Billy gulps and tries to be brave as he follows Alice into the main corridor. First, they attend morning assembly where the boys fill one side of the hall and the girls (along with Billy) fill the other. The headteacher welcomes the evacuees in pretty much the same manner as the vicar had at yesterday’s church service, and after a prayer and a hymn, the boys and girls go their respective ways to attend class.
Miss Wainwright takes the morning register and shushes the girls when they giggle after Billy’s full name, William Thorpe is read out, then she asks Billy to come to the front of the class, compliments his pretty dress, and informs the class that they must be nice to him before telling them why.