Section 30 of the 1980 Act lays a duty on every parent of a child of ‘school age’ to ensure that their child attends school regularly. Attendance must be recorded twice a day, morning and afternoon.
Regulation 7 of the Education (School and Placing Information) Scotland Amendment, etc. Regulations 1993 requires each child’s absence from school to be reported in the school register as authorised: i.e. approved by the authority, or unauthorised: i.e. unexplained by the parents (truancy) or temporarily excluded from school.
Parents/guardians do not have an automatic right to take their child out of school without permission during term time. The Head of Establishment can only authorise time off during term time in exceptional circumstances.
Exceptional circumstances include:
- short term parental placement abroad;
- family returning to its country of origin for family reasons;
- the period immediately after an illness or accident;
- a period of serious or critical illness of a close relative;
- a domestic crisis which causes disruption to the family home, causing temporary relocation.
Time off during term time for the following reasons is not acceptable and will be recorded as unauthorised absence:
- Availability of cheap holidays or desired accommodation;
- Holidays which overlap the beginning or end of term.
Clearly, with no explanation from the parent, the absence is unauthorised.
The school attendance officer may be asked to investigate any unexplained absence, and the authority may decide to write, interview or prosecute parents, or to refer pupils to the reporter of the children’s panel, if necessary.
The school strives to attain the maximum attendance possible and would seek parent’s co-operation in this matter.
