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My all girl class went really well on 22nd of November. The girls thoroughly enjoyed being taught more feminine subjects.
We had lessons in deportment, quite a few books ended up on the floor but most of the girls looked a little more elegant by the end of the day. Table manner led to quite a few demerits being issued for poor etiquette, though I'm sure next time none will be given out. Most of my girls learn quickly!
Nearly all the girls produced a lovely embroidery sampler after only one lesson, whilst Jean Holland whose eyesight did not allow her to take part in the embroidery did a beautiful piece of handwriting, which she illuminated magnificently with coloured pens.
The cookery theory test proved only too well that all the girls need more lessons in that subject.
I'm looking forward to running another all girl class next year, when I'll also resume the mid week classes from next February.
The really big event of course since the last newsletter was the strict tutorial, bonfire party and mixed course.
I will let the pupils tell you most of what went on there later on, via their reports however. It certainly was hard work for all my staff and I running a course continually for 10 days.
The weather was glorious most of the time and the autumn colours just could not be matched in the woods that surrounded us in the Wye Valley
The work the pupils produced was excellent on both courses and in many cases surprised both Miss Fellows and I with its quality. It is so satisfying when pupils do well in their end-of-term exams. Of course neither terms were without their disciplinary incidents, but then we are a Reform School.
I cannot forget the Girls' College (ie Muir College) last October, either. Here again one of the girls will tell you more, see over the page.
On the subject of the girls' college, we still need tutors who would like to take part, with a girl whose regular tutor cannot make it for any reason.
If you think you would enjoy teaching a class of six to eight (adult) school girls with one having your undivided attention each afternoon, then don't hesitate, our next course will be in March.
You will need to be able to hold the girls' attention for a forty five minute class at a time and be able to administer corporal punishment to any of the girls whose attention wanders. Age or gender is not a problem and you needn't have much experience if you have the right attributes. The girls and the tutors will help you along, in their own inimitable ways.
If you are interested please get in touch in the usual way
Maids' events have been a little short on the ground recently but I hope more of you will be able to come on courses next year.
Hi Caroline here;
I just thought I'd let you share a few of the goings on at the last Girls College.
We had no new tutors this time to play tricks on, so we were going to have to work really hard to catch out our regular tutors with a few practical jokes. Well actually it did not prove too difficult after all. In fact my tutor Mr Prendergast got caught the most.
All four of us girls started off in high spirits as usual and when the Headmaster told us to go and get our pyjamas on ready for bed the first night, we did just that...on top of our uniforms that is. We could hardly contain our giggles when we came back downstairs, even Mr Bernard and Mr Tweed found it difficult to keep a straight face.
The Headmaster was not so amused and very carefully enunciating every word he told us to go back upstairs and change properly and return. As you can imagine all our tutors were waiting for us and we had to go over each one of their knees and get six spanks from all of them. Well it would have probably felt strange if we had gone to bed on the first night without a warm bottom.
Mind you that was not all that happened on the first night. Jane and I were sharing a dorm and Daisy and Tessa another. After light out Daisy and Tessa crept to our room and opened the door, and peeked in wearing scary florescent Halloween masks. Jane and I just could not help screaming out loud which made Daisy and Tessa fall about laughing.
They laughed so much they did not hear the Headmaster come up behind them. It was our turn to laugh a little when he made them touch their toes in the hall and smacked them with his horrid slipper.
He told them he had better not catch them out of bed again after light out. He did not because they were much more clever the next night and waited until I scared my tutors half to death (his words) before creeping into his room and hanging a blow up luminous skeleton from his ceiling.
How did I scare my tutor, you may be wondering. Well he's a bit scared of spiders and I had an enormous glove puppet of a spider. I waited until he had gone into the bathroom to do his teeth then hid around the corner, from where I could stretch my arm, with spider, to hover in mid air in the middle of the door space. When he opened the door he walked straight into my spider hand. Boy can tutors scream! But as you can guess it was not long before he had regained his composure and his belt and dragged me of to the school room where he proceeded to make me scream.
(Still it was worth it to see the look on his face when he saw the spider).
Before lessons had started Mr Prendergast had Daisy and Tessa across his knee for a spanking then over his desk for the belt, it had not taken him long to work out who had put the skeleton in his room, he might be scared of spiders but he's not daft.
The first lesson we had did not start very well for Daisy, as she had not done the homework Mr Tweed had set her to his satisfaction and was soon over his desk for twelve smacks with the paddle.
