Code of conduct for issuing penalty notices for unauthorised absence from school
The circumstances that penalty notices may be Issued
- irregular school attendance
- overt truancy (including pupils found during truancy sweeps)
- parentally-condoned absences
- unauthorised holidays in term-time*
- being in a public place during the first five days of an exclusion
- persistent late arrival at school. “Persistent” means at least 10 sessions of late arrival
Headteachers are unable to agree leave of absence during term time unless they are satisfied that there are exceptional circumstances. The fundamental principles for defining ‘exceptional’ are rare, significant, unavoidable and short. And by ‘unavoidable’ it implies that an event could not reasonably be scheduled at another time.
Criteria for issuing penalty notices
To ensure consistent delivery of penalty notices the following criteria will apply:
- there have been at least 10 sessions of unauthorised absence during any 100 possible school sessions – these do not need to be consecutive and the school, in consultation with the county attendance team, believe this early intervention will resolve the poor attendance and stop the matter moving toward a prosecution under section 444(1) of the Education Act 1996.
- if a Headteacher does not authorise a request from a parent/carer for term time leave and the parent takes the leave. (School must advise parents of this and how the action conforms to the school’s attendance policy). There must be at least 10 continuous sessions of unauthorised term time leave taken. Headteachers can only authorise absences retrospectively if there are exceptional circumstances.
- persistently late after the close of the register (coded U) and where the threshold of 10 sessions (five days) during any 100 possible sessions has been met; this does not need to be consecutive.
- in certain circumstances, including where ten sessions of absence comprise of unauthorised holidays in term time, a penalty notice can be issued without a formal warning having been issued previously.
- where a child who has been excluded is present in a public place during the first five days a penalty notice will be issued on the first occasion if appropriate.
- a penalty notice may also be issued without a formal warning if a formal warning has already been issued to the parent/carer previously.
Following the landmark case of Isle of Wight Council v Platt, parents who take their children out of school on holiday, even if their child has regular attendance, can be prosecuted if they do not have permission from the Headteacher.