NRS-16775 | Punishment Books [Ellalong Public School]

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); instrument of punishment (invariably the cane); the date of the punishment; and by whom the punishment was inflicted.The front cover of this volume bears the date “2nd Mch ’08,” but entries do not begin until over a year later. It is conjectured that “08” is an error for “09.”

1867年2月27日，教育委员会通过了《1866年公立学校法》框架下的规定，对学校儿童的惩罚事宜作出规范，具体条款如下：“在学生管理中，所有侮辱性及伤害性惩罚均应避免。教师的纪律管理须温和而坚定，态度亲切，举止愉悦且旨在赢得学生信任，语言表达需严谨得体。尽管不应纵容任何违规行为，但教师的目标应是通过促使违规者改过自新来避免惩罚的必要性。”

关于体罚，规定进一步指出：“体罚仅应在极端情况下施加，且需作为最后手段；教师必须记录学生受体罚的时间、地点、惩罚次数、违规性质。”

为便于遵守上述规定，统一制式的文具应运而生。这些惩罚记录册是所有学生受体罚案例的登记簿，其详细信息包括：学生姓名、年龄、违规性质、惩罚次数（即抽打次数）、惩罚工具（通常为藤条）、惩罚日期及执行者。

本册封面标注日期为“08年3月2日”，但记录条目直至一年多后才开始。据推测，“08”应为“09”的笔误。