The senior mistress appears prominently in several accounts and provides another example of the organisation of authority within grammar schools.
Her responsibilities could extend well beyond teaching a particular subject.
Patrolling the School
One respondent remembered the senior mistress patrolling the corridors.
At eleven, having been sent out of class for repeated talking, he encountered her during such a patrol.
She did not simply return him to the classroom.
She took responsibility for the disciplinary matter herself.
Her Office
Like the headmaster and deputy head, the senior mistress possessed an office associated with formal discipline.
A pupil sent there understood that the incident had moved beyond an ordinary classroom reprimand.
In 1964 the same respondent again found himself before her, this time over repeated failure to complete homework.
The punishment was more serious than on his earlier visit.
Boys and Girls
The evidence indicates that the senior mistress’s authority was not necessarily restricted to girls.
The grammar-school respondent was male.
Other accounts similarly describe female senior staff disciplining boys.
The administrative position, rather than the pupil’s sex, determined the authority.
Waiting Outside
The 1964 account also provides a revealing picture of school routine.
Another pupil was already waiting outside the office.
The respondent therefore had to wait his turn.
This resembles accounts of queues outside headmasters’ offices and suggests that formal discipline could operate almost as an administrative procedure.
Restoring Classroom Authority
After punishment, the boy was sent back to class and required to apologise to the teacher.
This is significant.
The senior mistress had dealt with the disciplinary breach, but the original classroom relationship still had to be restored.
A Powerful School Figure
The senior mistress should therefore be regarded as an important figure in the disciplinary hierarchy of some schools.
She could patrol corridors, investigate misconduct, administer punishment and reinforce the authority of classroom teachers.
The evidence again warns against imagining traditional school discipline as a simple relationship between a male headmaster and troublesome boys.
The reality was considerably more varied.
