My mother taught in the 1950s with a leather strap on the teacher's desk which was never used,and rows of benches where pupils would sit dipping their pens into inkwells producing the most beautiful handwriting.
That's when I attended school Steve,in the 50's. You could hear a pin drop in all classes and there were some brilliant teachers. I remember the old " dip and scratch " pen and inkwells,plenty of blotting paper needed. I still have a bottle of Quink in my desk for my fountain pen.
Yes,a cane was in the corner,or the old golosher. These were indeed happy days even though the teachers were strict. The old headmaster wore a moth-eaten cap and gown and drove an old Austin car which was a real bone-shaker and my friend and I got a lift home now and again because his sister lived near us. She was eccentric too and wore huge beads.No wonder she had a hump on her back with the weight of them.