School attendance

It’s your legal duty as a parent or carer to send your child to school if they are registered at one.

If you have concerns about your child attending, you should discuss these with your school or college.

If your child is unexpectedly missing from school, you will be contacted by the school. They’ll contact you even if your child is only missing for a day.

You can find more information about school attendance and absence on GOV.UK or by reading the Trafford Council school attendance policy.

Pupils with medical conditions

All children and young people who are considered clinically extremely vulnerable should attend their education setting.

The only exceptions are a very small number of students who have received specific medical advice from their paediatrician or other specialist to stay home.

School penalty fines

In accordance with our penalty notice code of conduct, you can be fined or prosecuted if you don’t give your child an education. You’ll normally get warnings and offers of help from the school and Trafford’s officers first.

You can only allow your child to miss school if either:

they’re too ill to go in
you’ve got advance permission from the school

There’s extra support available if your child can’t go to school for long periods because of a health problem.

Pay a school penalty

You can pay a school penalty notice online through our payments portal.

Pay a school penalty

Taking children out during term time

You need permission from the head teacher to take your child out of school during term time. You can only do this if:

you make an application to the head teacher in advance (as a parent or carer the child normally lives with)
there are exceptional circumstances

It’s up to the head teacher how many days your child can be away from school if leave is granted. You can be fined for taking your child on holiday during term time without the school’s permission.