RULES at the Central Girls’ School in Oxford affected almost every aspect of pupils’ lives.

Girls were not allowed to be seen in shops in their school uniform, and there was also a clampdown on screaming.

Former pupil Val Faulkner writes: “I once lost a house point for being spotted in Woolworth’s on my way home after school.

“One day, in the school playground, a girl was heard to scream loudly.

“The staff room window above flew open and a teacher beckoned the culprit to go inside.

“The girl did not reappear – she was obviously kept in.

“We were not allowed to scream for no good reason.”

Mrs Faulkner, of Raymond Road, Bicester, wrote in after reading other readers’ memories of the strict discipline maintained by staff at the New Inn Hall Street school.

She recalls one prank she played when she went into a science lesson with her hair combed down her forehead, obscuring half her face.

“Miss Price entered, a patient, kind lady, who always wore long skirts and rode a sit-up-and-beg, old-fashioned bike to school.

“She took one look at me and told me to sit at the front where she could keep an eye on me.

“For my pains, I had repeatedly to clean the blackboard between each drawing she made.

“In my school days, I never received any punishment of consequence for my high spirits – a gentle reprimand now and then, but nothing memorable.”

She recalls how pupils enjoyed Pirates – a glorified game of tig.

“The entire PE equipment was placed around the Wesley Memorial Hall, giving the appearance of an assault course.

“The girl chosen as Pirate would pursue the rest of the class, leaping round the course until all girls had been caught.

“Once overtaken by Pirate, you had to retire.

“When I was Pirate, I chased the girls with such vigour and ferocity, they squeaked with excitement.

“The thrill of my flying plimsolls is with me still.“ Despite the rules, Mrs Faulkner, like other former pupils, has fond memories of the school.

She writes: “I give my sincere thanks and deep appreciation to the Oxford Central Girls School for the years I spent there, part of the bedrock of my happiest memories.”