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Southfields Primary School

Southfields Primary School

Leave of Absence / Holidays in Term Time

Leave of absence/single absence event

As a school we ask parents/carers not to take children out of school without the permission of the Headteacher as per the Law and Legislation. Please remember that any savings you think you may make by taking a holiday in school time are offset by the cost to your child’s education.

Headteacher’s must comply with The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013. There is no automatic entitlement in law to take time off in school time to go on holiday.

All applications for leave of absence must be made in advance.  In deciding about whether to authorise the leave the Headteacher will consider the circumstances of each application individually taking into account the evidence submitted in support.  If the request is refused the Headteacher will inform all parties of their decision.  If the Headteacher grants the request it is for the Headteacher to determine the length of time the pupil can be away from school, but more than 5 days would not be sanctioned in any situation.

It is important that you understand that we may only authorise such absences in exceptional circumstances. There will be no leave of absence granted for the purpose of a family holiday without exceptional circumstances.

Any period of leave taken without the agreement of the school (with at least four weeks’ notice) and/or different from that agreed by the school will be classed as unauthorised and may attract sanctions such as a Penalty Notice per parent/carer per child.

The Leave of Absence form can be found here.

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