As explained on page 13 of the DfE's attendance guidance here, schools must treat the absences for religious observance (such as Eid) as authorised. You can use the R: Religious observance attendance code to reflect this on a student's attendance record. There are two ways that these marks can be added in Arbor:
- Record a planned absence to fill attendance marks on opening with the right code
- Use the Bulk Edit Marks page to edit the code after registers have been taken
For a religious family ceremony
You may find that guardians make requests for students to miss school to attend christenings, bar/bat mitzvahs, etc.
Absence requests like this are normally treated processed in the same way as a normal absence request and should not be treated in the same way as a religious observance. The following attendance codes would be suitable to use:
Attendance Code | Reason |
C (Authorised absence) | Advisable to use if you approve the absence request. |
O (Unauthorised absence) | If you do not approve the absence request, but the student is absent anyway. |
If you are still unsure as to what attendance code to use, please contact the DfE or your Local Authority.
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