Because of not being a head girl or deputy head girl I could not change in our own office and everybody would see the six lines across my bottom and the bruising left by the two slipperings.

Julie tried to cheer me up saying just to laugh off the comments.

As we both dressed ready for breakfast and assembly I did an extra check of my uniform just in case there was another inspection.

Everything was okay.

I was just going to open the door to our dorm when Julie shouted. “Stop! You are not wearing these.”

I had forgotten my sashes so I quickly put on the two red sashes and then over the opposite shoulder I put the yellow sash which indicated that I had also been caned.

We went to breakfast and I was not allowed to sit at the top table and everyone was looking at me and smirking.

It was so embarrassing.

The week soon passed and without any more serious trouble.

However, I did get my legs smacked in front of the history class.

Somebody slapped my sore bottom as we filed into class and I yelped just after we had been told to enter quietly.

The day finally arrived when I handed my sashes back to the headmistress’s secretary.

At break time both Julie and I were told to report to the head’s office which we did.

I was given back my head girl’s badge and got another lecture from her saying that she hoped there would be no repeat.

I assured her there would not be.

We were asked to attend her office again after lunch to meet Mr Thomas, the new Geography teacher, and to show him around the school.

We arrived at the head’s office and knocked on the door and were told to enter.

The head introduced us to Mr Thomas and asked us to sit down while she finished going through the school rules and punishment system.

After this, the headmistress asked us to show him around school and to answer any questions that he may ask and to take him to the staff room before afternoon break.

After leaving Mr Thomas at the staff room we returned to our little office next to our dorm.

I said to Julie that he appeared very interested as to what punishments he could hand out.

He only looked to be mid-thirties and with a very strong-looking physique.

I said I was glad that we did not have Geography so we shouldn’t have any dealings with him.

Over the next two weeks I handed out several slipperings and I heard whispers that I was using the slipper more and with more force since I had been punished.

We had several uniform inspections and I passed every one.

Julie did however have her legs smacked for having a dirty water splash on the back of her white socks but escaped a slippering.

Word had also got around that Mr Thomas used his slipper on a regular basis and had girls in tears a lot of the time.

But he apparently rarely gave more than two strokes as he did not believe in the sash as he found that to be degrading.

His thought was a short sharp lesson as the sash was only worn if you got three or more.

That way, prefects who could give two with the slipper could not give out sashes.

After Half term, things were getting ready for the Easter break and Julie and I had become a very close pair.

We had been asked to assist on Monday mornings with the third-year hockey training as we were both very good ourselves.

On this particular Monday, we had just had to punish two fifth-year girls and also Miranda.

This was especially sweet after her reporting me and I did not hold back, so she left our office with a very sore bottom.

We were running a little late but if we took a shortcut through the hall we would still be there before all the girls were changed.

So we quickly put on our yellow hockey shirt and red games garments and red skirt and set off for the changing rooms.

We rushed through the hall which was normally out of bounds and were just staring to panic as we could hear the girls making a noise.

We ran to the top of the stairs and had just got there when we heard this voice.

“You girls! Stop where you are, put your hands on your heads and then come here.”

We stopped, looked at each other as we put our hands on our heads, and turned to face Mr Thomas stood in his classroom doorway.

“Get in here at once,” he said as we walked into the class he was taking.

He asked why we were running along school corridors and we explained we were a little late.

He said that was no excuse.

He walked past me to Julie and stood behind her.

Then there were four almighty loud smacks to the back of one of Julie’s thighs.

Julie let out a scream of pain before he applied another four loud smacks to her other thigh. This left her with tears in her eyes.

He then stood behind me and I felt the four blows to my right thigh followed by four to my left thigh.

I realized that the stories we had heard of him using the slipper must be true if he hurt so much smacking our thighs.

He came round to the front of us and said that was what naughty girls got for running in school.

He then asked us where we had been and we said we had just come from our office.

At this point, he said to us that when we showed him around the school and showed him our office the only way we could get to go past his classroom was if we came through the hall.

We agreed that we had come through the hall but it was because we were helping in a lesson and we thought we were allowed to under these circumstances.

He told us that rules were rules, as we would find out.

He went to his desk and pulled out a very large slipper and told us both to bend over and touch our toes.

