The majority of punishable behaviour seems to consist of persistent inattention, talking and unspecified ‘misbehaviour’. But sometimes a tiny bit of detail is given for our amusement. William Childs, for example, received 2 strokes on the hand with a strap for ‘Damaging Phyllis Gilder’s hat’. Lucy Yeldham ‘deliberately’ broke a ruler and promptly received 2 strokes. Thomas Coe, Leonard Carder and Harold Dawes each got 2 strokes on separate occasions for ‘Wasting Time’ (this one particularly makes me chuckle).

The same names tend to keep cropping up. Often in trouble, William Livermore at one time received 4 strokes for throwing a lighted match at a girl. This didn’t seem to deter him as he was given 2 more strokes a month later for ‘Striking matches’. The Livermores seemed to be a difficult family as Stanley Livermore (possibly William’s sibling) was once given 2 strokes for biting J. Newman and Ernest Livermore was also punished a few times.