Dear parents,

I would like to remind parents of the protocol in relation to requesting an absence during term time.

There has been significant increase in the number of requests for children to be taken out of school for a holiday. In a number of instances, the school is simply being informed that the children will not be in school or children are taken out of school prior to a designated holiday (half term, Christmas etc) and we are being informed that they are unwell, but the children have already told us that they are going away. This is not appropriate and does not follow school policy.

The school recognises and values the diversity of its community and also that many children have family members abroad. The school is committed to working with families to support according to individual needs and circumstances. Amendments to school attendance regulations were updated and enforced from September 2013: The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations state that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time, unless there are exceptional circumstances. The fundamental principles for defining exceptional are rare, significant, or unavoidable, which means the event could not reasonably be scheduled at another time. There are no rules on this, as circumstances vary from school to school and family to family. There is, however, no legal entitlement for time off in school term time to go on holiday and in the majority of cases holiday will not be authorised.

We will consider each application individually taking into account the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind the request. The Headteacher will then decide whether the request is authorised or unauthorised.

Any requests for absence during term time must be completed on an absence request form and handed into the office at least two weeks in advance. The forms are available on the school website or you can collect one from the school office.

Any absences that do not follow this protocol will automatically be unauthorised

Thank you in advance.

Best wishes

Karen