Religious Observance Guidance

Hertfordshire Standing Advisory Council on RE (SACRE): Guidance on Religious Observance for Hertfordshire schools

Hertfordshire is a diverse place to live and work and our county’s demography reflects a broad range of people from different backgrounds and faiths and beliefs.

One of the strengths of Hertfordshire schools is the importance they place on fostering an environment that values and celebrates the rich cultural and religious diversity of their pupils, parents, and local community.

Because of the rich diversity in our school communities, many parents may want to celebrate key religious festivals with their children, following advice from local faith groups and community leaders. This means schools might be asked to approve time off for pupils during these special occasions.

While schools understand how important faith and religious traditions are to many pupils and support parents who wish to celebrate these special occasions with their children, it’s important to find the right balance between allowing time off and making sure it doesn’t impact pupils’ learning and progress.

This guidance has been developed to reflect current attendance legislation and is designed to support schools in identifying and managing absences related to religious observance, while continuing to uphold the school’s procedures for improving attendance.

Please note that the advice provided by SACRE applies to school pupils only and does not extend to school staff.

Festival Calendar - RE:ONLINE provides dates and information about religious festivals.

The Legal Position regarding permitted absence

The Education Act 1996 stipulates that:

“The child shall not be taken to have failed to attend regularly at the school by reason of his absence from the school –

(c) on any day exclusively set apart for religious observance by the religious body to which his parent belongs.”

Parents are entitled to withdraw their child from school for religious observance where the day is exclusively set aside by the religious body to which the parents of the child are a member.

Absence from school for religious observance are allowed and should be marked as authorised where headteachers are satisfied that the day has been set aside by the religious body and the parents of the child are members of that religious community.

The term “parents” includes carers and guardians.

Guidance

Hertfordshire SACRE in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council’s Inclusion Team has agreed the following guidance for schools and parents:

• Headteachers should authorise absence only for the specified date(s) exclusively set aside for religious observance by the religious body to which the parents/carers belong
• If you have doubts, seek advice from the religious body about whether this is the case
• Additional days taken on either side of the day explicitly set aside for observance would not be authorised on the grounds of religious observance
• Absence taken on a school day for religious observance, for example during a festival, falling at a weekend, or in a school holiday, would not be authorised
• Schools may authorise no more than one day in any term for an individual occasion of religious observance and no more than three days in any academic year.
• Parents should be asked to give the school as much notice of a proposed absence as is reasonably possible and be willing to discuss with the school how pupils will catch up with work missed. However, it's important to be aware that, for communities observing festivals based on the lunar calendar, exact dates may not be confirmed far in advance. In such cases, families may only be able to provide approximate dates for their observance.
• Attendance Policy: schools should consider the impact of absences on the overall attendance and learning of students, balancing the need for religious observance with the importance of regular attendance

Recording the absence (as set out by Hertfordshire’s Attendance Team)

On the attendance register, use:

R for authorised absence due to religious observance
C for authorised absences for other religious events, such as a family ceremony
O if you’re not satisfied that the absence was for the purposes of religious observance

Hertfordshire SACRE wishes to highlight that religious observance can differ across denominations and communities. For instance, while Sunni Muslims may view the festival of Ashura as a minor occasion, many Shia Muslims consider it a deeply significant day of religious observance.

Therefore, while it’s important for headteachers and teachers to ensure that absence requests are genuine and reasonable, you should avoid questioning a request simply because other families of the same faith haven’t asked for time off on the same day or at the same time.

Some schools may choose to send written communications to parents requesting advance notice of any planned absences for religious observance. However, it's important to be aware that, for communities observing festivals based on the lunar calendar, exact dates may not be confirmed far in advance. In such cases, families may only be able to provide approximate dates for their observance.

For any queries please contact SACRE via Juliet Whitehead: juliet.whitehead@hertfordshire.gov.uk or (attendancedutyeast@hertfordshire.gov.uk / attendancedutywest@hertfordshire.gov.uk)

East team cover – East Herts & Broxbourne, North Herts & Stevenage, Welwyn/Hatfield
West team cover – Watford & Three Rivers, St Albans & Dacorum, Hertsmere