Term Time Leave

West Somerset Schools are working together to ensure that our children and young people have every opportunity to succeed at school and in later life.  Children need to be in school, every day, unless they are too unwell to attend and, in line with Government Policy, term time leave will not be authorised unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Updated Government guidance states that “As head teachers should only grant leaves of absence in exceptional circumstances it is unlikely a leave of absence will be granted for the purposes of a family holiday.”  

Please follow the guidance below in the document if you are considering requesting term time leave.  All schools in West Somerset will use this process when term time leave requests are received, to ensure consistency across the area.  Supporting evidence must be provided for exceptional circumstances and, for planned absence, forms should be submitted no later than 4 weeks before the requested leave date.  Headteachers may authorise exceptional leave of up to 5 days (10 sessions).

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR PARENT/CARERS

Parent/carers whose children are on a school register have a duty to ensure that their children attend regularly and if they fail to do so they may be guilty of an offence under the Education Act, 1993.

If the school refuses your request and the child is still taken out of school, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. This may result in a Penalty Notice being issued or legal action taken for poor attendance.