When Mr Braithwaite first encounters his class they are an unruly group of people who never manage to keep a teacher for long. They were mostly unkempt and scruffy and weren't very well educated as Mr Braithwaite found out on his first day,

" Twenty-six of the class were girls, and many of their faces bore traces of make-up inexpertly or hurriedly re-moved, giving to their youth a slightly tawdry, jaded look... The boys were scruffier, coarser, dirtier... the same wary sullenness" (PG 49 para.2)

"Palmer sat down, looking at me questioningly. His reading was shockingly bad. Benjamin's effort was not much better, nor was that of Sapiano, Wells or Drake."(PG 51 para.1)

Mr Braithwaite failed to make much of an impression on his class when he first arrived. In their weekly review all that was mentioned was a new 'blackie' teacher. Mr Braithwaite realised that his class went through phases with him. The first one being the silent treatment, where his pupils did everything that was asked of them, but without enthusiasm or interest. The second phase w

After this Mr Braithwaite spoke to his class the next morning. He told them of his teaching intentions and what they could expect and also what he expected of them. He told them of certain courtesies which he would expect. After this Mr Braithwaite found teaching easier. In the pupils' weekly review, he had made more of an impression. The pupils wrote how they thought some of the courtesies Mr Braithwaite had implemented were stupid, but they also wrote how they were glad that he treated them like adults.

The class' general behaviour and appearance improved, so much so that Mr Braithwaite was able to take them on a successful school trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

"Sickened by their general conduct, crude language, sluttish behaviour and of their free and easy familiarity with the boys." (PG 68 para.2) He told them to clear the mess up and open the windows to get rid of the smell. The girls we so stunned by his outburst that none of them dared to move or speak. When he returned to the classroom after break, Mr Braithwaite found it spotless. He saw that most of the girls were ashamed of what had happened.

Even though Mr Braithwaite had made the first breakthrough with his class, some of them were still unwilling to accept him. One, Denham, who was one of the leaders of the children, was always there to 'take the Mickey'. Denham wanted to cause trouble and prove that Mr Braithwaite wasn't good. On one Thursday afternoon after a day when the class seemed to have been distracted by something, Denham challenged Mr Braithwaite to box him in a PT lesson. It was an engineered incident, planned by Denham. Mr Braithwaite didn't really f

Some common words found in the essay are:
Sapiano DrakePG, Albert Museum, Denham Braithwaite, ER Braithwaite, Mickey' Denham, braithwaite found, behaviour attitudes class, attitudes class, Moira Joseph, weekly review, class braithwaite, flowers seales, behaviour attitudes,
Approximate Word count = 1117
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)