Attendance

It is not acceptable to take children away from their schooling. A lot of time, energy, effort and public resource goes into providing children’s education and this should be valued. There is a danger of taking education for granted and every day at Sir Edmund Hillary is an important day. Parents do not have the right to take their child out of school for such a holiday, but the school, in exceptional circumstances may choose to grant a leave of absence of up to 5 days in any school year. In the event that makes it necessary for longer planned absence, cases should be discussed with the Head Teacher, as a child who is absent longer then 5 days after an agreed return date, can legally be removed from the school roll.

If the holiday taken is within the first three weeks of the academic year or during  the Assessment weeks in May and June, they will be automatically recorded as Unauthorised Absence  (in essence, truancy). Other factors that are taken into consideration when authorising holiday is a child’s attendance, the income of the family, religious festivals and the nature of the holiday but an exceptionality must be evident. Applications must be made in writing using the form available from the school office or below.