A Croydon primary school found to have one of the worst rates in the country for unauthorised absence is taking steps to improve its attendance figures.

Oval Primary School in Cherry Orchard Road was found to have the seventh highest levels for unauthorised absence in the country.

Schools are forced to record an absence as unauthorised if they have not been informed by parents why a child has not attended lessons.

According to Croydon's Local Education Authority (LEA) the school's overall attendance rate for 2004 stands at 91.3 per cent, with 5.4 per cent of absences being unauthorised.

In an effort to turn the situation around acting headteacher Judith Exley wrote to parents asking to make sure they inform the school when their son or daughter is absent.

The letter also called on parents to avoid booking holidays and routine appointments during school time in a bid to improve attendance.

Alan Malarkey, group director for student services for the LEA, said an action plan had also been produced by the school to address the issue.

He said: "I'm very impressed looking at the action plan, Judith is a very experienced headteacher who we have used on occasions where we need to improve certain things."

An Ofsted inspection at the school in February 2003 rated pupils' attendance as good and broadly in line with the national average.

Overall attendance rates in all of Croydon's schools have improved in the last academic year, but are still below the England and outer London averages.

Figures for the Department for Education and Skills show unauthorised absences in Croydon's primary schools is just 0.1 per cent higher than the country's average, and in secondary schools it's 0.04 per cent higher.

The borough's attendance rate has also improved from 91.8 per cent of pupils attending school to 93.78 per cent, slightly below the national average of 94.51 per cent.