Mr Bernard took us for German language lessons, which were really good as our cook was German (Katrin) and we could practice on her.
We soon learnt to count in German, if our attention wandered! On the last day we had a treasure hunt with all the clues written in German. I was partnered with Tessa and we won. The only problem was when we found the prize, a small box of chocolates; it also said inside that we were to have thirty strokes of the paddle if we wanted to eat them. We all did and they were only taps really.
That reminds me I got into frightful trouble over Katrin, it was break time and I was outside when Katrin started poking her tongue out at me. Big mistake as I was standing next to the hose pipe. I could not resist spraying her with water, she screamed like a baby and the Headmaster came around the corner and caught me red-handed. I was handed over to my tutor who made another part of me very red and sore with his hand.
I got myself into a lot of trouble that evening at the dinner table. I am allowed one glass of wine with my meal but it was a really good wine that night and I wanted some more. I knew it would be a waste of time to ask, so when I thought no one was looking I took another glass, Tessa was giggling at me until she saw that Mr Prendergast was watching me as he was talking to the Head. I don't know what came over me (a brave Pill I think) as I downed the glass of wine before he could take it off me. Immediate retribution followed in the form of a rotten bare bottom spanking in front of everyone, then I was taken into the classroom and lectured for ages on appropriate kinds of behaviour before getting the belt and then twelve strokes of the cane. To add insult to injury he then made me stand in the hall where all the girls, tutors and kitchen staff could see my sore striped bottom. That did it for me I resolved to behave myself for the rest of the term. In fact I mostly stayed out of the firing line after that.
Well actually I just didn't get caught again, ha!
Meals proved to be very amusing at times; we were having cheese and biscuits one lunchtime. The plate of assorted chesses was passed around, amazingly to the Head, Mr Tweed and Mr Bernard first before Mr Prendergast got it. He then asked what some of the cheeses were and was told the one he was pointing to was Emmental a Swiss holey cheese. Try as he might he could not cut apiece from it and when his knife finally bent in half, nobody could contain themselves any longer and we all burst out laughing. Mr Prendergast had diligently been trying to cut a piece of plastic joke cheese.
He got caught out again the next morning when we were served up eggs and bacon etc. He blithely poured tomato sauce all over his food and then tried to cut his egg, to no avail. Then in a very annoyed tone of voice demanded to know if any of the food on his plate was real. 'Now, now,' calmed Mr Bernard, tying to keep a straight face,' there no need to have an eggsistential (sic) crisis!!' At that we all fell about laughing again.
Mr Prendergast went to the kitchen where he could be heard telling Katrin and Andrea that he would be seeing them later, which of course he did and then it was their turn to have warm bottoms. I have to say that Andrea was a real brick not telling it was my egg and cheese I got her to swap.
It hard to believe he could be caught again but he was along with the Headmaster at breakfast the next day. We were having boiled eggs, he was given his first along with Mr Bernard they both tried to cut the top off their eggs only to find that they were rubber. Mr Prendergast demanded to know if the rest of the eggs were real, Jane and I proceeded to show him that they were by cutting the tops off ours; Andrea then gave them a real egg each. We girls were having real trouble not falling into hysterics but the Head then went to cut his, now convinced they we all real, only to find the lovely warm egg he held while trying to cut was also a rubber one!!!!
I think Katrin was wishing she'd had a very soft rubber cushion to sit on later.
The Headmaster got caught at teatime as well when he lifted the sugar spoon out of the bowl only to have the sugar fall everywhere as the spoon was hinged in the middle.
We studied astronomy with Mr Prendergast, which I found really interesting but Jane didn't and Tess got in to a right pickle when she refused to answer a question he put to her, she can be very stubborn at times.
He lost patience with her and made put her desk in the hall through lunch till she told him the answer he wanted. I was glad I was not in her shoes when he took her back in to the schoolroom. We could all hear him shouting at her and the caning she got. Still it was forgotten by the evening when we got to play some super games with our tutors.
We had made some super telescopes with Professor Savage in his class and on the last night we were able to go out and view Mars and the Moon through them and his astronomical telescope. That was fantastic. I really enjoyed the Proff's lessons even though I found the maths we had to do to calculate the various lenses very difficult.
Jane and I actually got away with our last trick, while the tutors were busy setting up the telescopes, we set off a smoke bomb outside. Trouble was it got a bit ferocious so we kicked it down the hill and prayed it would not set fire to anything.
