Holiday/days off during term time
Dear Parents/Carers
The Government has introduced a National Framework for Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) which came in to effect August 2024. Please find links below to the updated guidance.
Parent Letter :
Parent Leaflet :
Northlands Wood Primary Academy Trust Policy is in line with government guidelines to not authorise holidays during term time. It is hoped that parents will not arrange for holidays/days out during term time as this disrupts the children’s progress. An absence for a holiday period is compounded by the child’s excitement before and settling in after the absence. However, permission for leave of absence must be granted in advance by the Headteacher and will only be granted if the absence is unavoidable or in extreme circumstances in accordance with guidelines from the West Sussex Pupil Entitlement Team.
School attendance and absence: the law
By law, all children of compulsory school age (5 to 16) must receive a suitable full-time education. For most parents, this means registering their child at a school - though some choose to make other arrangements to provide a suitable, full-time education. Once your child is registered at a school, you are legally responsible for making sure they attend regularly. If your child fails to do so, you risk getting a penalty notice or being prosecuted.
A Withdrawal from Learning form requesting permission must be completed in advance - the form is available from outside the School Office or available to print. Please ensure this form is completed in advance of the holiday/day(s) off starting. As per updated guidance September 2025 INSET days linked to holidays are also taken into account when issuing a FPN.
Illness
For safeguarding reasons and for the fire evacuation register that needs to be printed every morning, we must have every child accounted for daily and as soon as possible. The School Office will investigate any unreported/unexplained absences. We follow guidelines from the Pupil Entitlement team who regularly monitor school attendance of each child.
In the case of physical sickness and/or diarrhoea, it is important that you inform us and that your child is absent from school for a 48-hour period after the last period of sickness/diarrhoea. This enables your child to fully recover as well as protecting other children and staff from the spread of potentially infectious illnesses.
This is a reminder that if your child is unwell please can you report this online via your child's Arbor Account (ensuring you have the correct child selected if you have more than one). 'Quick Action' at the top left - select Attendance - right hand side there is a green button to log the absence.
If you are unable to access the app/website please can you call the School Office on 01444 455653 and report the absence.
ALL reporting needs to be done prior to registration at 08.50am. This also needs to be done DAILY unless you have advised us in advance of a longer period of absence.
Appointments
Medical appointments should be made outside of school time if possible. However if you are unable to do so and your child needs to be absent from school, please complete an appointment form from outside the Office (printable version linked) and return to the Parent Postbox as soon as you know.