18th December TRAINING DAY

21st December Christmas Break

4th January TRAINING DAY

5th January Back to School

Over the past two terms, Keeble Gateway Academy has continued to make strong progress on its improvement journey. Together, we have been focused on creating firm foundations upon which we can continue to build, ensuring every child receives the very best education and care. We have seen encouraging improvements in behaviour, attendance, teaching and learning, inclusion and the overall culture of the school. Classrooms are calm and purposeful, expectations are high, and children are increasingly demonstrating pride in their work and enthusiasm for learning. We have also strengthened our leadership team and continued to work closely with Elevate Multi Academy Trust to develop the school further. Most importantly, we are seeing growing confidence across our school community, with pupils, staff and families all playing an important part in our journey. While we know there is still more to achieve, we are proud of the progress made so far and are excited to continue building on these strong foundations as we look ahead to the new academic year.

I hope you all have a wonderful summer break and we look forward to seeing the children in September!

Jonny Davies

Headteacher

Regular attendance at school is incredibly important. Every day in school makes a difference to children's learning, friendships, confidence, wellbeing and future life chances. I am delighted to share that, over recent months, our whole-school attendance has continued to improve. Thank you to all of our parents and carers for the commitment and support you show in ensuring your child attends school regularly and arrives ready to learn each day. By working together, we can give every child the very best opportunity to achieve their full potential. I hope the graphic below provides a helpful insight into why every school day really does count.

As we reach the end of another academic year, we would like to say a fond farewell to our wonderful Year 6 pupils. They have been fantastic ambassadors for our school this year, and we are incredibly proud of everything they have achieved during their time at Keeble Gateway Academy. Their end-of-year production last week was a brilliant way to celebrate their journey, showcasing their confidence, talent and teamwork, while giving families and staff a memorable opportunity to mark this special milestone. As they prepare to begin the next exciting chapter of their education at secondary school, we wish each and every one of them every success and happiness for the future. Be kind, work hard, believe in yourselves and embrace every opportunity that comes your way – we know you will continue to make us proud. Good luck, Year 6!

Please be alert –

We have been made aware that there is a 'WhatsApp 1000 group', believed to be an 'Add Everyone' group, which is thought to include some young people from our local area. This particular group has had explicit content on it, and these groups also give people the opportunity to private message others in the group, potentially exposing them to the risk of further concerning content being presented to them or more worryingly the risk of online grooming.

It is believed that the group has both young people and adults as group members, many of which will be unknown to each other.

The link below gives you some more detail about these groups.

https://oursaferschools.co.uk/2025/10/01/safeguarding-alert-add-everyone-whatsapp-group/

We are aware that even though the minimum age to use WhatsApp in the UK is 13 a child under 13 can use the app, through a parent managed account.

Pupil Parliament have been very involved in school life this year. They have worked with the Headteacher on a number of important things. The latest of which is helping to review the school lunch menus for the year, gathering student voice from their classes and leading discussions about suggestions for our kitchen team.

Pupil Parliament have done a wonderful job - we hope that have enjoyed their roles this year as their term in office comes to an end. Well done and big thank you to Samuel, Rowan, Emily, Elizabeth, Harry, Sophia, Harry, Ruby, Harrison and Poppy!

We are excited to be working with Rock the School, giving our Key Stage 2 pupils the opportunity to become part of a real rock band! Whether your child dreams of being a singer, guitarist, bassist, keyboard player or drummer, no previous experience is needed and all instruments are provided. During the weekly sessions, children will learn new musical skills, work together as a band and prepare a song to perform for their classmates and families in a concert at the end of the term. Sessions cost £7.50 each (£75 for a 10-session term). We are also delighted to offer funded places for children eligible for Targeted Free School Meals (children in households receiving Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less). If this applies to your family and you would like your child to take part, please contact the school office in confidence. This is a fantastic opportunity for children to develop confidence, teamwork and creativity while making music, making friends and making memories!

To help children enjoy a happy, healthy and positive summer holiday, we have attached a Summer Wellbeing Challenge packed with 30 fun activities for families to enjoy together. The challenges encourage children to stay active, be creative, spend time outdoors, read, practise mindfulness, connect with family and friends, and reflect on their feelings and achievements. There is no pressure to complete every activity—children can choose the challenges that interest them most and complete them in any order. We hope this booklet provides some fun ideas to keep children smiling, learning and looking after their wellbeing throughout the summer break. We would love to see photographs or hear about some of the challenges your child completes

Our Eco Club has been busy helping to improve our outdoor learning environment in preparation for the new academic year. Working alongside staff and younger pupils, the children have enthusiastically taken on the important jobs of weeding, planting, watering and caring for a variety of flowers, plants and fruit, helping to create a beautiful and welcoming garden area for our Nursery and Reception children to enjoy. The children have shown fantastic teamwork, enthusiasm and care for the environment, and it has been wonderful to see them taking such pride in making a positive difference to our school grounds. Their hard work will leave a lasting legacy that our youngest pupils will enjoy for years to come. Thank you, Eco Club!

