You could be a boarder or a day pupil at White Lodge; it was decided that I would be a boarder as the traveling to and from would be too much. I remember just before I joined, sitting by the gramophone listening to Billy Fury and crying because I didn't want to be "sent away". Mum & Dad told me that I didn't have to go if I didn't want to, that nobody was forcing me to. I felt much better then and agreed to go, knowing it was my choice and that they weren't getting rid of me!

Being a boarder, we were allowed 3 or 4 weekends a term to go home. Dad therefore bought a car, our first car, a Standard 8, so that it was easier to collect me and return me after the weekends. There was a lot to organise and purchase, a trunk, school uniform (summer & winter - including special shoes for each season, boater hat, beret, blazer & raincoat, and not to mention the green knickers with a pocket for handkerchief!), bedding & towels, ballet uniform, ballet shoes (flats, blocks and character). Hours had to be spent darning the block ballet shoes and sewing on the ribbons; how I hated those tasks! Then, all the bedding and clothes had to have name tapes sewn in and the trunk named too.

Being such a Mummy's girl, I would have thought I would have been in tears on my first day when my parents left me at school and returned home, but strangely, that wasn't the case. It was quite exciting, although rather nerve-racking too. I soon palled up with Jo & Rozzy, who were to become my best mates over the next 5 years. The school was massive and very impressive and it took quite a while to find my way around. We only had ballet lesson for an hour and half each
day, the rest of the day was the normal school work, English, Maths, Science etc., plus the usual homework. I never did very well academically and usually came bottom or 2nd from bottom, but I didn't care - every year I came in the top 5 for the ballet test. The weekends when we didn't go home we could dress in "mufti" (our name for non-school uniform) but on Sundays we had to wear uniform to go to church. I never enjoyed those trips although it was good to get out and I did enjoy the walk from school to church and back again through Richmond Park. I did get confirmed but only because our parents could come to the service and come back to the school for tea, so it was an extra weekend to see them! The evening and weekends at school I spent in the common room listening to music, mainly The Rolling Stones, Kinks, etc. After a few years, we used to sneak down to the kitchen in the middle of the night and grab some biscuits or sweets - the tuck shop only opened for a short while each night. One night, we even climbed out of the dormitory window, crossed the gardens, climbed over the fence, walked across Richmond Park and into Putney. We didn't do much once in Putney, but the thrill of not being caught was brilliant, a real adventure! I remember on one such occasion, it was a very cold and damp night and we walked for miles. The next day in ballet class I could hardly do a thing, my thigh muscles were so stiff and painful. Then there were times when the boys would visit the girls dormitory at night - nothing untoward happened, it was just because they weren't allowed to! I think the most we got up to was practice kissing!!

After 5 years at White Lodge, and doing badly at GCSE but quite well in ballet, I was accepted in to The Royal Ballet Upper School in Talgarth Road, London.