Our values as an organisation are:  Compassion; Ambition and Partnership.  We try, where we can to know and understand our children and their families and offer the right support for learning and for life. Recent changes in the law regarding children taking time off school for holidays and unauthorised absence has been updated from August 2024 and it means that some of the decisions we have made in the past about attendance are now not straightforward and will require a much more rigorous process as schools will be held to much closer account by the Department for Education and Ofsted about the decisions we make. We want to ensure you are informed about the changes as you begin to book holidays and events in the year(s) ahead. Apologies that this is a long letter, but please try to ensure you are aware of everything in it, before booking holidays.

There are 3 things, I want to make you aware/remind you of at this time:

• Why good attendance is so important.

• A summary of the new legislation.

• The new legislation guidance that has been issued to schools by Warwickshire Local Authority.

Why is good attendance so important for children, especially those with SEND

• Children with SEND often need more time and opportunity to process and practice their learning.

• Children who miss lessons can be disadvantaged because they cannot catch up on the learning missed or the experience of sharing discussion with their classmates and staff team to secure understanding.

• Coming back into school having missed lessons can cause children with SEND to feel ‘lost’ in their learning and the feelings of shame or embarrassment that might bring with it, if other pupils seem to ‘get it’ much easier. 

• It causes disruption to the education of other children in the class because adults have to support the child who missed the lessons rather than supporting the learning of other children. This applies to every single lesson and is especially important as children undertake exam level subjects.

• It can cause social difficulties for children who did not experience the same conversations, experiences or games that other children have engaged with. This can cause a lack of confidence and in some cases isolation.

• From time-to-time, all children are unwell, which of course cannot be avoided. So, missing more school with holidays, further impacts on a child’s learning.

Summary of the new Legislation

• In place from the start of the Autumn term 2024

• School may grant authorised leave for exceptional circumstances only.

• The need or desire to have a holiday is not an exceptional circumstance.

• The leave must be authorised before the absence is taken

• All decisions are made on individual merits.

• Applications can only be made by the parent with whom the child usually resides.

• All unauthorised absences will be referred to Warwickshire Attendance Service.

• The national threshold set out in the statutory guidance states that a penalty notice must be considered for 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 days) of unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period.

• The first leave of absence offence will result in a fine issued to each parent of each absent child at £160 (reduced to £80 per child if payment is made promptly).

• The second leave of absence offence within a period of three years will be £160. No reduced amount or payment plans.

• The third leave of absence offence within a 3-year period will be referred for criminal prosecution proceedings – this could leave a parent with a criminal record

Updated Information for Parents from Warwickshire County Council on how they are applying the law and expecting schools to apply it.

Leave of Absence during Term Time updated information for Parents

The Supreme Court has clarified the law on unauthorised leave, including holidays, during term time (Platt v Isle of Wright 2017). The Supreme Court has made clear that attending school ‘regularly’ means that the children must attend school on every day that they are required to do so. As such, the parents of any child who is absent from school without authorisation for any length of time are likely to be considered as committing an offence under s444 of the Education Act 1996.

The law states a leave of absence may only be granted by a school if an application is made in advance and if it considers there are exceptional circumstances relating to the application.

Schools must judge each application individually, considering the specific facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind each request.

A leave of absence is granted entirely at the school’s discretion. Generally, a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation would not constitute an exceptional circumstance.

Where a leave of absence is granted, the school will determine the number of days a pupil can be absent from school.

When making an application for Leave of Absence, parents are advised to give sufficient information and time to allow the Head teacher the opportunity to consider all the exceptional circumstances and to notify parents of their decision. The school may also request further information on the application and supporting documentation where appropriate.

It is advised that if the resident parent has not received notification or a response regarding the leave of absence application, it is their responsibility to ascertain if the leave is authorised prior to the start of the leave.

The school can only consider Leave of Absence requests which are made by the ‘resident’ parent i.e. the parent with whom the child normally resides.

Where applications for leave of absence are made in advance and refused, the child is expected to be in school on the dates set out in the application. If the child is absent during that period, it will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. Where a leave of absence is requested, but additional days taken either prior to or after the request may be considered as part of the leave of absence.

Leave of Absences which are not made in advance cannot be authorised in line with legislation. This will result in the absence being recorded as ‘unauthorised’.

All matters of unauthorised absence relating to a Leave of Absence will be referred to the Warwickshire Attendance Service, part of Warwickshire County Council. Penalty Notices are issued in accordance with Warwickshire County Council’s Code of Conduct for Penalty Notices and in the first instance, as an alternative to prosecution proceedings.

Leave of Absence taken in the academic year 2024-25

The law relating to Penalty Notices is due to change with effect from 1 September 2024. Therefore, Penalty Notices issued for Leave of Absences taken after this date will be issued in accordance with the updated legislation.

Penalty Notices are issued to each parent of each absent child, (for example 2 children and 2 parents, means each parent will receive 2 invoices – 4 in total). First Leave of Absence offence: The Penalty Notice amount of £160 to be paid within 28 days, this is reduced to £80 each child if paid within 21 days. Second Leave of Absence offence within a 3-year period (from the date of issue of the first penalty notice): The amount of £160 paid within 28 days. No reduced amount,

Payment plans will not be offered and/or payments received outside of the 28-day period will not be accepted. Where a penalty notice expires unpaid the matter will be referred to Warwickshire County Council’s Legal Services to consider criminal prosecution.

Third Leave of Absence offence within a 3-year period (from the date of issue of the first penalty notice) A penalty notice will be not be issued, and the matter will be referred to Warwickshire County Council’s Legal Services to consider instigating criminal prosecution proceedings under S444 of Education Act 1996.

Your child’s progress academically as well as socially is our shared priority. Issued by Warwickshire Local Authority .

In summary

As I stated at the start, ‘Partnership’ is one of our values as an organisation, and we want to support families to support their children to get the best possible outcomes during their time with us and good attendance is a key part of that success. If you need our help and support to increase your child’s attendance, please speak to us.  So many of you have fought so hard and for a long time, to get your child the school placement they need with us, and we all want to make that count.

If you plan to take a break in school time, please avoid taking 10 sessions (5 days) in a rolling 10-week period. If you take 10 sessions or more, we will have to report this to the local authority. If you think there are exceptional reasons why 10 sessions or more is necessary, please add lots of information about why you think this is the case to your request form so that we can discuss with the local authority fully. Please do make sure you keep a close track of any absence your child has and where it might trigger a fine and do all that you can to avoid this. Also bear in mind that there is now a very real threat of criminal prosecuted for parents who repeatedly take their child out of school for holidays.

I want to reassure you the school does not benefit financially from any fines, as they do not come back into the school. There would be no financial benefit to the school of fines being issued to a family. This is simply now a legal process that we have a legal duty to follow and enable the local authority to ‘enforce’.

I hope that the above is clear, but if you need any further information, please speak to our school’s attendance champion John Anderson by ringing the main number and asking for a call back.