On Wednesday 1st July, our school hall was transformed into a bustling railway station as we welcomed a live theatre company M and M to perform The Railway Children. The children were completely captivated by the production, enjoying a wonderful opportunity to experience live theatre right here in school. It was a truly special and memorable experience, bringing this much-loved story to life through engaging performances, imaginative staging and plenty of excitement. Following the performance, pupils also took part in important rail safety activities in their classrooms using resources provided by Transport UK, helping them to learn how to stay safe around the railway while building on the themes explored in the production.

We are pleased to share information about Comets Disability Football, a fantastic opportunity for children aged 5–11 with disabilities to enjoy football in a fun, safe and inclusive environment. The sessions are designed to help children build confidence, develop new skills, make friends and enjoy being active, regardless of their previous football experience. Sessions take place every Thursday from 5.00pm–6.00pm at Sowerby Sports Village, Thirsk, and new players are always welcome. If you think this opportunity may be suitable for your child, please see the attached leaflet for further information and details of how to book a place.

Congratulations to Hodgson House, who have been crowned our overall House Champions for this academic year! Throughout the year, children have earned House Points in many different ways by demonstrating our school values, working hard, showing kindness and making positive contributions to school life. Each term, the winning House enjoys a special reward, and this year's overall champions were proudly presented with our new House Trophy during Celebration Assembly. To mark their fantastic achievement, the children in Hodgson House enjoyed a well-deserved celebration party on Monday, complete with a DJ, music, dancing and plenty of fun. Well done to everyone in Hodgson House on a brilliant team effort throughout the year!

As we begin to prepare for the new school year, we would like to remind families to order school uniform in plenty of time for September. Our uniform supplier has advised that orders can take 2–3 weeks to process during the busy summer period, so placing your order early will help ensure everything is ready before the start of term. The shop will also be open on Saturdays from 18 July to 5 September (8.00am–1.00pm), with appointments recommended for the quickest service. If you need any advice about school uniform or sizing, please contact the supplier directly. Further information can be found in the attached leaflet.

Children who enjoy being creative and spending time outdoors may be interested in two exciting national competitions taking place this summer. The Young Wild Photographer Competition invites children aged 5–16 to capture photographs inspired by the theme 'The Colour of the Wild', celebrating the amazing colours, patterns and beauty of nature. Meanwhile, the Young Wild Writers Competition encourages children in the same age groups to write a story, poem, article, song lyric or letter (up to 500 words) on the theme 'Our Shared Planet', exploring the relationship between people, wildlife and the natural world. Both competitions offer fantastic prizes and are a wonderful opportunity for children to showcase their creativity and love of nature. The closing date for entries is 26 July 2026. Please see the attached posters for further details and how to enter.

Free school meals are being expanded from September

How do you know if your family is eligible and how to apply?

From September 2026 the Department for Education is extending entitlement to free school meals to include all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit. Although eligibility will be granted to all Universal Credit recipients, it is important to note that families do still need to apply to receive the meals.

If your child is currently registered as being in receipt of free school meals through North Yorkshire Council, you DO NOT need to reapply, as your child’s eligibility to continue receiving this provision will be automatically reassessed before September 2026. Where your child is moving to a school located outside of North Yorkshire, then you will need to reapply for this provision through the new authority/school.

Please be aware that any previous protections which applied to children already in receipt of free school meals will no longer apply. Eligibility will be based on whether you are in receipt of any of the benefits, as shown below:

• Universal Credit

• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

• Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

• The Guarantee element of Pension Credit

From September 2026 there will be 2 categories of eligibility for free school meals:

Targeted FSM: this covers children in households in receipt of Universal Credit with annual household earnings of £7,400 or less. These children will attract pupil premium and other disadvantage funding for their schools. Other education entitlements, such as the holiday activities and food programme (HAF) and the ‘extended rights’ element of school travel assistance, will be based on targeted free school meals.

Expanded FSM: this covers children who are in households receiving Universal Credit with annual household earnings exceeding £7,400. Children will be entitled to free school meals only.

For those wanting to apply, applications can be made through the council website www.northyorks.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals with effect from June.

If you have a child in Reception, Year 1 or Year 2 who will currently be benefiting from a ‘universal free school meal’, your school and child may also benefit from additional funding from central government known as Pupil Premium.

The government introduced the Pupil Premium grant to help children from low-income families reach their full potential and to achieve higher academic grades at school.

The level of funding that the school will receive for 2026/2027 is £1550 for each child that is registered as meeting the lower income criteria.

In order to determine if your child qualifies, and to allow us to claim the funding, it is important that all parents and carers who feel they may meet the criteria below, complete the online application form which can be found here: www.northyorks.gov.uk/freeschoolmeals

· Universal Credit

· Income-related Employment and Support Allowance

· Support under Part 6 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999

· The Guarantee element of Pension Credit

The information provided by you will be used by the council to check for eligibility to claim additional funding for the school (the ‘pupil premium’) from central government. It will be used for no other purposes and will remain confidential to the council.

This may not be relevant to you but if at any point your circumstances change and you feel you may qualify, please complete the application form online.

Thank you for your help in this matter. If you have any questions, please contact the school office.