Schoolboy’s Attendance over 10 Years Might be a Record

August 1966

South Yorkshire Times August 6, 1966

Schoolboy’s Attendance over 10 Years Might be a Record

Stephen Pratt, 15, of 11 Leslie Avenue, Conanby, who on Wednesday became a trainee miner at Cadeby Colliery, is in line for a second attendance prize at Conisbrough Northcliffe County High School, where he completed 372 school days out of a possible 372.

He said this week “I have already had one prize, a book, for attendance, I was told I should get another at the next Northcliffe Speech Day. “I think 10 years without a day off might be a record.”

This period included attendance at Bentley Balby Street school when he started at just under five. Stephen’s mother, Mrs Teresa Pratt, said “When he was a baby he was seriously ill, but since then he’s been as fit as a fiddle and hasn’t had a days illness. We are very proud of him.”

Stevens headmaster at Northcliffe, Mr Arthur Young, told our reporter “I believe Stephen was the only boy in the school with such a long record of good attendance. As a record of extreme reliability, this should be an excellent recommendation to any future employer.”