My south London comprehensive school mainly punished with lines or detention, but some teachers also used a plimsoll/slipper. Boys were sometimes caned by the headmaster but I never heard of a girl being caned.

My one personal experience of getting the slipper occurred after a girls-only gym lesson when we were showering and changing. I was fifteen at the time. It was the last lesson of the day on a Friday and some girls were a bit over-excited looking forward to the weekend. This resulted in some flicking with towels, some pushing and shoving and quite a lot of shouting, which caught the attention of Miss T, our gym mistress. She had a small office on the opposite side of the gym, so we must have been quite loud.

Miss T came bursting into the changing room, but not everyone realised she was there at first. Slowly, though, everyone stopped dead in their tracks. There were seventeen girls in the class, and I reckon only eight or nine were actually involved in the mayhem.

Unfortunately, Miss T decided not to even try and sort out those who were causing the rumpus. She simply ‘borrowed’ a plimsoll from one of the girls and told us we were all getting three smacks. At that point, we were in various stages of getting dressed, so some were wearing almost their full uniform, some were in just knickers, and I think two were more or less naked. Miss T was not concerned. She simply told everyone to stay as they were.

She told the girl nearest to her to bend over and touch her toes, then delivered three really firm smacks to the seat of the girl’s skirt. So, some girls got their smacks on the seat of their skirts, some got it on their knickers, and a couple got it on their bare bottoms. I was in a group of three furthest away from Miss T, but like everyone else we were watching with eyes wide open as each girl took their turn.

I had been about to put on my skirt when Miss T told everyone to stay as we were, so had my white blouse on, but just my white knickers and socks on below my waist. I was quite nervous about getting my first taste of the slipper, but I simply did not dare even attempt to put my skirt on.

When it was just the three of us left, the other girls were not keen to walk over for their smacks, nor was I. Those who had been smacked then started teasing us about being afraid to take our punishments, so I decided there was no point in stalling anymore.

As I passed the other girls, they were all smiling. As I reached Miss T, I stared at the slipper, which wasn’t that big, and was more nervous that I might make a fool of myself rather than fearing the pain that it might cause to my bottom. With one hand on my shoulder, Miss T manouvered me to where I had to stand, then she told me to bend over and touch my toes.

I bent over, but couldn’t quite reach down to my toes, so I grabbed my shins as low down as I could. Miss T gave the back of my neck a bit of a shove, which got me more bent over and I guess stretched my knickers more tightly across my bottom. My first smack landed almost immediately.

Since my parents never spanked me, this was my first experience of being punished in this way. It hurt, of course it did, but it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. The second smack followed, and that hurt a bit more. The third smack was really hard though, and that did certainly hurt.

I was sent back to where the rest of my clothes were, and passed one of the remaining two girls as she went for her smacks. I was tempted to rub my bottom as I walked, but resisted in case I got more teasing. I heard rather than watched as that girl got her smacks. The final girl, though, was almost shaking as she waited for her turn. I smiled to try and reassure her, but it didn’t really work. I had to give her a little push when it became her turn, but I did se her bend over and she held still as she could as Miss T smacked her.

When I got home, I checked my bottom in a mirror and it was certainly red where the slipper had landed. I knew I’d had the slipper when I sat down for dinner that evening, but I don’t think anyone noticed. I never told my parents what had happened because I was ashamed and didn’t want to admit I’d been punished.

I don’t think any of us really resented our punishments, whether or not they were really deserved.

CM