Request for leave / Absence during term time
Requesting Leave of Absence During Term Time
Regular attendance is important to children's education, wellbeing and progress. For this reason, families are expected to arrange holidays, family visits and other leisure activities during the school holidays wherever possible.
Under Department for Education regulations, leave of absence during term time may only be granted in specific circumstances. For other requests, including those made because of exceptional circumstances, the decision rests with the Headteacher.
For a maintained school such as Christleton Primary School, a request for leave due to exceptional circumstances must be made in advance by a parent with whom the child normally lives. Each application will be considered individually, taking account of the particular circumstances and relevant background to the request. If leave is granted, the school will determine how much absence is authorised.
Holidays and leisure activities
The Department for Education is clear that a need or desire for a holiday, or other absence for the purpose of leisure or recreation, would not normally constitute an exceptional circumstance. Term-time holidays will therefore not normally be authorised.
Similarly, circumstances that could reasonably be arranged during school holidays or outside school hours would not normally justify leave during term time.
What might be considered?
There is no automatic entitlement to leave for a particular event. However, exceptional circumstances may arise and the Headteacher will consider the individual facts of each request.
For example, consideration may be given to circumstances involving a serious family situation, bereavement or another significant event that could not reasonably take place outside school time. The amount of leave authorised, if any, will be limited to what is considered necessary.
A child's individual circumstances will also be taken into account, including any relevant special educational needs, disability, medical needs or significant family circumstances. This does not mean that leave will automatically be authorised; rather, the school will consider each request fairly and sensitively and make reasonable adjustments where required.
Religious observance
Absence for religious observance is dealt with separately under the national attendance regulations.
An absence may be authorised where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the parent belongs. Where a religious body sets apart one particular day, only that day can normally be recorded as religious observance. Any additional time requested, including extended travel, would need to be considered separately as a request for leave of absence.
Making a request
If you need to request leave of absence for your child, please complete the school's Leave of Absence Request Form and submit it before the proposed absence.
Please provide as much information as possible about the circumstances of the request so that the Headteacher can make an informed decision.
Submitting a request does not mean that the absence has been authorised. Parents will be informed of the school's decision.
Where leave is taken without permission, or where a child remains absent beyond the period that has been authorised, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. Unauthorised absence may contribute towards the national threshold at which a Penalty Notice must be considered.
We appreciate parents' support in ensuring that children attend school regularly and that requests for term-time absence are made only where genuinely necessary.
