To wonder whether you'd prefer to go to Malory Towers or the Chalet School

[Vintagejazz]

I just heard to girls about 11 years of age having an earnest discussion about this on the bus. I didn't think kids even read Chalet School books any more.
I think I'd opt for Malory Towers. They seemed to have more fun. I'd probably be expelled from the Chalet School for cursing, wearing lipstick and forgetting to speak German every Wednesday or whatever it was.

Empress, you have given me the perfect excuse to avoid housework tomorrow! Thank you!

Did anyone else wonder why Nina was sent to the Chalet School instead of a specialist music school? If she was so talented, shoving her in a random school in the Alps wasn't going to help her, surely?

Empress, which books do you have in electronic format? I have some that I obtained after a previous CS thread (thank you lovely ladies girls hours of pleasure revisiting my childhood) and would love any I don't already have. My sister is currently transcribing the copied she has located at home. I can't wait.

Audit which ones do you have?

Nina came because her boring guardian Sir Guy had met some chalet girls on the train and realised the genius cello player Jacynth Hardy had been a pupil.

Of course his own girls come later as the older one gets TB.

Flugella my lamb the chalet school is the best school in the world.

Perfectly scrummy.

oooooooooh.

This thread is cheering me during a rather irritating period of dull grown-up stuff.

I know this is hugely cheeky and frightfully infra-dig coming from a new girl, but could I possibly de-lurk and ask for transcripts (or pointers)? My google-fu has failed me thus far. Do feel free to tell me I am not worthy... (genuinely).

Ulp.

Did Jacynth end up being famous? Aw, thats nice. I only read the Armadas and have a bit of a black hole with some of the later ones.

thebody my lamb, what shall we do for Staff Evening this term? Do say tableaux a-bloody-gain

ooh audit is your sister on mn does she realise how many eager chaletians would love to be friends with her and recieve copies of any transcripts she makes
I am thoroughly enjoying the transcripts from empress but admitedly it's not as fun as reading them the first time round when I used to order them in the library and have an anxious couple of weeks wait to see if any of the other branches had a copy. By the time I decided to try reread all of them a lot of books I had originally borrowed from the library weren't available anymore as the copies had been too old and taken out of circulation. I know there's a lot of old fashioned stuff and we're picking them apart and making fun of them but it does seem sad to me that libraries don't have them on the shelves anymore I may have to print out all these transcripts and stick them in a folder for when my dd is old enought to read them (she's just turned one )

Wilson my lamb, how about you going to the cloakroom and getting a shoe from
Each mistress. We will put them in a bag and pile them in a heap so they have to find their own shoes.

I will go to the laundry and get their knickers and we will do it again.

Screaming with laughter.

Finally Tom can arrange a gym display and they have to copy her.

We can ask Joey to send us ices up from Innsbruck, she's pushing the quads out now but will be back in harness again in 2weeks.

Nina can play the piano.

I am so excited I may need to calm myself by painting scenes of the Tyrol on China plates.

Oh dear! The pesky Middles have broken all the china! Aren't they just the limit??

Thebody absolutely topping old thing. We'll put 'come in clothes that don't matter' so no-one will mind rolling around the floor fighting over their nicks.

And of course, we'll wind up with a sing-song, let's ask Joey to do a solo, after all she is the spirit of the school with a golden voice so carefully trained by Mr Denny.

Do you think it will be too much for the Juniors? Perhaps we should send them straight to bed after prayers?

flugella a specialist music academy was never on the cards, because Nina's guardian is absolutely no musician, and not sure what to do with one. He is certain that Nina's education contained too much music, and not enough anything else. (His reaction to finding out that his new ward, aspiring concert pianist, has her own high-grade grand piano is comical: 'a Bernstein for a schoolgirl!') He initially plans to send Nina to the same convent school as his daughters, but upon enquiry the nuns say two hours' (may have been less) practice on the weekend is quite enough for 'feminine accomplishments'. His daughter points out that this is really not going to be enough for Nina. Fortunately, he comes across the Chalet school on the train, and is struck by how balanced the seniors are.

