Build a movie plot around this: Who are the leaders of the indisciplined pupils ? Bert Denham
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 North Quay staff offer varying opinions about students at the school. The cynical Mr. Weston (Geoffrey Bayldon) is openly contemptuous of them. New hire Gillian Blanchard (Suzy Kendall) is admittedly afraid of them. 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. Headmaster Florian (Edward Burnham) explains that they've been principally rejected from other schools. The audience is informed that their antics drove their last teacher to resign.The students more than live up to their reputation. Led by Bert Denham (Christian Roberts) and Pamela Dare (Judy Geeson), they're an unruly mob who view the classroom as their domain. A battle of wills ensues. As the students' antics progress from mere disruptive behavior to distasteful pranks, Thackeray retains his calm manner and resists being baited. A turning point comes, however, when one morning he discovers something (presumably a sanitary pad) burning in the classroom grate. He angrily orders the boys out of the classroom and excoriates the girls for their disgusting, "sluttish" behavior. 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. The students will be leaving school and entering the adult world soon. His new strategy is to treat them as adults and allow them to discuss issues of their own choosing. He emphasizes this by throwing out all their textbooks. As part of being adults, he insists the...