Parents should be aware that the law does not grant parents an automatic right to take their child out of school during term time. The Department for Education allows a Headteacher the discretion to consider authorising a leave of absence in term time only in “exceptional circumstances”.
You may consider that a holiday will be educational, but your child will still miss out on the teaching and learning that their peers will receive whilst your child is away. Children returning from a leave of absence during term time are also unprepared for the lessons which build on the teaching they have missed and arrangements need to be made for individual children to catch up on missed work. Disruption to the continuity of teaching and learning is something we all have a responsibility to avoid.
If requesting a leave of absence you will need to complete the form below, setting out the reasons. If the absence is not considered to be an exceptional circumstance it will not be agreed. If you nevertheless take your child out of school for the leave of absence, this will be recorded as unauthorised leave.
In the case of an unauthorised leave of absence the headteacher may request that the Local Authority issue a Fixed Penalty Notice without further warning to the parent. Please note that such a penalty is issued to each parent for each child taken out of school. A Penalty Notice is a fine of £60 if paid within the first 21 days which increases to £120 if paid between 21 and 28 days. Thereafter, if the penalty remains unpaid this may lead to prosecution through the Magistrates’ Court.
All leave of absence requests should be completed on the form by the parent/carer with whom the child ordinarily resides. This should be returned to the school at least 14 days before the start of the absence. All requests must be made prior to the leave being taken. Leave cannot be authorised retrospectively.
