Requesting leave of absence from school during term time.
The law does not grant parents/carers an automatic right to take their child out of school during term time. You may consider that a holiday will be an educational family experience, but your child will still miss out on the teaching that their peers will receive, which is something that we all have a responsibility to avoid. Any absence from school will disrupt your child’s learning. We have a collective responsibility to ensure that Ide Hill meets statutory requirements and obligations to ensure that children attend school regularly.
As per the school attendance policy, the list below provides examples of reasons for which holiday will not be authorised:
- Where the child has an absence level of 95% or less as this is considered as persistent absence.
- For a family holiday.
- Issues relating to the cost of a holiday or confusion over school term dates.
- Where the holiday request falls at the start of the academic year or during testing periods.
- Persistent non-specific illness e.g. poorly/unwell or when an absent sibling is unwell.
- Medical/dental appointments of more than half a day without very good reasons
- Oversleeping/ Lack of transport / Inadequate uniform
Parents requesting a leave of absence for their child / ren should complete the form below and submit this to the school office for the consideration of the headteacher. Please note that unless circumstances are exceptional, the request cannot be authorised.
What happens if we take our child out of school without permission?
The Full Governing Body has agreed that the Headteacher will refer the family to the Local Authority Attendance Service, who may issue a penalty notice of £60 per parent (per child) if paid within 21 days increasing to £120 per parent per child if paid between 22-28 days.