Leave of absence
Leave of Absence During Term Time: Trust wide
Leave of absence refers to any time taken during term time. Schools are unable to authorise any leave unless it is in exceptional circumstances.Whilst there may be lost schooling due to illness, it is the unauthorised leave of absence which, not only has an impact on the child concerned, but on the class as a whole. There are occasions when
children have several unavoidable days or more for illness. If this amount of time is compounded by other leave of absence, your child could miss quite a substantial amount of schooling.
We are aware that some parents/carers take the view that formal lessons and other experiential learning can be quickly caught up when the child is back in school. Not only does this impact on your child’s learning at the time but also in subsequent years as your child misses the vital learning blocks for life. Obviously, staff at Brontë Academy Trust always endeavour to ensure your child is not disadvantaged through missed schooling, but there are simply not enough hours in the day to provide the same learning experiences after the event.
This ‘catch-up’, in turn, disrupts the learning in class for many weeks as staff have to be taken away from other tasks and groups of children. Furthermore, there are occasions when we know that absences reported as illness or medical appointments are, in fact, being taken as days off. This is not only damaging to the child’s education
but to their emotional welfare as they feel some pressure to be aware of what they say on their return to school and are aware that they are having to be dishonest.
Other than in the most exceptional circumstances, schools cannot authorise leave of absence during term time. As many of the Trust staff are parents, we understand decisions regarding leave of absence can be extremely challenging for a family, for any number of reasons, but we ask that you support the welfare and learning of all children in school when making such decisions; this includes routine medical and dental appointments. Any leave of absence request will require relevant proof
of exceptional circumstance.
If unauthorized absences reach the threshold of 6 sessions (3 days) in any 6 week period, this will be referred to Bradford Council’s Attendance Team and a fixed penalty fine may be issued.
May we take this opportunity to thank you for your continuing support in this matter.
Brontë Academy Trust
Lees Process:
- Form (holiday request) returned to school no later than two weeks before any absence. This is stated on the top of the form available through the website.
- Form given to office and passed to Head.
- If the family provides evidence this may warrant an ‘authorised’ absence, the Head meets with the chair of governors or safeguarding governor to discuss.
- Form returned to parent with decision before the absence occurs.
- This will state authorised or not.
- Letter stating it is unauthorised issued by the Head if applicable.
- Copy sent to Bradford if threshold met.