The Gateway (Year 8)

Welcome to The Gateway – the home of Year 8! The Year 8 journey builds upon and develops the skills and learning established within The Bridge, whilst simultaneously preparing students for Year 9 where they will focus on becoming GCSE ready. To do this, we deliver a world class curriculum, supported by outstanding interventions and a wide ranging enrichment programme.

The Gateway is the link between Year 7 and Year 9: whilst in Year 7, students are primarily taught within The Bridge classrooms to allow them a smooth transition into secondary school life; in Year 9 students move around the school for each lesson within the different subject areas. Year 8 is a middle ground between the two where students have some of their lessons within the dedicated Gateway classrooms and other lessons in subject areas around the school. The Gateway continues to provide the support and security offered from within The Bridge as we move students towards becoming more resilient and responsible in preparation for Year 9.

Throughout Year 8, students will cover a range of topics within the subjects that they study. Year 8 students receive four lessons of English and maths, three lessons of science and two lessons of geography, history, R.E., Spanish and P.E. each week. As well as this, students follow a six week project based curriculum allowing students to study and experience lessons in music, art, ICT, STEM and technology. To learn more about the topics covered within each subject, please use the ‘Curriculum’ link to read more.

In Year 8, as with other year groups, students start the day with a 25 minute Tutor Period. During these 25 minutes, tutors check to ensure that each student is ready for their day and that they have the appropriate ‘Gateway Five’, as well as deliver the Tutor Curriculum. The Tutor Curriculum focuses on supporting our students within the following three strands: Living in the Wider World, Keeping Safe and Healthy, Student Leadership. As part of the Tutor Curriculum, students attend online seminars with a variety of different professionals from a range of careers, such as human resources, nursing, finance and management. Students also learn about the world around them, how to keep themselves safe within it and the importance of community.