Bell (Dervis Ward), insists that Carl 'Fats' Buckley (Roger Shepherd) participate in vaulting, despite his classmates' objections. There is a darker turn when the gym teacher, Mr. The outing is depicted in a photo montage of the students enjoying themselves among the sculptures and art. The Headmaster is reluctant but issues approval, and Thackeray arrives on the morning of the trip to find a classroom of well-dressed, well-scrubbed students. Unexposed to the rich history and culture of their own city, the students are especially excited when he suggests they go on a class outing to the British History Museum. He insists they can do the same if they wish. Although Thackeray's humble background is quite like their own, he's made a success of himself by cultivating his language and dress. While Denham continues to bait Thackeray, the rest of the class is won over. As part of being adults, he insists the students will use proper forms of address (both toward him and amongst themselves) and take pride in their appearance and deportment. He emphasizes this by throwing out all their textbooks. His new strategy is to treat them as adults and allow them to discuss issues of their own choosing. The students will be leaving school and entering the adult world soon. Dismayed by his lack of self-restraint, he retreats to the staff room, upset that he let himself be manipulated by 'kids.' Returning to the classroom, Thackeray outlines a new approach to teaching his students and sets strict ground rules. He angrily orders the boys out of the classroom and excoriates the girls for their disgusting, 'sluttish' behavior. A turning point comes, however, when one morning he discovers something (presumably a sanitary pad) burning in the classroom grate. As the students' antics progress from mere disruptive behavior to distasteful pranks, Thackeray retains his calm manner and resists being baited. Led by Bert Denham (Christian Roberts) and Pamela Dare (Judy Geeson), they're an unruly mob who view the classroom as their domain. The students more than live up to their reputation. The audience is informed that their antics drove their last teacher to resign. Headmaster Florian (Edward Burnham) explains that they've been principally rejected from other schools. Deputy Head Evans (Faith Brook) and Clinty Clintridge (Patricia Routledge) warn that while they're mostly good kids, they come from rough homes and excel at riding roughshod over teachers. New hire Gillian Blanchard (Suzy Kendall) is admittedly afraid of them. Weston (Geoffrey Bayldon) is openly contemptuous of them. The North Quay staff offer varying opinions about students at the school. Negro engineer Mark Thackeray (Sidney Poitier) arrives at the North Quay Secondary School in London's tough East End where he's recently been employed in a teaching position after having been turned down for engineering positions throughout England, and is taking this job to make ends meet while continuing to look for a job in his field.The synopsis below may give away important plot points.

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