Thank you for taking the time to reply with such a detailed and comprehensive answer, it's really cleared up my uncertain.
I 'get it' now and am looking forward to putting into practice on Monday.
My Instructor hasn't mentioned anything about gates yet, tbh I think he knew I was struggling as it was and didn't want to overload me even more.
I did a search on various sites to try and find the information I required before I posted this question and noticed the gate method being discussed. I will look into it
Thanks again I have nine hours of flying left before my ME/CPL/IR skill tests, so was concerned I would struggle, but feel less anxious now