Henry Maynard Primary School

Parental guidance: 

Please see below for the relevant sections taken from our Attendance Policy that we will use when making our decisions.

Authorised and unauthorised absence 

4.1 Granting approval for term-time absence 

The Headteacher may not grant any leave of absence to pupils during term time unless they consider there to be 'exceptional circumstances'. 

The school will follow Waltham Forest Council’s policy of minimum unavoidable absence from school during term time and will grant the following maximum number of days absence from school for circumstances defined as ‘exceptional’. 

These circumstances are: 

• Bereavement/funeral of parent, grandparent or sibling – up to 5 days 

• Sudden loss of housing through, for example, eviction or domestic violence – up to 5 days 
• Religious observance – up to 3 days per academic year 
• Out of school programmes such as music, arts or sport operating at a high standard of achievement and agreed by the Local Authority – up to 3 days 
• Time off relating to Child Entertainment Performances, which is subject to a license being issued by the Education Welfare Service – up to 3 days 

All the above are calculated per academic school year. 

The Headteacher reserves the right to amend the number of days granted for exceptional and unavoidable absences.  

The school considers each application for term-time absence individually, taking into account the specific facts, circumstances and relevant context behind the request. A leave of absence is granted entirely at the Co-Headteachers’ discretion.  It is unlikely a leave of absence will be granted for the purposes of a family holiday. 

Valid reasons for authorised absence include: 

• Illness and medical/dental appointments – as explained in sections 3.2 and 3.3
• Religious observance – where the day is exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which the pupil’s parents/carers belong.  If necessary, the school will seek advice from the parents’/carers’ religious body to confirm whether the day is set apart 

• Traveller pupils travelling for occupational purposes – this covers Roma, English and Welsh Gypsies, Irish

and Scottish Travellers, Showmen (fairground people) and Circus people, Bargees (occupational boat dwellers) and New Travellers. Absence may be authorised only when a Traveller family is known to be travelling for occupational purposes and has agreed this with the school, but it may not be known whether the pupil is attending educational provision 

Parents/carers who take their children out of school during term time without authorisation, risk legal action and losing their child’s school place.  

4.3 Legal sanctions 

Schools can fine parents/carers for the unauthorised absence of their child from school, where the child is of compulsory school age. 

If issued with a penalty notice, each parent must pay £60 per child within 21 days or £120 within 28 days. The payment must be made directly to the local authority. 

The decision on whether or not to issue a penalty notice ultimately rests with the Headteacher, following the local authority’s code of conduct for issuing penalty notices. The guidance states that Fixed Penalty Notices should be sought for: 

• 5 days of unauthorised absences occurring within a consecutive six-week period. 
• 10 unauthorised lates occurring within a consecutive six-week period 
• Where an excluded pupil is found in a public place during school hours without a justifiable reason 

If the payment has not been made after 28 days, the local authority can decide whether to prosecute the parent/carer or withdraw the notice