Pupil Absence
"The School, Governors and its staff regard the regular attendance of children at school as being vital to each child's education and development. It is for this reason that non-attendances (however short or infrequent) are treated seriously. It remains the policy of the school to only sanction non-attendance during term time in exceptional circumstances.
If your child has unauthorised leave of absence you may either be issued with a Penalty Notice of £120 per parent per child (discounted to £60 if paid within 21 days), or your case could be referred by the Local Authority directly to the Magistrates' Court for the purposes of a criminal prosecution."
Day to day pupil absences
Please report the absence to the office as soon as possible. Let us know the child’s name, class and brief explanation for their absence by telephone (leave a message on the answer phone) or in person. Unexplained absences will be followed up by a telephone call.
Planned absences
If you wish to take your child out of school during term time, a Pupil Leave of Absence Request Form should be completed. This will be reviewed by the Headteacher and/or Governor group and a letter returned home to notify whether or not the absence is authorised. This is also ratified through the Children's Attendance Welfare Services (CAWS) which our school uses.
The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006
Amendments have been made to the 2006 regulations in the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. These amendments, as described below, came into force on 1 September 2013.
The amendments remove references to family holiday and extended leave as well as the statutory threshold of ten school days. The amendments make clear that headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances. Headteachers should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted.
Term-time holiday
Our updated Attendance Policy reflects these amendments and therefore term-time holidays will not be authorised.
For further information about term time absence and our Absence Policy, please speak to Mr Jewitt, Headteacher.
If a request for leave of absence is refused and the child is still taken out of school, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence and you parents be liable to a fine. CAWS are also notified.
If after taking into consideration the above, you still wish to request a Leave of Absence, please download the form below: