Every morning, in all weather conditions, Miss Whippet lined the children up for inspection. Shoes were polished, trousers or skirts crisply ironed and the smart blue blazers spotless and displaying the appropriately coloured badges. Miss Whippet liked to rule with military strictness. She walked up and down the line with hands firmly behind her back. Sometimes she had to pick faults with Bosworth, although she did so with the proper decorum those children warranted. A whisper here or gentle coaxing there. But Goodson had to be brought down to size irrespective of the standard of their uniform.
Her favourite punishment was sentencing children to the Sign. Whenever a child did something wrong, they were forced to stand somewhere in the school grounds for an hour with the Sign around their neck stating their particular crime. It was not uncommon to see children in the corridor or the school field with the Sign proclaiming things like ‘My armpits smell’ or ‘I am stupid.’ The Sign was social engineering at its best as only Outsiders were subjected to it. Expected behaviours were hammered home during assemblies when Miss Whippet reinforced her moral code.
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