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THE FOREST FEDERATION
Needwood Church of England (VA) Primary School
Yoxall Road, Newborough, Burton On Trent, Staffordshire, DE13 8SU. 01283 575216
office@needwood.staffs.sch.uk
http://www.needwood.staffs.sch.uk/
All Saints’ Church of England (C) Primary School
Tatenhill Lane, Rangemore, Burton On Trent, Staffordshire, DE13 9RW. 01283 712385
office@allsaints-rangemore.staffs.sch.uk http://server.allsaints-rangemore.staffs.sch.uk/
Executive Head Teacher: Mrs. Charlene Gethin
26th March 2015
Dear Parents,
Re: Changes to Statutory Guidelines Regarding Leave of Absence
I am sure you are aware that attendance is of the upmost importance to academic and social progress of
pupils. We strive to keep attendance as high as possible and we regularly monitor all pupils’ attendance on
a half termly basis.
From 23 February 2015 there have been some changes to the statutory guidelines regarding student
absence from school. It is our responsibility to inform you of these changes and to let you know that these
are now in effect at The Forest Federation.
Absence from school which is not authorised is classified in two ways:
1. Unauthorised leave of absence: for any absence from school which has been requested but not
granted.
2. Unauthorised absence: for any other absence from school which we cannot authorise, but has not
been requested.
Statutory guidelines state “Headteachers may not grant leave of absence during term time unless there are
exceptional circumstances”. Requests for leave in exceptional circumstances should be made using the
school form, which may be requested from the school office, in advance of the event and in writing with
specific details included such as dates, and should be addressed to Mrs Gethin.
Should the request be for other planned absences such as participation in sporting, music exams or other
education representative activities, the same procedure should be followed. If a leave of absence is
granted, then it will be for a fixed period of time. Regulations are clear that any lateness in the return to
school may be deemed as unauthorised leave of absence.
Unauthorised leave of absence presents a risk of a Penalty Notice being issued, where there are ten
sessions of unauthorised absence. One session is a morning or an afternoon. Changes from the previous
guidelines related to the issuing of a Penalty Notice include:

There is no longer a requirement to consider overall level of attendance (before 23.02.15 the level
was 87%, this has been removed);

A parent can now receive more than one Penalty Notice per academic year;

The ten sessions of unauthorised absence do not need to be consecutive, with only 2 sessions
having to be for unauthorised absence;

The period for calculating the ten sessions will be based on the previous three school terms and so
can cross over years.
Where there is persistent unauthorised absence then a Penalty Notice can be considered where there
are 20 sessions (10 days) of unauthorised absence during the current and previous two terms. In this
situation, the parent will only receive one warning notice period in an academic year. After this the Local
Authority can automatically consider other statutory action if unauthorised absence re-occurs.
Should a Fixed Penalty Notice be issued, the fine applies to ‘per parent/carer and per child’. This is
regardless of who applied for the leave. Currently, the parent has 3 choices:

A fine of £60 if paid within 21 days.

A fine of £120 if paid after 21 days but within 28 days.

In the case of a non-payment of the fine the Notice will be withdrawn and will trigger the fast-track
prosecution process under the provisions of section 444(1), of the Education Act 1996. If found
‘guilty’ then this would result in a criminal record for that parent.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Charlene Gethin
Executive Headteacher