Absence and Holiday Requests 2018 - 2019
The points below are drawn from the July 2016 letter written by Judith Harwood, Assistant Director of Plymouth City Council's Learning and Communities division.
- Headteachers are still unable to authorise any holiday requests or absences from school due to a holiday being taken
- Any absence for holiday will be marked as unauthorised
- Exceptional circumstances can apply - (please refer to exceptional circumstances document)
- The local authority expect to be informed and will intervene if a child is absent from school for more than 4 days as a result of a holiday
- Penalty notices (£60 fines) will no longer be issued but parents are still encouraged to maximise their child's time in school and take holidays outside of term time
- High levels of absence may result in prosecution
- If attendance falls below 90% (persistent absence) or parents fail to ensure their child attends school regularly, the City Council will consider prosecution.
- OFSTED considers attendance of MORE THAN 96% for primary schools as being the right standard.
- Our school attendance target is 97%