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My name is Viki Reid. As CEO, it is my great pleasure and privilege to welcome you to the Gateway Learning Community [The GLC]. It is our aim to work together to continually improve upon our best. We put children first, nurture talent and value our strong partnerships with parents and our community. 

We believe that it is our responsibility not only to improve education but to play a part in the continued transformation of our community by bringing to life our core values of aspiration, compassion, resilience and responsibility in everything we do.

The GLC [one secondary academy and four primary academies] was formed in 2012 and all the schools in our family are rated Good by Ofsted. It really does feel like a family as many of our colleagues have been here in one or another of our academies for many years.

Experts from across our schools, our central team and through partnerships beyond our trust, work together with a shared vision to creatively find ways to overcome barriers, celebrate success, improve upon our best and respond positively to challenges.

Each of our academies has its own unique character, but there are also many similarities which is reflected in our All Different: All Equal motto and underpins everything we do. We celebrate diversity in its widest sense, empowering staff, students and their families to make positive contributions to our community. 

The most important thing for all of us is to make sure that the provision for children is as good as it can possibly be. Our schools strive to deliver great outcomes both academically and by educating the whole child. We have high expectations, aligned autonomy and work collaboratively to ensure that children can aspire to be anything they want to be.

Our curriculum is rich and exciting and we offer a broad range of extracurricular opportunities. It is developed collaboratively across our trust with a wide range of external partners such as The Royal Opera House, the Port of Tilbury, National Theatre and Royal Philharmonic. 

We continually reflect upon and refine our teaching, not because it is not good enough but because we can be even better - we believe the possibilities are endless when teaching is excellent. 

We think it is important to celebrate our achievements; we have annual GLC awards ceremonies for our children and staff, a Summer Festival to showcase learning through dance, singing, speaking and drama. We also take great pleasure in taking part in community events such as carnivals, festivals and in 2022 the Queen’s Jubilee Pageant as part of the 'Thank You' dance.

We have an extensive and expert shared services provision. Quality and cost savings are delivered through our collective efficiency approach. Such services include, but are not restricted to: 

• Governance
• Finance
• Legal
• Quality Assurance [including Safeguarding] 
• Estates Management [including Health and Safety] 
• IT 
• Communications and Marketing

Heads, supported and challenged by their Local Governing Bodies and Directors, lead their schools with the freedom and benefits that being part of a strong trust brings. They are able to make decisions and determine practice, in a low threat, high challenge environment. All processes are clear, simple and universally understood. 

At the GLC we ‘make the weather’ no matter what. This mantra is widely understood and sets the tone for an ethos of positivity and possibility-thinking. All share the belief that we have a duty to play our part in preparing our pupils to take their place as active, thriving citizens willing to be the change needed not only for our community but for our planet as a whole.