Message from Head of School

Gateway-Mumbai has now completed five full academic years! We have learned so much over this time, as individuals, as a community, and as an institution. Today, we have more clarity on our goals and the best ways to get there, thanks to a series of consultations that took place between the school and all its stakeholders in 2016. First, we had parents come in for a special meeting where they interviewed each other in pairs. They spoke about their hopes and dreams for their children, and also shared what they love most about Gateway and what they would like to change. Next, we engaged students across the entire school in a similar thinking exercise. Finally, we gathered the views of our teachers and admin team. Common themes emerged from the analysis of this collated data from all stakeholders, and the viewpoints of all stakeholders have been incorporated into our updated and much more comprehensive statement of purpose and philosophy.

Here is an excerpt from the new statement, encapsulating our theory of change:

Gateway was established by one visionary parent and a team of passionate educators who believe that children with learning challenges in India deserve an exceptional education – one that is informed by current research, and inspired by a strength-based approach to growth and development. Our students deserve quality education at par with the best schools in the world. Nothing less is fair, adequate, or acceptable. Gateway’s theory of change is premised on the belief that in order to empower students to live fulfilling and productive lives as active contributors in society, it is necessary to also build capacity in their families and the professionals that work with them, along with positively influencing government policy and the culture of Indian society-at-large.

Having a clearly articulated vision allows us to evaluate our progress more effectively, because we have clear goals against which to measure growth. This benefit was experienced at our End-of-Year Summative Evaluation meeting in April ‘17, where 16 of the school’s leaders spent an entire day analysing a variety of whole-school level data to assess Gateway’s performance and inform planning for next year. We reflected on some of our successes here. We also investigated some of our needs, and put in place a strategic plan for 2017-18 to support further development of the school.

Finally, this Annual Report will be my last as Head of School. It has been an honour working with a community of resilient and collaborative parents, and committed and passionate professionals! I especially want to thank the Bodani Family for trusting me with a mission so important! Gateway-Mumbai will now be led by two Co-Principals– Radhika Zahedi and Varsha Makhija. Their dedication, expertise, and purity of intent is par none! I look forward to seeing them take Gateway-Mumbai to new heights, and will continue to support them in my capacity as an Honorary Trustee.

A Day at Gateway

2016-17 Outcomes

9 students attempted NIOS Grade 10 exam this year

100% passed.

of the parents agreed with the statement “I am satisfied with the overall development my child has made since joining Gateway”, in our anonymous annual survey.

from Gateway’s senior class provided weekly English tutoring after school hours to 22 children from nearby public schools, as a part of our community service program.

Students contributed Rs. 12 lakh through the sale of their work at the Annual Art Show, towards Gateway’s Excellence in Teaching Award - where our teachers are given scholarship funding to pursue further education overseas.

increase in our student body for the coming year 2017-18. At 63, this is our highest number of students yet!

of the parents agreed that “Gateway has built my capacity to use effective parenting practices to support my child's development”, in our anonymous annual survey.

3350 educators have been engaged by Gateway through workshops and seminars, and around 105 teachers have visited us for classroom observations.

1 new ICSE mainstream education school in Chembur has been contracted with, where Gateway will design a whole-school inclusion framework with protocols to support students with disabilities effectively. We will also be providing the school’s special education team with systematic professional development.

Gateway has assigned 2 of its team members as representatives on policy-making task-forces. One is being driven by Suvidya Centre of Special Education (University of Mumbai), and consists of academics and educators from around Mumbai that have been coming together to brainstorm on ways the government should support inclusion in mainstream schools. Another task force is led by Ashoka Change Maker Schools, where 35 educational leaders from across India have been coming together to create a compendium of best practices for teaching and learning, that will be shared with the public and private education sectors in order to inspire a transformation in the quality of schooling.

16,500 views have been garnered so far, on a special episode of the Tara Sharma show that featured Gateway-Mumbai. The Tara Sharma Show is a prime timeTV talk show that reaches out to over 2 million viewers.

6 blog posts were shared via Facebook, LinkedIn, and our monthly newsletter, on topics like movement in classrooms, the power of read-alouds, the importance of building rapport with students, and much more.

3 articles have been published by our R&D team - one in an international scholarly journal, and two in teacher/education focused publications. The articles share teaching practices and tools that we have developed at Gateway!