We want to say a big thank you to the majority of parents who make sure their children attend school regularly, particularly during the current cost of living crisis impacting families.

Your efforts, working in partnership with the school, will ensure that your child will have the best chance to achieve and make good progress in terms of their education, health and care plan (EHCP), both academically and in terms of developing the essential communication, interaction and functional life skills that are all taught as part of the curriculum at Fox Hollies.

Fox Hollies School continues to work in partnership with parents and the Local Authority to improve school attendance.

How does your child compare?

You may be aware of the changes to the law related to school attendance, in particular the new national penalty notice framework, which came into force on the 19 th August 2024.

Penalty notice amounts have increased and there is now an escalation process for repeated offences.

The Government has brought in the changes due to concerns about the decline in attendance linking to a deteriorating attainment and progress levels for children over the last few years. There is more information for parents here:

National changes to education penalty notices - September 2024 | School attendance, advice for parents | Birmingham City Council

If you are worried about your child/children’s attendance, the first port of call is to discuss your concerns with the school directly.

If you have concerns about mental health; domestic abuse; parenting; bereavement; finance; problems with drugs and alcohol; you can find help and support from the ‘From Birmingham with Love’ webpage:

From Birmingham with Love

It may be tempting to book a family holiday in term time to save on costs during the cost of living crisis. However, family holidays in term time are not allowed in law and are very unlikely to be authorised. Taking children on leave without applying for authorisation may mean the school has to report your child as ‘missing’ to the local authority and holidays cannot be authorised retrospectively in law. Adding even more absence to the time children have already missed only means that the children miss even more lessons that will not be repeated.

Family emergencies also need careful consideration. It is not always appropriate or in the best interests of the child to miss school for emergencies which are being dealt with by adult family members. Notifying the school of leave due to a family emergency does not mean it will be authorised.

Please note that where parents fail to ensure their child attends school regularly, legal action, including penalty notices, may be considered. New regulations also mean that children on extended period of leave may lose their school place where there is no evidence of a timely return to school or the date provided is too far away.

Request for Term Time Absence

• Applications for leave of absence in term time should be made by completing a ‘Student Term time Leave Request Form’

• All schools can grant a leave of absence for exceptional circumstances at their discretion.

• The Head teacher will consider each application individually taking into account the facts and circumstances and relevant background context behind the request.

• If a leave of absence is granted, it is for the Head teacher to determine the length of the time the student can be away from school.

• Generally, the DfE does not consider a need or desire for a holiday or other absence for the purpose of leisure and recreation to be an exceptional circumstance.

• The Head teacher is within their rights to turn down applications and refuse authorisation for parents/carers to take students out of school during term time.

• The Head teacher is within their rights to turn down applications and refuse authorisation for parents/carers to take students out of school during term time

Some examples of ‘exceptional circumstances’ are:

• Death of a parent/carer or sibling of the student.

• Life threatening or critical illness of parent/carer/sibling.

• Recuperation of a parent/carer from critical illness or surgery.

• Leave for armed forces personnel who are prevented by operational duties to take their leave at any other time.

• Leave of absence already agreed by a previous school.

Penalty notices

• Schools can fine parents/carers for the unauthorised absence of their young person from school, where the student is of compulsory school age (16).

• A new National Framework for Penalty Notices has been introduced. The new regulations came into effect on the 19th of August 2024. The aim is to improve consistency in the use of penalty notices across England.

Key changes

• A penalty will be issued if your child misses ten sessions (5 school days) in a rolling 10-week period. The 10-week period may span different terms or school years. For example, two sessions of unauthorised absence in the summer term and a further eight during the autumn term.

• An increase to the rate of a penalty notice from £120 to £160 if paid within 28 days and £60 to £80 if paid within 21 days. If a second penalty notice is issued to the same parent for the same child within a rolling three-year period, the notice will be charged at the higher rate of £160 with no option for this second offence to be discharged at £80.

• A national limit of two penalty notices can be issued to a parent/carer for the same child within a rolling three-year period, so at the 3rd (or subsequent) offence(s) another tool must be considered (such as prosecution or another attendance legal interventions).

If a penalty notice is not paid, then the law states that the local authority must withdraw the penalty notices and prosecute the parents in court where they could each receive £1000 fine.

Religious Observance

School respects and recognises days within the academic year that are set apart for religious observance. These days will be identified by the religious body to which the student’s families belong.