An Incident at Effington Girls School

A curious little video with a Scottish male voice-over narration.

The preamble narration runs as follows:

Now that the post had been officially offered to me, I felt that the ball was now in my court.

‘I would very much like to take the post,’ I said, ‘but I would have to be very sure that there was adequate provision for discipline. I have, of course, been used to dealing with boys and I have found that corporal punishment is an essential element in maintaining discipline.’

‘Oh yes, I quite agree,’ came the reply, and the headmaster went on to assure me that the slipper and the cane were in regular use at the school. ‘The female staff prefer to use the slipper, you’ll understand,’ he went on, ‘across the girls’ knickers.’ I could feel movement within my trousers as he continued. ‘Some of the staff prefer the cane and this is usually applied across the hands, but if they get sent to me you can be sure that I do not hesitate to cane them on their bottoms, and if it’s a second visit it will be across their bare bottoms.’ Needless to say I was delighted.

I was even more delighted when he went on to say that as deputy head he would expect me to take overall responsibility for school discipline, and that I would therefore be in charge of the punishment book. I was a little disappointed when he said that it hadn’t been customary for the deputy head to bare the girls’ bottoms for the cane because the post had always been held by a female in the past, who would use the headmaster as the ultimate deterrent. But then he added:

‘Give yourself a few months to settle in and gain the confidence of the staff and I will gradually hand over those responsibilities to you as well. I’m getting a bit old and arthritic, but I can still lay it on when I have to.’

He didn’t give any indication that he took any pleasure in using the cane, but he did say, ‘Discipline is the essence of any well run school, my boy. Girls need a firm hand just like boys do. Firmer if anything. That’s been my experience. I shall look to you to see that standards are maintained.’

I gave as little notice of my intention to leave Stirling as possible, and I was at my new post deep in the heart of Sussex within four weeks of the interview by taking holiday which was still due to me.

I set about making friends with the staff and with the head girl and some of her prefects, who were unlikely to be on the receiving end. Before long I was receiving a constant flow of information about the pranks and misdemeanours of the girls and I was able, from the old punishment records and the new information coming to me, to compile a list of girls who should be given special attention. I carried out no punishment myself for nearly three months, but it was only four weeks before I had the opportunity to send a girl to the headmaster. It is the details of this incident which I intend to relate to you now.

Brenda was a fourth year girl during 1956 and during the three weeks I had been at the school she had been absent on two occasions. On the second occasion this had been for several days........