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Corpun file 7485 at www.corpun.com
The Sun, London, 5 May 1972
Demo schoolkids stone police van
CHILDREN bombarded a police van with cans and stones and damaged a sports car yesterday after they walked out of their school in protest.
The sports car's rear lights were smashed as boys swarmed around it outside the school's main entrance. Police took no action when their van was pelted.
About 200 boys, aged between 11 and 15, downed pens and pencils at the Quinton Kynaston School, Finchley Road, St John's Wood, North London, in a protest over meals, caning and uniforms.
They swarmed over the school wall and went home.
One of them, Kevin Nielson, a 14-year-old third-former, said: "We have been planning this action for about a week.
"The staff have ignored our complaints.
Price
"We have tried to approach teachers but they only say they will think about it and nothing is ever done.
"We have been complaining about dinners for three years. The price keeps going up but not the standard."
The junior school's head-master, Mr Everest-Phillips said:
"They have a choice of meals and the incidents of caning have been negligible.
"I have only used it three times since last September. School uniform in summer consists of only a blazer."
Corpun file 7486 at www.corpun.com
The Sun, London, 9 May 1972
Law nabs rebel Ginger as kids' lib goes on the march
By Bill Richards
KIDS' LIB leader Ginger Finch was charged last night after a mass "pupil power" demo.
He will appear in court today accused of using insulting behaviour and obstruction.
Finch, aged 18, was arrested as 800 pupils from five North London schools met to urge teenagers away from their classrooms.
The demo was called by the rebel Schools' Action Union, who are protesting against caning, detention, uniforms and "headmaster dictatorship."
Finch, Marxist leader at Rutherford School, Marylebone, was one of the first to arrive at the rally on Paddington Green.
March
When the crowd swelled to about 50 -- mainly from Rutherford and nearby Sarah Siddons Girls' School -- the demonstrators set out on an eight-mile march to enlist support from other schools.
At Marylebone Grammar School they charged into the front hall.
But a tall school prefect pushed them back into retreat.
Then it was on to Marylebone Secondary, a Church of England school.
The rebels raided the playground, mingling with the girl pupils and jeering at those who refused to join the demo.
Caning
Twenty invaders broke into the school building where they kicked classroom doors and called out "All Out."
Meanwhile Mr Denis Lanham, headmaster of Rutherford School, said:
"There have been suggestions that this school is like a prison camp where boys are caned mercilessly.
"I have not caned a boy in two years. The only people who cane are housemasters and then only a small number."
Corpun file 7487 at www.corpun.com
The Sun, London, 20 May 1972
School probe ordered over 'mass caning' row
By Richard Saxty
AN alleged "mass caning" at a secondary school is being investigated by education chiefs.
All 30 boys in Class 3b at the Blessed William Howard School, Stafford, are said to have been lined up and caned on Thursday.
Parents claim that at least 12 boys were absent from school yesterday as a result.
Two boys, 14-year-olds Steven Moore and Julian McCann, were taken by their parents to Stafford's education department offices yesterday.
The youngsters have bruises and weals on their backsides.
Steven's mother, 36-year-old Mrs Doreen Moore, said: "We are taking this to the highest level if nothing is done.
Scratching
"Children should be punished if they are bad. But not in excess of normal punishment."
Julian, of Dryden Crescent, Stafford, said the caning came during a maths lesson when no one in the all-boys class would own up to scratching names on desks with compasses.
The teacher lined the boys up in an assembly hall, then took his shoes and socks off "so he wouldn't slip on the floor," Julian claimed.
Steven, of West Way, Stafford, said: "He gave us three lashes of the cane and then questioned us one by one."
The boys said the teacher's cane split.
Told
Julian's father, Mr John McCann, said: "I went to the school with Mrs Moore today and we were told by other boys that a lot of others in the class hadn't turned up."
A school spokesman said the headmaster, Mr S. Tilscher, would not comment.
A senior official of Stafford education department said: "Investigations are being carried out."
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