Dear Parents,

As you are aware, Headteachers cannot authorise any leave of absence during term time unless they are satisfied that there are “exceptional” circumstances to warrant the granting of leave. In our school the S.H.E. Committee are taking over the monitoring of absences from September and will consider applications for holidays in term time.

Lancashire County Council attendance department explained the following examples are classed as exceptional circumstances:-

  • Parents in the armed forces – who miss school holidays.
  • Police – Whose annual leave certain, can dictate, circumstances i.e. riots/ critical incident or special events like the Olympics.
  • Parents whose holidays are inflexible – in this circumstance parents would have to give schools the contact names of their employers to clarify this. (e.g. where a factory closes down for a set date a year and holidays cannot be taken out of this time).

As a result the Governing Body had no choice but to enforce both national and county requirements as laid out in the school’s attendance policy;-

  • Holidays will not be authorised in term time unless there is an exceptional circumstance.
  • The County recommended “request for leave” forms will be used and these can be obtained online from the school’s website.
  • All applications for “exceptional circumstance” leave must be made allowing 6 weeks for a decision to be made.
  • The decision will be made by a governor representative of the S.H.E. committee in consultation with the head teacher.
  • Parents may be asked to attend a meeting to discuss the application for exceptional leave.
  • Parents will be informed by letter as to the outcome.

We thank you for your co-operation and know that you have your child’s education as a priority.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. K. F. C. Walker
Chair of S.H.E. Committee

 

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