Friday 18 December
… one of the stupidest boys in the whole lower fifth ñ which is saying something. He is a friendly soul and, in general, not badly behaved. But his academic work is so slovenly, and he makes so little effort, that I when I read his end-of-term reports from his teachers and saw that he had got bottom marks in just about every subject, my patience snapped. ëDo you ENJOY getting bottom marks, Kelly?í I said, flexing my cane. The poor lad paled and started gibbering. ëNo, miss, of course not, miss, it wonít happen again, miss, Iím very sorry, miss, please, miss ñ not the cane.í ëBut, Kelly,í I said, smiling sweetly, ëI thought bottom marks were your speciality. You get them every term. Unfortunately, you are not the only person in this school who specialises in bottom marks. Bend over and touch your toes.í Six real stingers later and he was left with bottom marks that will last till Christmas and into the New Year.