Mr Prendergast and Mr Bernard came out of the school and demanded to know where the smell of burning was coming from, well we honestly answered that we did not know, as we did not by then.
We did get some lovely treats too. As it was such a gorgeous day we were all taken for a walk to the fair where we went on the bumper cars. Of course all of us girls took great delight in ramming our tutors' cars. After that we had a boat ride on the river Wye and an ice cream. Now who says school is boring or bad...certainly not my friends or me. We can't wait to go back next March.
Caroline.
Sandwiched between Halloween and Guy Fawkes Night - that's quite an appropriate place to find a Strict Tutorial. It was a rather gorgeously autumnal late afternoon when my tutor brought me to the school on the edge of the Forest of Dean. As he had a very bad cold he didn't linger but quickly delivered me over to Miss Prim, who despatched me to my room.
I was lying somewhat prophetically on my tummy, finishing my set book, when Miss Prim popped her head round the door and said I should be putting out my kit for Matron to inspect. Once this was done there wasn't room to lie on the bed, so after washing and brushing up I snuggled down in a big squashy armchair until Janey arrived. We were in our dressing gowns with all our kit laid out when Matron came in. Amazingly, she could find no fault with our gear, so we hurried into our uniforms and downstairs for inspection and dinner.
There were seven of us pupils on the course; Miss Prim, Miss Fellowes and Matron to teach us, plus a chef and Angela the maid. It was good to meet up with old friends again and most of us earned a substantial number of demerits at the dinner table due to exuberance and high spirits. Clearly it was going to be difficult to knuckle under the numerous little rules of the regime!
After dinner each of us had an interview with Miss Prim. One by one we were summoned into the Headmistress' study and handed over the letters out Guardians had written. Professor Robertson had taken particular care to request that I got a sound paddling every night before bedtime, plus a caning from Matron for each dose of "medicine" I might require. He had also noted that I was "devious and mischievous"; upon hearing which I remarked that I was pleased to have inspired him towards poetry. This brought its inevitable reward. Miss Prim let me know in no uncertain terms, by word and by deed, that rules must be obeyed to the letter and that cheek would not be tolerated. I was sleeping on my tummy for real that night, and apparently writhing and groaning too, since Janey was forced to seek repose somewhere less turbulent.
Next morning we all notched up some more demerits over breakfast - it really is difficult not to talk until permission is given! Most of us had at least one uniform fault as well, so several canings had to be administered before lessons could begin.
I must say how interesting the lessons were on this course. Miss Prim taught history - all about the Gunpowder Plot - and biology. This was about spiders, some of which we got to examine under the microscope, and very fearsome they look when magnified many times. Matron taught Latin in a very lucid manner - quite a feat considering what a complex language it is. Miss Fellowes' subject was English Literature, covering two set books and a range of other themes. Also I'd like to congratulate, first Michael and then Sandra, ably helped by Angela, for feeding us so well throughout the tutorial. So well in fact, that we were joking by the end about all being on the "Fatkins Diet!"
In Miss Prim's History lessons we were allowed to use our folders of notes to write essays, which meant we were able to achieve some good results. Sadly it must have made us overconfident as only brainy Andrew passed the exam! Everyone apart from him got thrashed (although things got evened up when Matron unearthed some suspicious-looking teddy bears of his in dubious places!)
In Matron's lessons we didn't just learn Latin- we also learnt how to earn three demerits at once. When she catches you talking, address her as Ma'am or Miss whilst remaining in your seat! Since three demerits bring six strokes of the cane, there was much to-ing and fro-ing in Latin classes. Steve Miller must have been regretting his elevation to Head Boy status, since it meant he must receive double punishment every time. As the only boy in long trousers, he also got sent on all sorts of errands, he called them missions.
Monday began badly for both Jane and myself. It's bad enough having to get up at 6.45 to use the bathroom - but Miss Fellowes was lurking and gave Janey a demerit for entering the bathroom late, even though she vacated it well before 7.00! Janey objected and ended up getting twelve with the dragon. Good job Miss Fellowes wasn't outside to hear me swear when I dropped the soap. Anyway, it was very hot indoors so I decided not to wear my blazer to uniform inspection. Matron and Miss Fellowes didn't seem to mind, but not Miss Prim.
