It is a rule of this school that a leave of absence shall not be granted in term
time unless there are reasons considered to be exceptional by the
headteacher, irrespective of the child’s overall attendance. Only the
headteacher or his designate (not the local authority) may authorise such a
request and all applications for a leave of absence must be made in writing
on the prescribed form provided by the school. Where a parent removes a
child when the application for leave was refused or where no application
was made to the school, the issue of a penalty notice may be requested by
this school in accordance with the South Tyneside Code of Conduct.
A Penalty Notice may be issued where there have been at least 10
consecutive sessions (5 days) of unauthorised absence, whether for a holiday or for any other purpose.

At Harton Primary School ‘exceptional circumstances’ will be interpreted as:

> Being of unique and significant emotional, educational, or spiritual value to
the child which outweighs the loss of teaching time (as determined by the
headteacher). The fundamental principles for defining ‘exceptional’ are
events that are “rare, significant, unavoidable and short”. By ‘unavoidable’
we mean an event that could not reasonably be scheduled at another time,
outside of school term time.

We will not consider applications for leave during term time:

> at any time in September. This is very important as your child needs to
settle into their new class at the start of the academic year as quickly
as possible.

> during assessment and test periods in the school’s calendar affecting
your child.

> when a pupil’s attendance record already includes any level of
unauthorised absence or they have already been granted authorised
leave within that academic year.

If leave of absence is authorised, the school will not provide work for children
to do during their absence. Parents are however advised to read with their
children and we encourage them to write a diary while they are away.

Please see below for information around Penalty Notices