Leave of absence in term time

Excellent attendance is something we are very proud of at Woodland and we constantly seek to ensure our high attendance figures are maintained. 

Attendance to all lessons is important for your son or daughter to make good progress.  In future we will only be granting leave of absence under the following circumstances:

• Participation in an external sporting event where the student is playing at a high level, e.g. county level or higher.
• A funeral.
• A wedding of a close relative (where this is combined with a family holiday, only the days relating to the wedding will be authorised).  A copy of the wedding invitation will be required. 
• Religious observance

 We will not authorise absence under the following circumstances:

• Family holidays which overlap with the beginning or end of a school holiday
• Family holidays on the basis of cost, suitable weather or inability to take leave in the summer holidays.
• Where the requested leave of absence conflicts with examinations or coursework deadlines
• Poor attendance

If a pupil is absent from school without authorisation for 5 days or more in any 12 school week rolling period, parents or carers will be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice.  Penalty notices are fines of £60 if paid within 21 days of receipt of the notice, or £120 if paid within 28 days.  The above lists are not intended to be exhaustive and all applications will be treated on an individual basis.  All applications must be completed on the relevant form, which is available from the school office or from the school Weduc app. 

We hope that you will appreciate that whilst we are sympathetic where genuine difficulties exist, we are legally required to do all we can to work with pupils and their families to ensure high levels of attendance. 

The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 and Central Bedfordshire Council advise that unless special circumstances* are identified then term time holidays should not be authorised.

 *Special circumstances are defined as:

For service personnel and other employees prevented from taking holidays outside term-time if the holiday will have minimal disruption to the pupil’s education and when the family needs to spend more time together to support each other after a crisis’. 

• LeaveRequestForm