Gateways is an independent day school for boys and girls aged 2 to 18. From September 2019, we accepted boys into Year 7 and Gateways is now fully co-educational right up to and including our Sixth Form.

Situated on a 16 acre site in the rural village of Harewood, Gateways is conveniently located on the main artery between Leeds and Harrogate. Gateways is a small school, which allows staff to know their pupils, recognise their strengths and weaknesses and therefore provide a personal education getting the best out of each and every child who come through the gates.

Aims and Ethos

Gateways is a forward thinking school built on traditional values.

We aim to:

• Teach an excellent academic programme with high standards and expectations so that each pupil may secure the best possible qualifications.
• Value and stretch pupils according to their strengths, while at the same time supporting their weaknesses.
• Develop caring relationships between all members of the school community based on mutual trust and respect.
• Offer a personal education that places individuals at its heart and allows everyone to shine.
• Offer personal growth and increased confidence through the diverse and enriching opportunities on offer.
• Ensure a seamless transition across all areas of the school with a strong home-school partnership.
• Provide an environment where pupils are both challenged and cared for.
• Work together so that pupils throughout the school are side by side as one community.
• Foster a happy, safe and secure environment for all.

History

Gateways was founded in 1941 by Nancy Simpson and Lillian Cox, teachers at Roundhay School. When war broke out in 1939, Miss Simpson and Miss Cox realised that parents in the professions and in business didn’t want to send their children away from home in wartime and that there was support for the kind of school they wanted to open. Gateways duly opened in September 1941 with just 15 pupils in a converted house in Alwoodley, Leeds. By the second term there were 30 pupils attending. Numbers quickly grew so that before long more space was required.

In 1947, the opportunity arose to lease the Dower House on the Harewood estate. Helped by the advice of Ronald Schofield, Managing Director of Schofields Department store, Miss Cox and Miss Simpson, seized their chance. The school continued to grow and flourish becoming successful in its founders’ vision for an all-round education for all. Miss Simpson left in 1955 to marry Sir Alfred Wort, High Court Judge for India. Miss Cox remained as sole headmistress until her retirement in 1963.

Successive headmistresses have overseen further developments to the school in the intervening years with extensive new buildings being created and state-of-the-art facilities being added right up to the present day. The original Dower House is still very much at the heart of the school, surrounded by the modern structures that have grown up around it.