|
Holidays in Term Time
and Unauthorised Absence
Some
parents arrange family holidays during term time, which
can lead to problems for all concerned:
=
Your child’s education suffers
=
Lessons and extra curricular activities are missed
=
Continuity of project work is lost
=
The class is generally disrupted; other pupils suffer as
a result
=
You may be in breach of your legal obligation to send
your child to school
There
is a common misconception that any pupil is allowed to
take 10 days holiday per academic year in term time.
This is not true. In certain circumstances the parent
or parent's with whom a pupil normally resides can
request leave of absence of up to 10 school days for an
annual family holiday, and this may be
authorised by the school. Only in exceptional
circumstances can any more than 10 days be granted. The
Department for Education and Skills expects us actively
to discourage all holidays in term time.
Recent
amendments to the Education (Pupil Registration)
(England) Regulations 2006 and the accompanying guidance
on how schools should implement these regulations have
clarified when term time holidays should, and should
not, be authorised by a Headteacher. These documents
can be found on
www.dfes.gov.uk/schoolattendance/legislation and a
summary is on the back of the new Warwickshire Holiday
Request form.
In
order to assess the potential impact on a pupil’s
education of any proposed term time holiday,
Warwickshire schools are asked to use the Warwickshire
Holiday Calculator (a copy of which is available from
school). This also ensures consistency of practice
across all our schools. The calculator takes into
account:
=
The pupil’s current absence record
=
The number of previous similar requests
=
The Year Group the pupil is in
=
Proximity to major tests/exams
Should
a pupil’s education be deemed likely to suffer unduly as
a result of leave of absence, authorisation cannot
be given by the Headteacher.
If you
are unable to avoid requesting absence during school
term, an application must be made to the Headteacher or
an application form (available from the School Office).
This should be not less than six weeks before the
absence is due to start.
A
response will be sent to you within 14 days of receipt
of your request. If your request is refused, but the
child will still be absent from school, the absence will
be recorded as unauthorised and may be reported to the
Local Authority for legal action.
Any
unauthorised absence is damaging to your child’s
education. Please consider this matter very carefully
before making a request for absence during term time.
06/05/2008 |
