Overstone Primary School

PLEASE COMPLETE ALL BOXES

Please detail below the reason for your request for absence from school in term time and include any supporting information. The Headteacher will not be able to consider your request without your supporting documents.

You are required under the Education Act (1996) to ensure your child attends school regularly. There is no longer a provision in law for Headteachers to authorise an absence, unless there are exceptional circumstances. Family holidays and/or family celebrations are not considered to be exceptional circumstances. 

For absence related to medical appointments, a copy of the confirmation of appointment message is required for absence to be authorised.

For absence related to illness, please provide brief details within the text area.

If your request is for a family holiday or other extended family break it will be registered as unauthorised absence.

A single consistent national threshold for when a penalty notice could be issued has now been introduced and is set at 10 sessions (usually equivalent to 5 school days) for any unauthorised absence within a rolling 10 school week period. The 10-week period may span different terms or school years. For example, 2 sessions of unauthorised absence in the summer term and a further 8 within the autumn term.

Once the threshold of 10 sessions is reached the local authority will consider the use of a penalty notice.

From August 2024 there has been an increase to the rate of a penalty notice from £120 to £160 if paid within 28 days and £60 to £80 if paid within 21 days.

If a second penalty notice is issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling 3 year period, the notice will be charged at the higher rate of £160 with no option for this second offence to be discharged at the lower rate of £80.

Support and guidance on attendance is always available and if you have any questions about this, or if you need help to achieve an improvement, please contact the school to discuss this.