When the children are about to get into the coach the driver stops them and tells Mrs Kay if she has checked them for chocolate and lemonade because it is not allowed in the coach. Mrs Kay just asks the children if they have any chocolate or lemonade to put their hands up, and no one does. The driver says that it is not all right and she cant just take their word for it and they have to be searched. She asks the driver if she can have a word with him in private, she asks him for his name which is Ronny Suttcliffe. She makes the drive feel sorry for the kids by saying that the kids don’t know what it is to look at a bar of chocolate and lemonade never touches their lips, and at Christmas they are left to wander the cold cruel streets. Humor is used when inside the coach the kids are stuffing themselves with sweets and lemonade and when the driver comes on board and turns his face there is not a sweet or bottle in sight. The driver pulls out a note and tells a kid at the front seat to get whatever sweets he can with the money.
Briggs’s treatment of the children is very different to that of Mrs Kay’s. Briggs is a very strict teacher and Mrs kay is very calm with the children. An example of this is when the kids are getting sweets from the shop Mrs Kay says to Briggs, “well, I just thought you might like to have a sit down away from them for a few minutes.” Briggs reply’s, “to be quite honest, Mrs Kay I think we should all be inside, looking after them. Do you think it was wise just letting them all pour in there at once?”. And Mrs Kay says, “ooh… leave them. They’ve been cooped up for over an hour. They’ll want to stretch their legs and let off a bit of steam.” This shows us that Mrs Kay is more relaxed about the children being away but Briggs wants to be with them all the time because of the trouble they might cause.
A memorable moment at the café is when the kids are pointing at jars that are high up and when the men turn their backs the kids steal sweets. A memorable moment at the zoo is when they are leaving and the keeper stops the coach and tells the kids to hand the animals over and animals appear from everywhere.
An argument between Mrs Kay and Briggs is when Briggs says to Mrs Kay that he will be forced to abandon the visit and order everyone home if she cannot control them, and Mrs Kay says that if he wants to abandon the visit he should start walking because their not going home.
When Briggs finds carol because everyone lost her she was at the cliff, he starts off talking to her in his usual self shouting at her but then when but then when he realizes that it is not getting him anywhere he starts talking to her like a civilized person, and he gets her away from the cliff and hugs her. This is when Briggs starts to relax and becomes calm with the kids.
Briggs takes the kids to the fairground and has a good time and it seems like he has completely changed for the better. I think that Briggs destroys the film because he does not want anyone to see him having a nice time, and probably does not want to ruin his reputation as being a strict teacher and does not want the kids to take him too softly and take advantage of him. He probably also does not want the headmaster to see him having a good time because the headmaster sent him to look after the kids and keep an eye out.
The play ends with Briggs getting into his car , pulls away and at the junction turns right and Carol walking along the street with the goldfish in her grasp looks up at the disappearing car.
The play is very effective in the way that it shows us a teacher who is really strict and is always shouting at the kids and he turns into this teacher who is having fun and enjoying his time with the children but then at the end of the day he ruins it all by destroying the film on purpose and probably will return to his old self.
