Portland Primary School
Laird Street
Birkenhead, Wirral
CH41 0AB
Tel: 0151 652 5124
Fax: 0151 653 3271
HEADTEACHER
Mr P. Crossley
http://portland.eschools.co.uk/website
“Polite, Pleasant People at Portland”
5th May 2016
Dear Parents/Carers
At Portland we encourage good attendance as it is key to your child making progress while at
school.
We consider good attendance to be over 98% and satisfactory attendance to be over 95%.
Did you know?
If your child misses ten days of school in
one year they will not reach 95%
attendance.
Holiday Requests & Unauthorised Absence
At present I have a small number of written requests for absence from school to go through that
were handed in prior to me taking up my role as Headteacher.
In light of this I feel it is important to clarify the information regarding school attendance from the
Department of Education Guidance and the Wirral Protocol for fixed penalty notices.
School will only authorise leave of absence for a holiday during term time in exceptional
circumstances. If parents still take the child out of school, or the child stays off school for longer
than was agreed, the absence is unauthorised. If parents do not apply for leave of absence in
advance, then the absence will be recorded as unauthorised.
A fixed penalty notice can be issued in cases of unauthorised absence. In cases where there is
more than one child whose attendance in cause for concern, notices may be issued for each child.
Penalty notices will be considered in the following circumstances:
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Attendance below 90% with at least 10 days unauthorised absence (these do not need to
consecutive)
5 days or more unauthorised absence due to a holiday taken in term time
Pupils stopped on police truancy sweeps
The presence of an excluded child in a public place during school hours without good
reason
A pupil arriving late (after the register has closed) on 10 or more separate occasions
Portland Primary School
Laird Street
Birkenhead, Wirral
CH41 0AB
Tel: 0151 652 5124
Fax: 0151 653 3271
HEADTEACHER
Mr P. Crossley
http://portland.eschools.co.uk/website
Penalty notices are fines of £60 increasing to £120 if not paid in the first 21 days, and are issued
by the Local Authority.
As I have said I have a number of written requests to process but I wish to make it clear, in moving
forward from today that general family holidays in term time can not be considered as exceptional
circumstances.
As was previous practice, each case will be considered on a case by case basis and should be
applied for in writing on the form supplied by the school office.
I do understand the pressures on families. However, my drive is to attain the best possible
outcomes for your children and for that they need to be in school during term time.
I hope this clarifies the position and I look forward to your continued support.
Yours sincerely
Mr P Crossley
Headteacher