At one mixed school there were two principal times for canings. The first came shortly after morning assembly and the second during the latter part of the lunch break.
There could, of course, be unscheduled visits to the head’s office when circumstances demanded them.
Most canings took place in the principal’s study, administered either by the principal or by another teacher in the principal’s presence.
The office stood beside the quadrangle and rose garden. Its windows faced towards an area traditionally occupied by the girls during lunchtime.
Consequently, although the actual punishment took place privately, there was not always much mystery about what was happening.
The unmistakable sound of the cane could sometimes be heard outside.
The boys were permitted to cross the quadrangle but were discouraged from hanging about. The girls, meanwhile, ate their lunches in the rose garden.
Yet there was remarkably little open discussion between the sexes.
One former pupil could not remember seeing girls deliberately gathering to listen, nor could he remember a girl openly questioning a boy afterwards.
That does not mean the subject was never discussed.
Teenagers have always possessed a remarkable ability to discover what has happened without appearing to ask anybody directly.
