Attendance
At Westwood First school we are committed to working together to ensure all pupils receive the best education possible and to enable them to make progress and do as well as they can. For this to happen, pupils need to be in school to access the valuable teaching and learning opportunities.
Please read the information below that details changes to penalty notices for any unauthorised absences during term time.
Changes to issuing penalty notices for leave in term time
In February 2024, the Department for Education published Working Together to Improve School Attendance. Within this document, in Chapter 6, it lays out the changes to issuing penalty notices.
The changes to the law are introduced through the Education (Penalty Notices) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 and will come into effect from 19 August 2024.
This means that any unauthorised leave taken after this date will be dealt with under the new Regulations.
New two penalty notice limit in a three-year period
The three-year rolling period starts when the first penalty notice is issued after the 19th August 2024.
The first Penalty Notices for leave in term time will increase to £160 per parent per child but can be reduced to £80 per parent per child if paid within 21 days. If a second penalty notice is issued within three years of the first penalty notice, then this will be at a fixed rate of £160 per parent per child, with no reduction for early payment. A third penalty notice cannot be issued within the three-year period; therefore, the county council will deal with any further unauthorised leave through prosecution in the Magistrates Court. If the parent is found guilty, the potential fine is up to £1000.
See this letter from Staffordshire County Council and additional poster for more details.
National threshold for issuing penalty notices
The new national threshold for issuing penalty notices has been set at 10 sessions (5 school days) of unauthorised absence in a rolling period of 10 school weeks.
Therefore, Staffordshire Council will expect schools to notify them of all unauthorised leave in term time that meets the threshold of 5 school days (these days do not need to be consecutive).
If we become aware of a suspected holiday without a Leave of Absence form being completed, this will also be referred to the local authority.
Please ensure you have read the above information before requesting a holiday during term time. A Leave of Absence form can be downloaded from the Useful Information/Useful documents section of the website.