The programme is designed to help schools with the problem of unauthorised absence, the idea is to run a weekly sports club during the school hours exclusively open to children who have a high level of unauthorised absence. The children are selected by the school based upon their current level of absence.
The incentive for the selected children is an extra physical activity session during their school week as well as the chance to be invited for a half time pitch presentation at Selhurst Park.
The pilot for the programme was open to 2 schools and the schools targeted were based on advice from the Bromley Education & Welfare team along with the CPFC foundation Bromley Development Officer. The chosen schools were Leesons Primary & Royston Primary. The results shown are that of overall school unauthorised absence not just the days that the CPFC foundation were present.
Royston Primary School:
The programme at Royston Primary engaged with 16 children the results for the before and after attendance records are below based on percentages:
| % attendance | |||
| Number | Before | During | Difference |
| 1 | 86 | 100 | -14 |
| 2 | 87 | 94.29 | -7.29 |
| 3 | 89 | 94.29 | -5.29 |
| 4 | 83 | 82.86 | 0.14 |
| 5 | 84 | 82.86 | 1.14 |
| 6 | 89 | 92.86 | -3.86 |
| 7 | 88 | 91.43 | -3.43 |
| 8 | 84 | 95.71 | -11.71 |
| 9 | 90 | 92.86 | -2.86 |
| 10 | 90 | 94.29 | -4.29 |
| 11 | 75 | 100 | -25 |
| 12 | 76 | 100 | -24 |
| 13 | 88 | 91.43 | -3.43 |
| 14 | 90 | 100 | -10 |
| 15 | 88 | 91.43 | -3.43 |
| 16 | 80 | 84.29 | -4.29 |
As the chart shows 14 out of the 16 attending had an increase in attendance during the foundation coaching sessions. The biggest improvement being a 25% increase in attendance in one child. The group’s results are shown the graph below.
Quote from Royston Primary Head teacher Edlene Whitman:
“The football project was a great way to enthuse the children about coming to school. We decided to have it before school to encourage them to be in on time, and for the majority it worked. We’d love to run this again in the future.”
Leesons Primary:
The programme at Leesons Primary engaged with 12 children the results for the before and after attendance records are below based on number of days of unauthorised absence:
| Number | Days before | Days During |
| 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 2 | 10 | 0 |
| 3 | 10 | 0 |
| 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 6 | 8 | 1 |
| 7 | 8 | 0 |
| 8 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 | 12 | 0 |
| 10 | 6 | 0 |
| 11 | 6 | 0 |
| 12 | 4 | 1 |
| 82 | 3 |
As the chart shows the number of days unauthorised absence has dropped from 82 days in the 4 months leading up to the programme to just 3 over the course of 3 months while the programme ran. Every child has improved their attendance as a result of this course. The chart also shows a massive improvement of 96.34% for those 12 children as a whole. The biggest improvement was with squad number 12 who went from 12 unauthorised absences to 0.
The overall group’s results can be seen in graph form below.
Quote from Leesons Primary family worker Daniel Cryer.
“The programme was a fantastic success, the rate of unauthorised absences dropped significantly and the coaching has paid off no end. It was lovely to see the children practising their skills in the playground at break time. Most of all the kids loved it and were asking me every Monday “is football on this week?
I think the programme would be amazing in tackling other issues around attendance and punctuality throughout the school as I had lots of children asking if they could take part. We would welcome crystal palace back with open arms to work together some more”.
