College Attendance & Punctuality

At Vega College, we believe excellent attendance and punctuality are vital in helping our students achieve their best. Students should be at college, on time and ready to learn, every day they are timetabled to attend, unless the reason for absence is unavoidable. All research shows that students who attend well achieve well.

College begins at 8.45am with the compulsory college day ending at 2:15pm for students.

We expect the following from parents with regards to attendance and punctuality:

• To ensure all students attend the college regularly, on time and to be aware of their legal responsibilities
• To ensure they contact the college every day their child is unable to attend, using the college’s telephone number
• To ensure that their child is appropriately prepared for the day
• To contact the college in confidence whenever they have a problem concerning attendance or punctuality
• Not to arrange a holiday in term time
• To respond to the appropriate person regarding letters of concern immediately
• To make every effort to arrange dental and medical appointments out of the college day
• That telephone contact numbers are available and if changed, the college is informed immediately.

Parents can expect the following from Vega College:

• Regular, efficient and accurate recording of attendance
• Support from Vega to improve attendance and deal with any underlying issues.
• Early contact from the college when a student fails to attend the college without reason
• A prompt response to problems notified to us
• Support when there is a problem of long term illness
• Involvement with Doncaster Children’s’ Services when appropriate
• Follow up procedures from the main stream school’s attendance team and possible effect on placement at Vega College.
• Provide 15 hours of quality education per week

The government has laid down guidelines which they expect students in secondary schools to achieve in terms of attendance. Although we strive for every student to have 100% attendance, government guidelines state that all students should achieve a minimum of 96.1% attendance each academic year.

We do acknowledge that there are however certain instances where this may not be possible due to illness etc.  Whilst some absences may be unavoidable, we would ask that you support us in ensuring your child’s attendance meets both the school and the government’s expectations. Any problems with regular attendance are best sorted out by school and college with the students/parents at an early stage.

We will closely monitor your child’s attendance and alert you if we feel there is an issue. Where attendance is an issue, school and college undertakes a wide range of measures to support children and families. Where we fail to see an improvement in attendance, it may be necessary to make a referral to an appropriate external agency to ensure the student receives the support required to bring about an improvement.

Attendance & Admissions Policies

Please see the statutory information page for the policies or visit the DMBC website. 

School admissions - Doncaster Council

Holidays during Term Time

As a parent/carer you are strongly urged to avoid taking your child out of school during term time. Please note the following before applying for leave of absence from school:

From September 2013 the Department of Education announced an amendment to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, removing the Head Teacher’s ability to authorise leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday unless there are exceptional circumstances.

If you believe that there are exceptional circumstances that warrant the need to take your child out of school during term time, please complete the 'Leave of Absence' form which is available from the mainstream school office. Return your completed form to their mainstream school, providing at least 10 school days notice, where circumstances allow. A letter will be sent to parent/carers in response to the application for leave, to confirm the school's decision.