Please submit a leave of absence form for any absence requests (such a holiday, weddings) during term time. Forms can be collected from the school office or printed from the link below. Forms must be completed and handed in to the office at least one month prior to the leave for consideration by the Head Teacher. Please attach supporting evidence to the form, identifying the exceptional nature of the leave. If your child is absent without permission granted by the Head Teacher the leave will be recorded as unauthorised.
The current law does not give any entitlement to parents to take their child out of school during term time. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 prohibits Head Teachers granting leave of absence to a pupil except where an application has been made in advance and the Head Teacher considers there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application. If the leave is granted, the Head Teacher can also determine the number of days the child may reasonably be away from school.
Taking your child out of school during term time could be detrimental to your child’s education progress. A pupil who takes 10 days absence will only attain 94.7% attendance for the school year. 10 days absence also means the pupil will miss 50 hours of education.
If the absence is not authorised and the leave is taken, Schools are now required to inform the Access and Inclusion School Attendance Team who may issue a Penalty Notice for £120 (or £60 if paid within 21 days) to each parent for each child taken out of school.
Penalty notices can be issued if:
There have been 10 sessions (5 consecutive days) or more of unauthorised absence due to leave taken during the academic year.
AND
Attendance is below 90% during the preceding 10 weeks before leave was taken.