Corpun file 0695 at www.corpun.com
Coventry Evening Telegraph, 16 March 1979
Caning stays at county school
Boys at a controlled community home school in Warwickshire will continue to be caned for serious breaches of discipline.
The headmaster, or in his absence his deputy, at Norton School, Kineton -- a former approved school -- can continue to administer this form of corporal punishment, the county council's Social Services Committee have decided.
The policy was reviewed a year ago, and despite protests from some councillors, it was agreed by the majority that there should be no change.
Another review has been carried out in view of new government guidelines, which recommend that boys in community homes over the age of 16 should not be caned.
The committee decided, however, that at Norton School the corporal punishment allowed should relate to all the boys.
They considered that it would be unfair to exclude older boys, because use of the cane usually applied in cases where older boys had been guilty of bullying younger ones.
Councillor Philip Blundell, the Labour Mayor of Rugby, said that he disagreed with the practice.
Last year there were 10 canings at the school, compared with 24 in 1977. The boys receive up to six strokes on their clothed bottoms.