We looked at each other with fear in our eyes.

We bent duly over.

Julie lined up behind me and I felt the slipper against my bottom, then move away, then a loud bang as I was pushed forward by the force.

The sudden pain made me scream out. A second stroke followed.

Then Julie got the same with similar results.

We were then told to stand and go and help with the Hockey training.

As we went downstairs our legs and bottoms were on fire and it was taking all our willpower not to cry.

We arrived at the Sportsfield to help with the training and had to explain to the teacher why we were late.

She looked at our legs and agreed they were sore.

After the training was over we returned to our office and had a shower next door in our dorm.

When we had dressed we strolled along to the prefect room and, on entering, it all went quiet.

We looked at everyone and asked if there was a problem.

They just said they had heard we had both had the slipper off Mr Thomas and wanted to know if he was really hard.

We both explained that it was and advised everybody to avoid punishment by him if possible.

We made a cup of tea and got on with our prep for the following day’s English lesson.

After about an hour the door burst open and Cathy and Sheila entered in floods of tears.

They said they had to report to the Headmistress before supper as they had been caught by Mr Thomas coming back into school after visiting the local shop.

He had given them both smacks on the thighs and said he was reporting them to the headmistress.

This would mean six with the slipper.

They were the only two girls who had never been slippered.

I said: “Look, you both have had the cane and that is far worse than the slipper.”

This meant now that out of the twenty girls in the upper 6th we would all have been slippered and only Julie had never felt the cane.

When we were getting ready for bed I said in a joking fashion that I would have to find an excuse to report Julie to the prefect meeting and get her caned.

At first Julie was shocked and said that she would never give me a chance to do that.

After a while she asked me if it really hurt being caned compared to getting the slipper of Mr Thomas.

I said it was about 10 times worse and it hurt for several days after, every time I sat down.

She said she had often thought about doing something to get caned but had always chickened out as she was really scared of it.

Also she said she could not face the embarrassment of being caned at the prefect meeting like I was.

We then let the subject drop and went to sleep.

At the weekend Julie and I received permission to go into the local town and to stay there for the evening performance of Macbeth at the local theatre group, as this was part of our A-level English Lit exams.

The rest of the girls had been able to go to the matinee performance on a Wednesday but we had been busy at a Hockey Competition.

It was arranged that we could go in on the bus to collect our tickets and then have a meal at the local restaurant.

As we were going to be out in the evening we had been allowed not to wear uniforms and we would be collected outside the theatre by a member of staff at the conclusion of the play.

We had a lovely meal and a glass of wine as we were both eighteen now and really enjoyed the play.

As we came out of the theatre Miss Maloney was waiting outside and drove us back to school, asking if we had enjoyed the play and whether it had helped our studies.

We explained that it was an excellent production and that it would help us with our upcoming exams next term.

On Monday morning we got up, had breakfast and went to Assembly.

We were still talking about the play.

As I expected, there was a school inspection that morning and as soon as the headmistress had finished there were nine girls awaiting a spanking.

She went back on the stage and said she would like to see the following prefects in her room immediately after Assembly.

They were Miranda, Julie and Susan, and could they please wait in her office while she dealt with these girls?

We were all dismissed and as I made my way from my position at the front of the hall to the back to catch up with Miranda and me.

I was wondering what duties she wanted us to carry out.

As we entered her office there was only one chair in front of her desk, so we all sat on the other chairs against the wall talking to each other.

After about ten minutes we heard her steps outside and we all stood up and smiled as she came in and asked us all to stand in front of her desk.

She appeared to have a frown on her face but was not shouting or raising her voice when she asked Julie and myself if we had enjoyed our evening away from school on Saturday.

We both replied how fantastic we thought it had been.

Then she suddenly told us we may change our opinion shortly.

She the turned to Miranda and said she had been checking her school record.

She found that although she had been punished on several occasions including canings she was generally a credit to the school.

She then turned to Julie and said that she had always been a credit to the school and apart from a couple of slipperings as yet she had never been caned.

She then turned to me and told me I had an exemplary record until the last month or two when I had been slippered three times and caned.

She then asked us if we knew why we were here and we said that we didn’t.

She came up to me, unclipped my Head girl badge, and pinned it onto Miranda.

