“Peterborough School I have been told by a former brother in Law who was Headmaster of Harwood Road JMI, was distinctive because it was one of very few single-sex primary schools in the LCC area. The Headmaster referred to in the web description (was it Whitbread) was a martinet who had us all saluting the flag and once caned the whole school, for playing with snowballs when he had expressly forbidden such outrageous behavior. There was reference to Mr Matthews who I remember as a kindly man but not to the 11-plus year teacher an older man who we all thought to be German who was a firm discipline”
Whitbread was indeed a Headteacher and left Peterborough in 1949 when Matthews replaced him. By caning the whole school it raises the question did Whitbread hold a record for mass caning in a ILE school, and did it involve both boys and girls?