In last night’s dream I was starting a new school. An interesting thing about this new school was that they didn’t sort you into forms by age, but had you progress through the forms as you achieved a certain level of knowledge. Every first day of term they would make an announcement of the form lists, and there was a lot of anticipation connected with this.

In my old school, I was supposed to start the 4th form, but in this new school I hoped I would be put in the 3rd. Because the 4th form was when they introduced corporal punishment.

I sat quietly in assembley, new people all around me, and listened to the Headmaster read out the lists. I was not in the 2nd form, but that was expected. Then the 3rd formers’ names were read out… I was not listed there, either. With a sinking heart, I realised that I was being put in the 4th, with its stricter discipline and its cane…