Maureen Remarks

I was a girl at school in England near Wembley in the mid-sixties.

I witnessed or was audibly aware of several slipperings administered by my male PE teacher.

I personally once received an ‘official’ six of the best with the slipper on my bottom.

This was administered with me bending over touching my toes in a room adjacent to the PE Changing Room from which the sound, and if wished the sight, of the slippering, were available to all the other girls.

At this school, the Headmaster would also publicly cane boys on the bottom (touching toes, blazer folded back) in assembly, which I witnessed several times.

Girls were caned by the Deputy Headmistress on the hand, never in public, and I never got it although several of my girl classmates did.

I have several girlfriends of around my age who received corporal punishment.

One of them was once publicly caned by her Headmistress with three other girls on her bottom (three strokes touching toes)in assembly at her mixed primary school.

Another attended a girl’s high school near Huddersfield where she witnessed at least six public slipperings of girls (on the bottom, bending over) by the Headmistress at morning assembly over her time there in the sixties.

I have no reason to doubt my friend’s accounts as they were communicated to myself and other women in open conversation.

There should be documentary evidence in punishment books, records, and from the many witnesses of these very public events.

Our male PE teacher gave the slipper as a matter of standard practice for infractions related to PE and PE lessons, as did many other male and female PE teachers of the period (the sixties).

There appeared to be no requirement for a female teacher to be present, although I can recollect at least one occasion when one was ‘about’ during a slippering.

She didn’t seem to take much notice!

My slippering was formal, for a known offense which I admit I had committed and I was asked by the female Deputy Head afterward if the matter had been ‘dealt with’ (i.e. I had been punished).

In that sense, it was also ‘official’. I still consider it to have been fair by the standards of the time as I knew what the likely consequences of my actions were.

My friend who was caned in front of the school during morning assembly at Primary school got the cane on the seat of her skirt.

The only other thing I can remember was that she was number three out of the four and said that watching the others get it was almost worse than getting the cane herself.

She also said she was worried about whether she would be able to touch her toes properly when it was her turn to bend over.