Attendance
Letter to Parents – Attendance Penalty Notice
What your child’s attendance record really means
Holiday Form
In Wales we want all of our pupils to achieve success, so it is important that parents do their best to support pupils in attending school for the full 190 days in an academic year, as stated in the Education (School Day and School Year) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2006.
Under the Education Act (1996), it is the responsibility of the parent or carer to ensure that their son/daughter attend school. Regular school attendance is vital and missing school can have a significant impact on achievement over a one year period as illustrated below:
95-100% attendance | Best chance of success | Your child is taking full advantage of every learning opportunity. |
90-95% attendance | At least 2 weeks of learning missed | Satisfactory. Your child may have to spend time catching up with work. |
85-90% attendance | At least 4 weeks of learning missed | Your child may be at risk of underachieving and may need extra support from you to catch up with work. |
80-85% attendance | At least 5 ½ weeks of learning missed | Your child’s poor attendance has a significant impact on learning. |
Below 80% attendance | At least 7½ weeks of learning missed | Your child is missing out on a broad and balanced education. You are at risk of prosecution. |
We hope that you can support this policy and arrange your holidays around the existing 175 days the schools are closed through weekends and school holidays and help us support your child in achieving success in school. If, however, there are circumstances that mean you have to take a holiday during term time, we ask that you fill in the form on the reverse of this letter and return to school for the attention of the head teacher.
Holiday Request Form
If you wish to take your child/ren on a holiday during term time, the form below must be completed at least 28 days before the absence is required to be considered for authorisation.
The Pupil Registration (Wales) Regulations 2010 provide head teachers with a discretionary power to authorise leave for a family holiday during term time where parents seek permission. Save in exceptional circumstances, no more than 10 days leave should be granted for this purpose. The procedure at this school is that all the factors noted below will be taken into consideration before a decision is made as to whether to authorise any periods of holiday requested during term time.
- Attendance figures for the last year. (We would expect attendance to be above 90%.)
- Behaviour and attitude to school life.
- That the holiday does not impact on any key periods of learning identified and highlighted by the school (such as the end of year pupil assessments carried out during the month of May each year).
- That this form has been completed correctly and the request has been made 28 days before the holiday.
Please therefore remember that holidays can only be authorised at the Head Teacher’s discretion.
It should also be noted that an application for a ‘Fixed Penalty Notice’ will be considered if there are 5 or more days (10 sessions) of ‘unauthorised absence’ recorded, in addition to the attendance level being below 90% for the school year to date.
You can request for a holiday form to be sent to you via email at:
