Term Dates & Holidays

As of 1st September 2013 there has been a change in the School Attendance Regulations. Where there used to be the option for headteachers to grant leave of absence for the purpose of a family holiday during the term time in ‘special circumstances’ of up to ten days in a year, this has been removed. Headteachers are now only allowed to authorise any leave of absence when an application has been made in advance for an exceptional circumstance; the annual family holiday would not be deemed an exceptional circumstance.  
Leave of absence will not be authorised in the following circumstances: 
At the start of the academic year 
During examination periods (ie SATS or assessment weeks) 
The procedure for requesting leave of absence from school in term time is as follows: 

Obtain an application form for pupil leave of absence from the school office 
Complete form and return to school office 
Your request will be considered in light of a range of points including the child’s previous attendance history, the age of the child, their stage of education, the time of year (SATS, assessments etc) and the reason for leave being requested. You will receive written notification of the decision and a School Attendance information leaflet for Parents. Please note that if the leave of absence is not authorised, the Education Welfare Officer at the Local Authority has to be notified by the school, and they may take this up with you. 
 
I appreciate that this is a difficult issue and respect that there will be many different points of view. However, the school has a legal responsibility to follow statutory regulations and will be monitored and inspected on this by the Education Access Team as well as OFSTED. We need your help in reducing our absence percentage due to holidays in term time and in increasing our attendance percentage. I am sure, that together, we can do this. 
 
Mr L Ball.