Attendance matters
Regular school attendance is essential to ensure that your child does not miss important learning and continues to make good progress. We appreciate your support in ensuring that your child attends school regularly and that any future requests for leave are made in accordance with the school’s attendance policy.
To request a leave of absence, please submit a 'Request for Leave of Absence' form (below). This does not mean that the absence has been authorised, you must receive confirmation from school. If leave is not authorised and your child is absent, the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.
The national threshold for considering a Penalty Notice is 10 sessions of unauthorised absence within a rolling period of 10 school weeks. For attendance purposes, a session means half a school day: the morning is one session and the afternoon is one session, so one full day of absence is recorded as two sessions. Ten sessions are usually equivalent to 5 school days. The sessions do not have to be consecutive, may include different types of unauthorised absence, and the 10-school-week period can span different terms or school years.
A Penalty Notice may be issued to each parent who has parental responsibility for the child. For a first Penalty Notice, the fine is £160 per parent, per child, reduced to £80 if paid within 21 days. A second Penalty Notice for the same child within 3 years is £160 per parent, per child, with no reduced rate. A third Penalty Notice cannot be issued for the same child within 3 years of the first; the Local Authority may instead consider prosecution.
Penalty Notices are considered on a case-by-case basis in accordance with the National Framework and Cheshire East arrangements.
