Parents, you do not have the right to take your child out of school during term time. By law you must ask permission for your child to miss school. If you fail to gain the school’s permission you risk receiving a £100 penalty notice. All schools in the north-west area of Leeds have agreed to follow a common policy on absence during term time. Good attendance leads to improved outcomes for your child.
If you would like to apply for permission for your child to be absent from school you must complete this form for authorisation at least 10 school days in advance of the proposed leave.
Schools in North West Leeds have agreed a policy about giving permission for family requested absence from school
- Children must attend school regularly to achieve their potential.
- Children who miss out on school can feel vulnerable and left behind.
- Family requested absence in term-time is very disruptive and can seriously affect your child’s education.
- On average, children who miss 17 or more days in a school year lose one full grade in their GCSEs.
- Unauthorised absence can lead to prosecution.
The Law
By law, you must ask permission for your child to miss school. If you don’t, you risk a £100 penalty notice. When a school doesn’t give permission, absence is unauthorised and counted as truancy.
Our policy
Parents do not have the right to remove their children from school in term-time. The Headteacher will decide whether or not an absence should be authorised. Headteachers will only authorise absence in term time when there are exceptional reasons for a child to miss school.
Absence in term-time will not be authorised under the following circumstances:
- during national or school tests or examinations;
- when a child’s attendance is below 90%, or lower than their previously agreed individual target;
- during the month of September; and
- for more than 10 days during term-time in any school year.
Absence in term-time will only be authorised if parents or carers make a request to the school in advance on the appropriate form and can show that there are special reasons why the holiday has to be in term-time. The cost, convenience or availability of a particular holiday will not be taken into consideration.
If an absence has not been authorised by the Headteacher and parents or carers remove their child from school, their child’s absence will be recorded as unauthorised in the class register.
Absence for religious observance may be agreed by the Headteacher but will not exceed 2 days in any school year.
Parents or carers who repeatedly take their children out of school without permission may be issued with a fixed penalty of up to £100 and face possible prosecution in court.
To continue with your request for absence during term time please proceed onto the next page of the form.