I started school in 1979 and nobody got the belt in my primary school. However, the teachers were quite happy to cuff you around your head or lugs, or the back of the legs. One of them liked to drag you by the arm from your seat, take you by the shoulders and shake you. I was terrified of her. Interestingly, her son (2 years older than me) ended up stabbing someone when he was 18....