Bars fellow at school (4)
I believe the answer is:
rods
'bars' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both man-made objects as well as being plural nouns.
Perhaps there's an association between them I don't understand?
'fellow at school' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'school' could be 's' and 's' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'rod' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for rods that I've seen before include "Those angling" , "Thin sticks or staffs of office" , "Biblical races" , "Fishing sticks or canes" , "Hot ones are modified cars" .)