Term Time Holidays

You are required under the Education Act (1996) to ensure your child attends school regularly.

New legislation came into effect on 1 September 2013 which means there is no longer a provision in law for the Headteachers to authorise an absence for the purpose of a term time holiday other than in a very limited set of exceptional circumstances outlined in our Absence from School Exceptional Circumstances policy.

The Governing Body has therefore broadly adopted the East Riding of Yorkshire’s Behaviour and Attendance Partnership Policy for Absence from School for Exceptional Circumstances in line with most other schools in the East Riding.

We advise that you do not plan for your child to be absent without contacting the School first to obtain prior approval. Headteachers cannot retrospectively authorise absence from school under any circumstance.

Penalty Notices

Under the Anti Social Behaviour Act (2003) the local authority and schools have statutory powers to tackle poor school attendance and/or unauthorised absences. An unauthorised absence is any absence that the school has not given permission for or where an explanation has not been provided by the parent.

Penalty Notices will be used as a deterrent to prevent a pattern of unauthorised absences developing. They will be issued by post direct to the home of a parent after possibly just one warning, or in the case of absences without acceptable cause, warnings may not be given. This includes students caught on truancy sweeps, excessive or unauthorised family holidays and persistent late arrival after the close of registration.

If your request is declined and you still take your child out of school each parent within your household will be issued with a £50 penalty notice for each child you have taken out of school. If a penalty notice remains unpaid after 28 days it will increase to £100. If after 42 days it remains unpaid you will be summonsed to appear before Magistrates to explain why your child has unauthorised school absences and you may be liable for a fine of up to £1000.

If you believe at any stage that your child’s absence from school may leave you liable for prosecution or a penalty notice, it is important you take action without delay to secure their regular attendance.

Support and guidance on attendance is always available and if you have any questions about this, or if you need help to achieve an improvement, then please contact the school to discuss this.