At Gateway College, we believe that all teaching time is golden, and as such we feel that holidays taken during term time will mean that students miss valuable learning time. There is always the intention of catching up with studies. However, the quality of learning is very poor in comparison to what it would be when they are at College. Being present means that they hear first-hand what their teachers are saying, they participate in the discussions about the topics and they have the opportunity to ask questions at the time, to ensure that they fully understand what they are learning. There is the additional impact on teachers of having to spend extra time helping the student catch up with the work they have missed.
To encourage student attendance and achievement, College policy is that students must maintain a minimum of 92% attendance in all aspects of their College programme. We feel that any absence will have an adverse effect on overall attendance, and more importantly the long term learning that is needed to pass a course.
We ask parents to work with us to ensure that holidays are taken in holiday periods, so that all of our students can benefit from the very best opportunities available to them.
