NRS-16623 | Punishment Book [Cambra Public School]

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Regulations under the Public Schools Act of 1866, adopted by the Council [of Education] 27 February 1867 regulated the punishment of children in schools by stipulating: “In the government of the pupils, all degrading and injurious punishments are to be avoided. The Teacher’s discipline must be mild but firm, his manner kindly, his demeanour cheerful and calculated to gain the confidence of his pupils, and his language marked by strict propriety. While he should overlook no offence, his aim should be to prevent the necessity for punishment by the improvement of the offender.”

In relation to corporal punishment the regulations continue: “Corporal punishment should be inflicted in extreme cases only, and then as a last resource; and the teacher must keep a record of the time and place at which pupils were corporally chastised, the amount of such punishment and the nature of the offence.”

Uniform stationery soon evolved to enable compliance with these regulations. These punishment books are registers of all cases in which corporal punishment was given to pupils. The information it details includes: the pupil’s name; age; nature of offence; amount of punishment (i.e. number of strokes); by whom sent; the date of the punishment; and by whom the punishment was inflicted.

The present series consists of a single volume, covering the period from the re-opening of Cambra Public School in 1954 until its final closure ten years later. It is noticeable that twenty-seven out of thirty-four instances of corporal punishment recorded in this volume were meted out before April 1955, in which month the Inspector has entered a note in the book commenting on the frequency with which corporal punishment was resorted to, and drawing the teacher’s attention to the instructions then current on the subject.

The volume concludes with the note “Cambra School closed on 20/3/64. FD Sheedy T/C”