Every effort should be made to avoid family holidays during term time, as this both disrupts the child’s education and reduces learning time.

Parents / carers should inform the school by letter, of the dates, before going on holiday. Absences will be classified as authorised only in exceptional circumstances.  Such circumstances may include:

A family holiday judged to be important to the wellbeing and cohesion of the family, following serious or terminal illness, bereavement or other traumatic events.

A family holiday classified under the ‘authorised absence’ category will not include such reasons as:

• the availability of cheap holidays
• the availability of desired accommodation
• poor weather experienced during school holidays
• holidays which overlap the beginning or end of term
• parental difficulty obtaining leave (except in cases where evidence is provided by the employer that it cannot accommodate leave during school holidays without serious consequences)

Family holidays with the above similar characteristics will be classified as unauthorised absences.  Where the Head Teacher’s prior agreement has not been sought the absence will automatically be classed as unauthorised.

Extended Leave with Parental Consent

Where most family holidays will be recorded as unauthorised absence, extended leave with parental consent will not be considered the same as a family holiday.  Leave in such circumstances will be authorised under circumstances such as:

• Extended overseas educational trips not organised by the school
• Short-term parental placement abroad
• Family returning to its country of origin (to care for a relative, or for cultural reasons)
• Leave in relation to the children of travelling families

 Exceptional Domestic Circumstances

Parents / carers may request permission for such leave in writing and the school may authorise such requests under the following circumstances:

• The period immediately after an accident or illness
• A period of serious or critical illness of a close relative
• A domestic crisis which causes serious disruption to the family home, causing temporary relocation.

It should be emphasised that the school investigates unexplained absence and that the authority has the power to write to, interview or prosecute parents / carers, or to refer pupils to the Reporter of the Children’s Panel, if necessary. To ensure pupils continue to progress appropriately in aspects of their learning across the curriculum, high levels of attendance are crucial.

As mentioned previously, pupil attendance is monitored on a monthly basis and where attendance is below that expected by North Lanarkshire Council, a letter will be sent home to parents, to alert them to this. School staff and parents will then work in partnership to address and ideally resolve any difficulties, which may have been preventing regular attendance.