This case-study of a multiethnic, inner-city secondary school attempts to uncover the fundamental features of masculine construction within the lives of two groups of adolescent males. Placing these pupils at the centre of the research, an ethnographic analysis is presented whereby boys' physical education is located as a strategic site within the development of masculinity. Outlining the existence of various pupil masculinities within the school, the boys concerned provide evidence as to the way in which a selection of masculine forms may evolve according to differing internalised value structures, and how the academic ethos of the institution itself might influence the personal identity and hierarchical peer group position of certain individuals.