Taking holidays during term time
Sickness/medical conditions
At times pupils may be unwell or have a long term medical condition for which they need to miss school. In all cases, you must inform the school of their absence and the reason by 8:30am on the morning of the absence. The school must be informed on the mornings of any subsequent absences.
Appointments
Appointments should be scheduled out of school hours. Where this is unavoidable, you must inform the school by 8:30am on the morning of the appointment and evidence of appointment (letter, email or text message) must be presented to the school office.
Holidays
Holidays taken during term time will not be usually authorised
Family holidays should be planned during school breaks, as the school is unable to approve term-time leave for students.
If you need to request such leave, you must submit a ‘Taking Leave of Absence Request Form’ at least 10 days in advance. These requests are typically not granted unless there are exceptional circumstances, and it is up to the school to determine how many days of leave may be approved if permission is given.
‘Exceptional circumstances’ are defined as rare, significant, unavoidable, and short, where the resulting absence from school could not be reasonably scheduled at another time.
According to national Government guidelines, the school does not consider routine family holidays to be exceptional circumstances. The following are also not regarded as exceptional:
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Lower holiday costs or financial considerations for taking holidays during term time
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Renewal of passports or visas overseas
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Parents' or carers' work schedules
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Family weddings
It is crucial that students, particularly those in Year 10 and Year 11, do not miss the start of terms or take holidays during the school year, as this can be highly disruptive and unsettling, especially during the GCSE examination period, which extends until the end of June each year.