 Offenders sent to approved schools, as well as receiving academic tuition, were assigned to work groups for such activities as building and bricklaying, metalwork, carpentry and gardening.Many approved schools were known for strict discipline, with corporal punishment used where deemed necessary, generally a rather more severe version of the caning or strapping that was common in ordinary secondary schools.In particular, boys and girls who absconded were given a maximum caning of 8 strokes (sometimes 6) on the clothed bottom immediately on return to the school, and a 1971 statistical study found that this could be an effective deterrent.