“A welcome was also generously extended to the new Housemaster, Mr Thompson (‘Thommo’) who had his bed ‘short-sheeted plus a liberal application of tooth-paste here and there’. ‘Bunny’ Lappin, the Housemaster ‘nearly wore his cane out whacking both innocent and guilty.'”

“What is startling about smoking is that when Scotch caught boy smokers it punished them savagely. Between at least 1936 and 1971, School Captains routinely gave smokers four to six strokes of the cane. At some stages it made no difference if the offence was committed in Geelong, or out of uniform, or in a private house, or that a boy’s parents allowed him to smoke, or even whether he was actually smoking – in 1964 a boy received three strokes ‘for carrying cigarettes’. Six strokes was a heavier penalty than given to boys who stole, lied, cheated, bullied, or brought explosives to school.”