"What sort of place do you think you're in, Robinson?" she demanded. "A sauna, Ma'am," I replied - well it was pretty sticky. That did it. I was marched into the classroom for my own twelve of the dragon, and as I limped upstairs afterwards to retrieve the offending blazer, it was to the sounds of Sarah-Jane Thornton receiving the same treatment for wearing too short a gymslip. That wasn't fair; it's her guardian's fault. He's always buying her clothes that are too short. He also bought her some perfume called "Lolita". I've got my suspicions about him!
Matron seemed to be the only one who'd got out of bed on the right side, but she soon scotched that illusion by showering Shelley with demerits for her table manners. Actually, Shelley, Sarah-Jane and I all got into trouble over lunch - it's nearly put me off cheese for life. What happened was that Sarah- Jane refused to eat her cheese roll. She was so defiant that Miss Prim marched her off for a good hiding, but not before I'd had a couple of bites at the roll. Miss Prim was not pleased and announced that anyone who laid a finger on that roll while she dealt with Thornton would be in deep trouble. Well, Shelley and I were still hungry, so we chopped the roll up with our knives and impaled the pieces on them to eat it - therefore no fingers involved. Everyone thought it was hilarious - including Matron and Miss Fellowes - but Miss Prim failed to see the joke and Shelley and I ended up getting strapped, caned and birched just like Sarah-Jane. She was then made to eat another roll, while Shelley got her mouth washed out with soap for swearing. I tell you. This is not called a strict tutorial for nothing.
Don't think we didn't have any fun or light-hearted moments. In the evenings we played games like "Trivial Pursuit" and "Pass The Bomb", as well as watching videos of our set books ("Cider With Rosie" and "Brighton Rock"). There was a lovely firework party for Miss Fellowes' birthday - but I'll let Janey tell you all about that. And we reassured Miss Prim after the history disaster, by all getting good grades in our Spider exam. We all went home with a sore bottom, but we'd had some good times and certainly hadn't been starved. I'd say that if you want a really authentic school experience one of the Muir Academy's Strict Tutorials would fill the bill for any adult boy or girl.
Sarah Robinson
November the 5th, which conveniently fell at the end of the autumn strict tutorial and the start of the mixed boarder, was celebrated in traditional style by a big, loud bonfire bash. There were lots of us there- Steve, Shelly, Sarah, Sarah-Jane, Daniel, Andrew and I had all been at the tutorial along with Miss Prim, Miss Fellows, Matron, Angela the maid and Sandra the cook. We were joined by Titch, Paul, Richard, Clare, Edward and Simon, from the mixed boarder and Tessa and Sir Guy who were there just for the evening.
Both courses learned about the original gunpowder plot, but this plot, where Miss Snow plotted to blow up all the fireworks was far better (and unlike the original, this one worked!) We had a big brazier that kept us all warm and was used by Matron to light the sparklers.
The evening began with yukky pumpkin soup. Now I know that some people like it but I knew that it was yukky even before Miss Prim made me try it! The fireworks began with all of the ones our guardians our sent along- small stuff that you can set off in any garden. Some were quite good and of course we had to have lots of sound effects: 'Ooohs' and 'Ahhhs' and the like! Others of these fireworks were a bit teeny and of course the pupils whose guardians had brought these came in for some ribbing (it had to be done!) The 'main course' of burgers, hot dogs and parkin the preceded the main event: - the BIG fireworks.
Miss Snow had set these ones up apart from the others and further away from where we stood. It was probably just as well because when I say big, I mean BIG (by garden standards anyway.)
The ''Ooohs' and 'Ahhs'' gave way to 'Woah, that's loud' and laughs and shouts that told more than words ever could. It all finished with a ten-minute continuous volley that lit up and reverberated around the whole valley. It was awesome!
After the fireworks we had more sparklers (mammoth ones that my guardian sent and crackling ones that were really good if you had a whole packet at once.) Once she had finished lighting our sparklers, Matron toasted marshmallows for us, and Tranter and Dawson roasted chestnuts on a shovel over the brazier. I passed on the chestnuts (they taste too much like 'taters to me) but had loads of marshmallows. Actually, I have to confess that I had so many that even I felt sick!
Soon the flames were dying down and it was time for bed. It had been a great evening!
Jane Molyneux
It was amazingly how everyone settled down very quickly for the night and all the fireworks remained outside. I am glad to say that even the staff enjoyed the fireworks and Miss Fellowes' birthday celebrations that night.
Miss Prim
Three little maids in a row waiting patiently for ... well y'know!
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