Joanna was a lovely girl, sparkling personality, very caring, and a really great friend. Against all that, from the school’s point of view she was impulsive, forgetful, and the Headmistress’s daughter. Of course, everybody thought when she arrived that she was bound to be every teacher’s pet, not one of them wanting to upset or offend her mother. It made it a bit difficult, too, for Joanna because she didn’t want to be a teacher’s pet or the perfect pupil. So she developed a rebellious streak, mainly little things, nothing serious, just to prove she was not the angel she was maybe supposed to be.

She also developed this rather annoying habit of answering back, which became very wearing for many of the teachers who felt it would be unwise to discipline her in case there were repercussions.

Things changed, though, for Joanna and for all teachers when, in the third year, Joanna’s bottom finally met a teacher’s slipper. The slipper was wielded by the fearsome but lovely Miss Roberts, who felt the time was right to get Joanna’s behaviour sorted out. There were no repercussions and the staff room collectively sighed in relief.

Thereafter, Joanna actually became a student just like the rest of us, and like the rest of us if we misbehaved, she could expect to find herself bent over the spare desk at the front of class and in receipt of full corporal punishment. In a way, it gave Joanna some freedom as well. She didn’t have to be anyone other than herself, no longer just her mother’s daughter with a reputation to uphold. She never went wild as a result, but over the course of the next four years her bottom was on the receiving end numerous times. In fact, it was likely she ended up the most spanked girl in the school.

Like so many of us, she was inevitably caught trying out her first cigarette, and sent to the Headmistress. This was a red letter day, mother and daughter with just a tiny infraction of the school rules between them. We all wondered how it would result. Would her mother apply consistency, which meant six of the best with the big plimsoll and a very sore bottom for a couple of days, at least, I can assure you of that, or would her mother find some other way of dealing with her daughter?

Things were tense, the betting was fierce, it was a bit like awaiting exam results or the winner of an election. Finally, after an era had passed, Joanna returned to the classroom, with tears still in her eyes and a stiff gait which indicated to those of us who knew, she’d had the full six, and this was confirmed by the gasp emitted when she sat down. The only remaining question was whether, like the rest of us, the Headmistress had pulled her knickers right up into the top of her crease, or whether, like with our mothers, her knickers had been taken down for the spanking. No bets on that one, no chance of ever finding out.

In short, Joanna had joined the club of the well-disciplined. She was no longer different from the rest of us in any way.

That afternoon, Joanna was in trouble again with Miss Roberts. Without realising what she was doing, I think, she had chosen to engage in an argument with one of the other girls, and though it began with whispering, it had become increasingly heated and audible virtually throughout the classroom. We had no idea what it was about and both she and Elizabeth chose to remain tight-lipped when presenting themselves to Miss Roberts at the front of the class. For their silence, their refusal to divulge the details of their argument, and thus for their complete disobedience, they were both awarded five strokes of Miss Roberts’ slipper on their bottoms. Five, I knew, was bad enough on the way to the six I had been awarded not so long before. A six was nominally the top punishment and usually provided by the Headmistress, but Miss Roberts as sort of presumptive deputy-Head was also allowed to apply six to a girl’s bottom, although this was more commonly used in conjunction with or for bad behaviour during a detention, as Cathy and I were to find out in the next term. I’d had two sixes that year and I can vouch for the fact that sitting for the next two or three days provided very little comfort.

Whilst I knew that Joanna would cope with five, just about, I wasn’t aware that Elizabeth had been spanked at school previously, and her bottom was in for one hell of a shock. Miss Roberts had the good sense to invite Liz over the spanking desk, as we all called it, first. She was given one last chance to own up on the reason for the argument, but she refused and awaited her fate. Miss Roberts pulled her skirt back, revealing a very slender bottom to go with the overall shape of the girl. Her skinny legs were already shaking with fear; this really was going to be hard for her, but she’d had her chance and now had to pay.

The first stroke landed hard across both buttocks, she jerked forward but made no sound. Ten seconds later, the second swat arrived in much the same place, again no sound. And the third, after a similar interval, succeeded in releasing nothing more than a gasp. This would have been really hurting her from now, take it from me, but she remained stoically silent. I was totally wrong in thinking she was going to make a fuss because she had never been spanked before. The fourth arrived and finally there was a muffled cry, and the fifth produced the goods in the form of an extended yelp. Miss Roberts had got through.

As she got up, she was told to stand with her hands on her head, allowing her the chance of seeing fair play and the same punishment provided for the delectation of Joanna’s bottom. Joanna now bent over, was having her skirt raised over her back in customary style. Joanna was a more shapely girl altogether, perfectly in proportion and sporting the sort of body we all would trade for. As usual, her knickers were brief and hardly covered her bottom, tight across the crease and with an expanse of lower buttock exposed on both sides when she was bent over.

I always wondered why a girl who had to present her bottom for the slipper so often did not invest in a fuller pair of knickers. Inevitably the lower cheeks would provide a target for Miss Roberts where her sturdy plimsoll would create quite an impression on Joanna’s bare skin, an imprint and a lovely red mark. And so it was, the first two strokes landed low, and the ten second interval allowed us to see the reddening effect on the lower part of her fleshy bottom. The third and fourth, spaced appropriately, landed higher on her cheeks, the fourth eliciting a moan. But predictably the fifth stroke landed again on the fleshy lower buttocks and this time caused Joanna to cry out. As she got up, Joanna went to clutch her punished bottom, clearly in some distress.

Liz had made the mistake of dropping her hands from her head and attending to her roasting backside as well. Miss Roberts might have had them both over the desk again for that but she chose not to, warning them instead that she wanted a full explanation the next morning or else.

Both returned to their desks, tearful and chastised. In the end, they both had a bit of a cry. No surprise, considering the pain they were in when they sat down.

From my point of view, it would have to be something very serious not to own up the next morning and incur even more strokes of the slipper on very sore bottoms. And so it was, all was resolved and a very public handshake ended the affair, ten strokes and two very sore bottoms later.

JTo