ABSTRACT
Infant School is situated in a residential area between two villages on the outskirts of a large northern town. Its main catchment area was about a mile-the children came from socially mixed housing in the two villages and were almost exclusively white and indigenous. The area was one of industrial decline, and the housing comprised Victorian working-class housing, more recent council housing, and new housing reflecting the gentrification taking place over the last ten years. As a measure of poverty levels, 29 per cent of the children were eligible for free school dinners. The school was situated on a main but not very busy road, with no shops in the immediate vicinity. The children were almost all accompanied to and from school, and came mainly on foot or by bus.