Audit, if you got yours from a previous CS thread I'd guess we have the same ones. Did yours come from MNers whose names began with K and SV?

at Tilly's mistype - much though I like the idea of Nina composing the music for West Side Story!

Thebody and Wilson are reminding me of the total horror that constituted Staff Evenings, as envisaged by the prefects.

You'd understand if the prefects were rebellious Middles who liked the idea of subjecting their teachers to endless humiliations, but it's mature, responsible Seniors who come up with the idea of stealing staff underwear from the laundry and making them identify one another's as a 'game', eating as much crab apple as you can without making a face, and the inevitable grand finale of making a bunch of teachers of various ages and levels of fitness, wearing evening dresses, do cartwheels, jump from chair to chair and roll on the floor after Tom Gay!

(Mind you, these are the staff whose idea of giving the girls a good time was to have them whipped by mistresses dressed up as demons after they've had a list of their wrongdoings read out by St Nicholas!)

burren

How about that hoary old favourite the kate game. Or sheets and pillow cases party. Being an excellent needle woman I could make a full crinoline dress in under half an hour. And chatter in German while doing so.

Hey ho! For staff evening Joey has invented a new game, it's bound to be a success as all that young woman's undertakings are although she will be late as she's singing someone in the San out if a coma right now.

Lacrosse anyone?

Wilson my lamb no juniors. They only had 2 naps today and so need bed at 6.30. Robin skipped off happily at 6.

Was that 'find your underwear story' true? I thought it was a send up.

It was true. Was it in New Mistress? I seem to remember there being one chemise left at the end, and it belonging to a new and very shy teacher. How embarrassing for her. Of course the staff were all good sports and at least pretended to enjoy it and decided to fake a headache the next time an invite came through

And then you had the evening they had to make costumes out of crepe paper. The prize winners getting the new uniform that was just coming out. Of course they were all absolutely thrilled about the new uniform and all were desperate to get it... despite the picture on the front of triplets (?) making all three look like they were wearing badly fitting blue sacks...
But going back to the crepe paper costumes. Having once wore that stuff for a fancy dress I can assure you that it lasts very little time, so they were probably dancing in their undies by the end.

I can't remember which book, but it was one of the early ones - I think Joey was still at school, possibly Head Girl, and Madge was visiting from the Sonnalpe. I think the 'game' was that every player got a parcel of other people's (freshly-laundered and marked) underwear, and the winner was the first person to successfully return all items to their owners.

Basically, it was knicker-sniffing for the Staff. Though I did wonder when I read it what constituted acceptable 'underthings' - I think the only item that's actually specified is someone's slip, and possibly hankies. Would they have included knickers? Can you imagine your colleagues looking at the size labels on your pants and you having to be all jolly about it?

Incidentally, does anyone know WHY Mary-Lou and Verity weren't stepsisters?

Okay, I'm beginning to understand why Joan Baker would rather spend her Saturday evenings hanging around outside the chipper with boys - or whatever she was getting up to.

EBD seems to have misunderstood what step-siblings were. I think she confused them with half-siblings, because obviously Mary-Lou and Verity are stepsisters, because their widowed parents married one another.

Or because Mary-Lou couldn't have something ordinary like pigtails or a stepsister, no, she's so 'irrepressible' she has Kenwigses and a sister-by-marriage, so that everyone can 'open their eyes' when she tells them!

It's not one of the early ones, because it's Bride who brings Madge's shoes and underwear. And it ends with Tom doing a follow the leader-which ends with a series of handsprings-after which, I think Biddy is declared leader as the only one who completes.

I've just had a look and it's not New Mistress, although they do have a staff evening. My next guess is Shocks, but I can't find my copy-somewhere in the jumble sale imitation otherwise known as dd2's room. Anyone check?

Well, I'd definitely count that as a shock...

Is it the one just before they leave for the Tyrol? So changes? As Madge and Joey visit to break the news of the impending move? Not sure as not home so can't check.

Funny I never understood the sisters by marriage crap either. Of course they were step sisters.

I always quite liked Joan to be honest and Diana Skelton. Dead common me!