Attendance And Punctuality
We want to make sure that children are at school as often as possible so that we can give them an excellent education!
For many years, the attendance of children at Newington Green has been among the lowest in Islington. Islington is also one of the worst performing boroughs in terms of attendance in the whole country! Attendance therefore, is a top priority in all schools in our borough and especially at Newington Green!
We employed a Home School Worker to lead an Improving Attendance Strategy so that we could make a significant and permanent improvement in our attendance levels. Over the past few years we have seen significant improvement in rates of attendance and a reduction in the number of children who are persistently absent from school.
Having said that, the COVID pandemic has impacted the trajectory of improvement in attendance at school, so in 2022 this will be a focus on our School Improvement Plan again.
We have no data for 2020, and 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.
2017/2018 | 2018/2019 | 2021/2022 | |
Whole School Attendance | 96.2% | 98.85% | 94.21% |
% of children persistently absent | 7.3% | 8.81% | 15.4% |
*Government changed the threshold for this measure from 85% to 90% from the beginning of 2016 academic year.
Why should children be in school?
- It is the LAW. Parents can get penalty notices if this law is broken.
- It shows they are reliable
- They do not miss any lessons
- They increase their learning
- They will do better in exams
- They will be more likely to get a job
- They will be safe and understand the importance of commitment (just like going to work and getting a job)
- We really like your children being here!
Holidays during school term time are against the law!
- Taking children on holiday or out of school during term time is against the law.
- We understand that holidays during term time may cost less money, but they are still against the law.
- Term time holidays are an increasingly serious issue – and the government is advising schools to take serious action where they need to in order to make sure they do not happen.
- The school is not allowed to authorise absence during term time, unless there are exceptional reasons (this does NOT include sickness of a family member).
- Taking unauthorised holidays could result in a penalty notice from the Local Authority.
What if my child is sick?
- Coughs and sneezes are no excuse not to come to school
- Being ill may prevent your child from going to school, but if they can get out of bed and play, or watch television they should be at school!
- Feeling tired is not an illness, they need to go to bed earlier!
Please download more attendance information here: