The English lesson that Billy participates in brings across to the reader the amount of respect Mr Farthing has for Billy. The way Mr Farthing says “Now then, Billy, tell me about your hawk?” Shows that Mr Farthing is trying to encourage and support Billy in activities he carries out both in and outside school. Mr Farthing is amazed at Billy’s knowledge of the hawk. I know this because when Billy mentioned an interesting term whilst reading out his factual story, Mr Farthing would ask him to write it up on the board for the rest of the class to examine.
Another factor is that Mr Farthing has taken that much of an interest in Billy’s achievement that he has asked to see him fly the bird. In this section of the book Barry Hines has tried to build up a friendship between Billy and Mr Farthing. I think Billy appreciates Mr Farthing taking an interest in his hobbies because his own family don’t give him the attention he needs to pursue his talents further.
Mr Gryce’s attitude towards the messenger shows that he thinks all children are the same. The way he pronounces, “Come in you reprobates!” Indicates to the reader that he hasn’t even noticed the young messenger at the door. When all the boy’s enter, Mr Gryce tells them to “Get your pockets emptied.” The messenger tries to notify Mr Gryce that he has a message, but he gets ignored and Mr Gryce carries on with the daily grind of emptying all the pockets of the members in the smokers union.
When he discovers that all the known smokers are not following their usual trend of carrying bundles of cigs, he turns to the messenger who is only a young newcomer to the school and finds that he is laidened up with packed upon packet of cigs. He is oblivious to the fact that the older children have planted the cigs on him so they don’t get punished. Mr Gryce has got tunnel vision; he can not see that the older children have manipulated the young boy into doing exactly what they want him to. Even though Mr Gryce can see the fear in the young boy’s eyes he still canes him for the possession of cigarettes. This act of punishment has been created by the author to show how the school is failing other students who are trying to progress, not just Billy. Mr Gryce doesn’t try to resolve the situation by sitting down and discussing the matter with the boy’s, he is only interested in trying to intimidate children by using the cane. The cane seems to be Mr Gryce’s only skill, and he uses it to his advantage.
When Billy arrives, he knows he is going to receive the cane for the punishable act of sleeping during the Lord’s Prayer. Mr Gryce should show more sympathy and understanding towards him. I think this because Billy has got a terrible home life and he is tired not because he “Stays up all night roaming the streets and getting into mischief.” But because he has to get up early to care for his hawk and deliver papers to the local area. If Mr Gryce took the time to talk to Billy, he would understand that he isn’t a bad child, just that he is deprived and people find it difficult to understand him.
At break Billy gets into a fight with MacDowall. The fight was triggered off by MacDowall saying “I’ve heard tha’s got more uncles than any kid in this city.” The comments results in Billy and MacDowall fighting on a coal pile. The behaviour of MacDowall reveals that Billy has a poor school life and that his relationships with other children aren’t strong because when Billy is being bullied by MacDowall the other children seem to take sides with the strongest competitor which is MacDowall. The bullying that takes place is mainly aimed at Billy’s school life and intelligence. When the fight gets under way, the children who are in the court yard all swarm towards where the fight is taking place. These actions are similar to what happens at Wombwell High when there is ever anything out of the ordinary occurring.
When Mr Farthing arrives at the scene, he drags MacDowall off Billy and questions Billy about his actions. Mr Farthing is very sympathetic towards Billy unlike Mr Farthing or Mr Sugden. He says to Billy “I don’t know, you always seem to cop for it, don’t you Casper?” This comment familiarizes the reader with the relationship between Billy and Mr Farthing.
In this section of the book, Barry Hines tries to demonstrate the differences between teacher’s reactions and opinions towards Billy. He successfully does this by creating attachments between Billy and Mr Farthing. These situations often happen between teachers and pupils at Wombwell High. Mr Farthing even takes the time to go and watch Billy fly his hawk. This action by Mr Farthing makes Billy feel like someone appreciates his skills and interests even though his own family don’t.
