Some parents arrange family holidays during term time, which can lead to problems in that: 

• Your child’s education suffers;
• Lessons and extra curricular activities are missed;
• Continuity of project work is lost;
• There is often no opportunity for teachers to set additional work or to assist a child in catching up on their return from holiday;
• The class is generally disrupted and other pupils may suffer as a result;
• You may be in breach of your legal obligation to send your child to school. 

There is a common misconception that any pupil is allowed to take 10 days holiday during term time per academic year – this is not strictly true!  Parents are entitled to ask for leave of absence of up to 10 school days for an annual holiday, and this may be authorised by the school.  Only in exceptional circumstances can any more than 10 days be granted. 

As you are aware, the Welsh Assembly Government has recently changed legislation to take more account of School Attendance figures, as they believe that any absence from school affects a child’s learning.  As such, all schools will be required to improve their attendance record. 

Each school will set annual targets for the total absence of pupils (authorised and unauthorised) and submit them to the LA and Welsh Assembly to be scrutinised. 

If you need to request leave of absence for your child, please give as much notice as possible.  We wish to stress that any request for holiday absence will be considered very carefully.  The following factors will be taken into account:

• Your child’s general attendance / punctuality record;
• The number of similar requests;
• The time of year that your child will be absent (e.g. requests for leave of absence at the start of the school year, or when assessments are taking place, are unlikely to be met);
• Any educational nature of the proposed holiday;
• Any second request in the same academic year will be automatically refused, except in exceptional circumstances (see above). 

If you are unable to avoid requesting absence during school term, please contact Miss Westwood who will go through your request.  If your request is refused, and your child is still absent from school, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised. 

Any unauthorised absence is damaging to your child’s education, as well as reflecting badly on the school.  Please consider this matter very carefully before making a request for absence during term time.