Leave of Absence Requests
Cheshire West & Chester are the local authority for Over Hall Community School for more information on school attendance click here
Since September 2013, changes to Government regulations and guidance mean that Headteachers can no longer authorise leave of absence unless there are exceptional circumstances. All absences associated with a holiday (without exceptional circumstance) during term time will be marked as unauthorised within the register. Any parents/carers known to have removed their child from school for the sole purpose of a holiday may be referred to the Local Authority and be issued with a penalty notice fine or referred to the Local Authority to consider prosecution.
We believe that children need to be in school for all sessions so that they can make the most progress possible. However, we do understand that there are times where a parent/carer may legitimately request leave of absence for a child due to ‘exceptional circumstances’. At Over Hall Community School, leave of absence is only granted at the discretion of the Headteacher and shall not be granted unless there are ‘exceptional circumstances’.
Parents/carers wishing to apply for leave of absence during term time must apply by submitting a leave of absence request form at least 2 weeks before the planned leave. If a request for leave of absence is not completed and the leave is taken without a request being submitted, the leave will not be considered by the Headteacher, and it will be marked as unauthorised. Over Hall Community School will treat each application individually and discuss with you the circumstances of the application before a decision is made. Retrospective requests will not be considered and therefore will result in the absence being categorised as unauthorised. In such cases the school may make a referral to the Local Authority.
A penalty notice request or a referral for prosecution may be submitted to the Local Authority should:
- The parent/carer fails to submit a leave of absence request in advance of taking the leave.
- An application for a leave of absence is not agreed by the Headteacher but is still taken.
- A longer period is taken more than the agreed number of days.
When absence is granted by the Headteacher, the parents/carers will need to agree a date of return. If a child fails to return on the expected date and contact is not received from, or made with the parents/carers, school will seek advice from the Local Authority. This could result in possible children missing from education procedures being instigated.