She took Julie’s deputy head girl badge off and put it onto her desk.

She said that for the following week Miranda was to be Head Girl as girls wearing yellow sashes could not be.

Miranda was dismissed and she left the room with a grin from ear to ear.

Julie and I both went to speak but were told to be quiet and to put our hands on our heads.

She then asked us if we enjoyed our meal in the restaurant on Saturday, and we said we did.

She asked if we enjoyed our glass of wine.

The penny began to drop but we said we did and, as we were both eighteen and not in uniform, we thought we would be okay to have one small drink.

“Maybe,” she said.

“But when you are a little boisterous afterward and asked to be quiet by a couple sitting nearby, then it is not okay.

“That couple was the deputy head governor of the school who recognized you from photographs he had been shown the previous day recommending you both for awards.

“He phoned this morning to complain and wants you both punished.”

She said she had no option other than to agree and therefore we would both receive six strokes of the cane now if we wanted to keep our positions and also receive our awards.

She would give us five minutes alone to discuss it.

As she left the room I said to Julie that I would be accepting the punishment because if we spoiled somebody’s evening then we deserved it.

Julie said she would also, as she had expected it, as she knew the deputy head governor and thought this would be her last chance to be caned but not in front of all the prefects.

As it was her who had been noisy, she did not think that I would also be caned.

At first I was annoyed but then understood after listening to her for the previous two weeks about wanting to experience the cane.

Julie said she would explain to the head that it was all her fault and that she would accept the caning, but that I should be let off.

I said: “No, we both made a noise so we will both be punished.”

The Headmistress entered the room and we told her we would both take the canings.

She took out a large leather bound book from her desk and placed it on the top surface.

She got up and walked over to a cupboard by the window and selected a long and thick cane which was very flexible as she bent it in her hands.

She then ordered me to bend over the back of the chair in front of her desk and told Julie to stand against the wall.

I bent over the chair and grabbed hold of the legs

. She told me to bend over as much as I could.

I heard her put the cane on the desk behind us.

I heard her pick up the cane again and heard four or five practice swings before I felt the cane across the top part of my bottom.

I felt a few taps before it was withdrawn before slashing down across by bottom.

The thud when it landed was so loud I shouted out, but the pain did not seem to be there at first.

Then my bottom exploded and I thought I had sat on a fire.

Another three strokes followed, each one intensifying the pain and getting a little lower each time.

After the fifth, I don’t know how I remained bent over as I stamped my feet and screamed in pain.

Suddenly the was no more and I thought I must have miscounted and was just about to get up when i heard the hiss as the cane came down again.

The pain was unbearable. I heard the order to stand up and just managed to do so and hobble over to Julie who was shaking at what she had witnessed. And then it was her turn.

I was told to stand with my hands on my head and watch Julie’s punishment.

She had tears in her eyes and when her knickers were pulled up I could see that this would be a virtual bare bottom caning.

Julie had to be helped to her feet and the tears were running down her face.

We were told to sign the punishment book.

The Headmistress then told us the episode was over and gave us both a handful of tissues

She also told us we were excused lessons for the rest of the morning but would be expected in lessons that afternoon.

As we were about to leave her office she gave us both yellow sashes to wear for the next week.

We staggered back to our dorm, took of our skirts and lay face down on the beds.

As we were about to lie down I noticed somebody had put a jar of cold cream on the bedside table.

We just lay there sobbing for over an hour until we heard the bell for morning break.

I tried to sit down on the chair in front of the dressing table but found it very hard.

There was a tap on the door and Miranda walked in.

She said she was glad we found the cold cream and we had certainly been caned very hard and she was genuinely sorry for us and offered to make us a drink.

By the time we heard the bell for lunch, the pain was just subsiding.

As we got up, the door opened again and Miranda walked in with sandwiches and cold drinks on a tray.

She told us that the headmistress had sent them for us.

We managed to attend lessons in the afternoon but it was two days before we could sit down without flinching.

Julie told me that although the caning had really hurt her she felt excited by the whole idea.

I told her not to be so daft as I did not want to experience anything like that ever again.

When we returned our sashes the following Monday I swore then never to wear one again no matter what colour and I am pleased to report that I never have.

Julie on the other hand wore a red sash on three more occasions and a yellow sash twice more.