Attendance and Holidays in Term Time

I wish to bring to your attention the following changes which come into effect on the 1st of September 2013:

• Amendments to the registration regulations remove references to family holidays and extended leave as well as the threshold of ten school days. The amendments make it clear that head teachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are really exceptional circumstances.
• Requests for holidays in term time due to parent/carer work commitments are no longer allowed.
• A pupil may be deleted from the admission register where the pupil has ceased to be of compulsory school age and has failed to meet the academic requirements for entry to the sixth-form.
• The timescales for paying a Penalty Notice have been reduced to £60 within 21 days or £120 within 28 days.

Therefore schools are no longer required to have a holiday in term time policy. The school has to operate a leave of absence policy which will only allow for authorisation in exceptional circumstances. I have attached the links to the guidance for your information:

1. The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 amends the 2006 regulations. The revised statutory  instrument can be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2006/1751/contents/made

2. The Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 amends the 2007 regulations. The revised statutory instrument can be found at: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/757/contents/made

Due to this change in law, any holidays which have been already authorised for Autumn term have to be rescheduled.

I do understand that this change will not be welcomed by some of you, but unfortunately schools are bound by this new legislation.

Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) Vaccinations

I have been asked by the Director of Public Health to draw the following to your attention:

You are probably already aware of the high levels of measles activity across the country. The recent outbreak in Wales has been in the news a lot and we continue to see a high number of cases across the North West.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that if your child/children did not get two doses of MMR vaccine they are at risk of developing measles.

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