After the conversation with Mr Farthing, Billy returns to the school to take part in a games lesson with Mr Sugden. When Billy arrives at the lesson, he is confronted by Mr Sugden who immediately pounces on him like a tiger on its prey. Before Billy can enter the changing rooms, he is asked about his kit, and when he replies “I’ve no kit sir.” Mr Sugden burst into a running commentary on how he has managed to forget his kit for the past four years and that he should have bought one before his last year in school.
Mr Sugden seems to think that Billy should “Keep out of trouble.” But when Billy tries to explain that he hasn’t been in trouble with the police for some time and that he has a duty to deliver papers every morning, Mr Sugden cuts off what he has to say by launching a pair of oversized shorts at his chest. With the atmosphere Mr Sugden has created, the author is trying to show that Mr Sugden doesn’t care about the welfare of Billy or about humiliating him in front of the entire class. The author is trying to summarise Mr Sugden’s character with these actions. He shows that Mr Sugden only worries about himself and no one else.
Later on when the boys are lined up ready for playing football, Mr Sugden plays to his own advantage. He chooses to play downhill, and during the game, he fouls players and then criticizers their actions. During that section, Barry Hines is trying to show how bad the school’s education system is. The way he makes Mr Sugden a self centred man demonstrates that he is not interested in the children’s education but just in a one sided game of football.
After the tactical decisions have been made, Billy is made to take the responsibility of being in his least favourite position in goal. I think Mr Sugden puts Billy in goal because he knows he is amateurish in every position, and that if he is in goal he will not drag the team down. The decisions made by Mr Sugden show that he is not interested in teaching the children how to play football but playing a winning game as if it is the world cup qualifier.
Whilst Billy is in the goal, he exhibits his gymnastic abilities. Instead of Mr Sugden being pleased to see that Billy is skilled in an area of sport, all he can say is “Casper! Caper! Get down lad. What do you think you are, an ape?” The decision to say this comment informs us that Mr Sugden thinks Billy his thick because he doesn’t understand the rules and positions of football, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t enjoy any other sporting activity. Mr Sugden should be pleased that Billy has found something he is interested in. I don’t think Mr Sugden is a good teacher because he isn’t good with children and he only does the job for his own benefit.
After the P.E lesson when the boy’s are getting changed and celebrating their win over Mr Sugden’s team, Mr Sugden forces Billy into the showers. When Billy is in the showers, Mr Sugden orders the boy’s to guard the exit while he turns the thermostat to freezing. This act of punishment shows similar characteristics to when a three year old can’t get their old way. Mr Sugden is punishing Billy for letting his team down and ultimately loosing the game, the way he expresses this loss shows what a bad sportsman he is. I think the act of trapping Billy in the shower is disgraceful; a teacher shouldn’t be punishing his pupils for doing something as trivial as not being able to play football. It unveils that Mr Sugden has no understanding of Billy and that he shows no sympathy for him or his family, and the fact that he is useless at football shouldn’t affect the teacher’s mannerisms towards him.
The approach to teaching pupils in Billy’s school is totally different from the school’s approach to teaching children with learning disabilities in Wombwell high. Wombwell High school has specially trained helpers who can help children similar to Billy participate more positively in a school environment.
In the last section of the book, it summarises the fear and disruption Billy has to go through in his day to day life at home with is mum and brother Jud. The way the colour drains from Billy’s face when Jud walks past the door of his class room when he is searching for him shows that his brother doesn’t care that he had to use his money to buy some substantial food to eat or that he had to by meat to feed his hawk. All Jud is worried about is placing bets on the horses. The main reason for choosing to train a hawk might have been to give Billy some time to be alone away from the chaos of family life. I think Billy appreciates nature and the outdoors because it’s such a major change from being in the house surrounded by audio pollution and insignia.
Overall I think the school has failed Billy on all aspects of his education, especially the organisation of the careers advice available to students. Even though the careers guide associate was trying his best to successfully identify a suitable job for Billy in the future he failed to maintain Billy focus on the specific topic and ultimately didn’t take the desired amount of time to discuss in detail his job prospect or what field of work he would like to go into. In comparison with Wombwell High, Billy’s school doesn’t offer the same wide range of help available for school levers. I also feel that Billy will leave school without a sense of achievement or understanding of what life has to offer for him.
