Because it is of the utmost importance that children attend school, attendance is compulsory in the Netherlands. Agreements have been reached about education in this country.
 

One of these agreements is that pupils may not just stay away from school when parents would like them to. Only under ‘extenuating circumstances’ it might sometimes be possible to make an exception to this rule. The Head of School Compliance decides about your request and might discuss this with the compliance officer of the Haarlem municipality.
 

If there are exceptional circumstances of any kind that lead you to think that your child cannot attend school, you must still adhere to the rules and regulations for these circumstances.

This webpage explains these exceptional and extenuating circumstances and the relevant rules and regulations

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Attendance for students age 5 and above during term time is compulsory here in The Netherlands.  If you need to request a leave of absence for your child(ren) for one full school day or more please read the Absence Regulations document below before sending us your completed request of absence form together with relevant supporting documents.  When possible send your request form at least 8 weeks in advance.

 

Note that we are not able to approve leave of absence requests because of a wish to extend a holiday or because traveling abroad on an earlier departure day will be less expensive. Further reasons which can and cannot be approved can be found in the Absence Regulations document below.

 

The compliance department receiving your request of absence form will reply to you within 5 working days.   In some cases, requests may need additional time as contact with the Compliance Officer of the Haarlem municipality may be needed before an outcome can be determined.

 

(If you need to report an absence due to illness or a partial day absence for an appointment please use Managebac).

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