All the class had to line outside her office and i remember a very nice boy who had been caned before telling me to rub my hands very hard as it would hurt more if my hands were cold. I was told it was best to be in the back of the queue because she would be less angry by then. I remember when it was my turn i was shaking so much i couldn’t keep my hand still. Everyone got one on each hand except for the monitors who got double rations. The girls were nearly all really upset and i remember feeling proud of myself for not crying.

I went to schools in two different parts of what could be called north west London in the early sixties. My own experience of monitors is sadly the same as Sarajanes’. Most of them would happily shop their grandmothers and teachers when on the look out for suitable candidates would discount those children seemingly governed by the code of omerta.

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