Instead of correcting Reilly for being impolite, she jokes with him and joins in the conversation. This is encouraging the children to miss-behave. Carol has never been anywhere nice. She is eager to learn more about places where there is no vandalism, crime and poverty. To Carol to visit peaceful places would be a dream.

Here, Mrs Kay sees that the children are discussing an issue that she feels strongly about. She encourages them to express their opinions and views. You don’t get buildings like that anymore. Just look at the work that must have gone into that.’ (Scene 6)This indicates that Mrs Kay has a reputation as being unprofessional, stupid and is considered a bad teacher. This shows that Briggs isn’t used to the way the children have been brought up. Their situation and upbringings are a real contrast in comparison his because he has obviously been brought up differently. When Mr Briggs talks to Andrews about his smoking he sounds genuinely concerned and. Briggs is curious to know the parents reactions to the boys smoking. During scene six, we learn about Andrews’s social problems. His mother is a prostitute and his friends have seen her at work before. Mrs. Kay teaches a remedial class for illiterate children, called the "Progress Class." The whole class - along with Digga and Reilly, the slightly older class bullies who used to be in the Progress Class - are taken on a coach trip. In the original version, the headmaster, Mr Briggs makes the decision to go on the trip as an extra member of staff, emphasising his mistrust of the liberal values of Mrs Kay. In the shorter stage version, the Headteacher commissions Mr. Briggs, the authoritarian Deputy Headmaster, to supervise the trip. He is absolutely right because if Mrs Kay had listened to his advice, the children would have not stole from the café. Mrs Kay in this scene is wrong by being way too supportive of the children. She knows that they didn’t even have enough money to go on the trip, let alone by sweets. By allowing them to steal she is not preparing them for good socialization in the future.

In the next scene at the zoo Briggs is with the children talking about the bears. He is interested in teaching them about the animals. He bonds with them more and his trust for them grows when they ask questions because he believes they are genuinely interested in what he has to say. During Scene 22 at the zoo, Briggs educates the children and allows them to argue important politic views and situations. In their conversation, the animals in the cage, are representative of the children. This also proves that despite that she is soft and kind hearted, she can still control the children’s behaviour. Briggs says this because its something that Mrs Kay would usually say. Russell wants us to think he’s becoming more relaxed like her.Russell ‘uses’ Carol to get a message across that children like her ‘from the d stream’; pieces of ‘factory fodder’ are so often ignored by society. They are expected to be interested in the ‘real qualities of life’ and follow the course that their life was already set upon. Russell intends to highlight the problems of the 1970 - 80’s when there was little alternative to academic education and unemployment was particularly high leading to depression and a loss of self-worth. The television play "Our Day Out" was commissioned by the BBC as part of the BBC's Play for Today series. [1]