in the very first series of Grange Hill, Tucker and Benny were caned in front of their mothers (their Dads presumably being at work in school time): in fact it was strongly implied that the mothers had asked for their sons to be caned.
Before caning was banned, there was a brief period where it could only be used with parental consent. Some schools certainly took that to mean that they had to phone home for permission each time they wanted to whack someone (where I imagine the law only required them to respect the wishes of parents who sent a letter exempting their children from the cane.) I have certainly heard accounts of schools where, rather than simply asking for permission, they invited the parents into the school to discuss the offence and witness the punishments.