12 Dec 2010 - Term and holiday dates

Term dates and holiday information (A4 sheet showing a calendar with blanked out days) is distributed to parents at the end of the summer term or at the start of the academic year. Essex LEA dates are subject to confirmation by the Churchgate Primary School Board of Govenors. The five "training" or "non-pupil" days added each academic year are published in Churchgate News.

Further Essex LEA School Term may be published  on the  Essex County Council Website. Select Learning, Schools, "Where can I find school holiday/term dates?".

Do I have the right to take my child on holiday during term-time?

Guidance from Essex County Council

You are strongly urged to avoid booking a family holiday during term time. Parents do not have a right or entitlement to take their child out of school for such a holiday, but schools may choose to grant leave of absence of up to two weeks in any school year to enable a child to go on a holiday.

In deciding whether or not to agree leave for a family holiday, schools will normally consider each case individually and will look at the child's overall record of attendance. In most situations schools will not agree leave if it is around exam or test times or if it conincides with the start of the school year.

For further information see A Parent/Carer's Guide to School Attendance issued by Essex County Council (pdf format)

Guidance from School

Attendances and Absences extract from Information about Churchgate Primary School available in the Documents section of this site.

All absences must be clarified in writing or by a phone call to the school. Holidays are to be taken during the given school holiday dates. On rare occasions when additional days are required (no more than 2 weeks in any year) the request needs to be completed on the special form available from the Office.