Amendments have been made to the 2006 regulations in the Education Regulations 2013. These amendments, as described below, came into force on 1st September 2013.
- The amendments make clear that the headteacher may not grant any leave of absence during term time, except in very exceptional circumstances. Holidays for reasons of convenience or price do NOT qualify.
- In exceptional circumstances, if leave is granted, the headteacher should determine the number of school days a child can be away from school.
- In what circumstances could an absence be authorised?
- For service personnel and employees who are prevented from taking leave of absence outside term time at ANY POINT in the academic year
- The terminal illness or bereavement of a parent or sibling if the absence is concurrent
You should not normally take your child on holidays in term time – it can be disruptive both to your child’s learning and to the school. Any application should be made as far in advance of the holiday as possible and you should speak to the school before you book. Whilst absence may be granted in exceptional circumstances during term time, it is entirely the school’s decision and is not a parental right. As a result, Wiltshire Council has amended its policy on unauthorised absences which we as a school, and as a cluster of schools, will follow from September 2013 (please click here for details).
The government and the school expect:
- Schools and local authorities to promote good attendance and reduce absence, including persistent absence; ensure every pupil has access to the full-time education to which they are entitled and act early to address patterns of absence.
- Parents to perform their legal duty by ensuring their children of compulsory school age who are registered at school attend regularly
- All pupils to be punctual to their lessons.
Penalty notices will be used where a pupil’s absence has not been authorised by the school. The parents will be notified that an absence has been marked as unauthorised and that the consequence of unauthorised absence of 5 days or more within any 6 month period of an academic year is that the Local Authority will be notified in order to issue a Penalty Notice to each parent for each child.
If you have any concerns, please don’t hesitate to discuss them with Mrs Floyd.