Attendance at school is of enormous importance to the educational well-being of all our pupils. With regard to making a request for absence, please contact the school for an application form. Authorization for absence will only be given in extenuating circumstances at the discretion of the head teacher.

Parents should be aware of the following, taken from the school attendance policy: 

AUTHORISATION OF ABSENCE IN TERM TIME

• · Pupil absence is authorised when children are out of school to take part in sporting activities, educational visits or educational trips as defined by the headteacher.
• ·Pupil absence is authorised for sickness, unavoidable health appointments, exceptional family circumstances or religious observance including funerals.

· Attendance is not required when there is enforced closure of the school due to bad weather or other emergency situations (eg school transport provided by the Local Authority is unable to operate safely due to severe weather).

Amendments have been made to the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006, which came into force on 1 September 2013. These amendments state that that the head teacher may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are ‘exceptional’ circumstances.  If such leave is granted, the head teacher will determine the number of school days a child can be away from school.

If a parent feels that such exceptional circumstances exist, they should complete a form requesting leave for term time absence.  The school should receive adequate notice of such circumstances.

All requests for term time absence will be considered for authorisation by the headteacher and a decision will be made taking into account the following criteria:

• The special circumstances of the situation
• That attendance for the child is 95% or better over the preceding 12 weeks before the leave is taken.
• The leave is not taken during tests or examinations or in the immediate run up to the KS2 SATS.
•  Whether previous absence has been authorised during the academic year.
• The absence interferes with transition activities arranged for Year 6

A child’s age, stage of education, progress and general attendance record will also be taken into consideration.  The decision will then be communicated to parents, and a record kept in school.

FIXED PENALTY NOTICE

The headteacher has the right to issue fixed penalty notices to parents/carers who compromise the education of their child/children through the persistent taking of unauthorised absences.  

A letter to the parent confirming that a leave of absence has not been authorised must be sent and include a warning as appropriate that a penalty notice may be issued in future.