ABSTRACT
The bell rings for the end of break, the class pile in off the corridor and into the classroom. There is a free for all as the children vie for the best seats. If it was a theatre or a cinema they would make for the front but, being a school classroom, the place they aim for is furthest away from the teacher, the back of the room. If there is no seating plan in place, it is likely that a gang of students will sit in close proximity, with their ring leader holding court in their midst, his or her closest associates nearest to hand and those who aspire to be part of the peer group around the edges.
