Age: not saying. Describes herself the Peter Pan of children's presenters'
School: Anerley Girls', Penge, south London.
Occupation: TV presenter, author and producer. Her most recent book, Coming to England, describes her early childhood in the West Indies and her adjustment to life in London.
| School taught me that I wasnt a person any more, I was a colour. |
In the 1960s, when I first came to England I had some nasty experiences at school. School taught me that I wasnt a person any more, I was a colour. That had quite a drastic effect on me. I had to overcome a lot of unhappy experiences, which l did.
The teachers here weren't as strict as the teachers in Trinidad A lot of the teachers there werent married and dedicated their lives to their jobs. They stayed in the same school for 30 or 40 years.
It was very hard but very enjoyable in Trinidad. I shall never forget being smacked for being late once I had to go to meet my executioner, as I called her She was a tall woman who smacked my hand with a thick leather belt. I think I was more terrified of her than of the smack itself.
I have fun memories of my last English school, Anerley Girls' School. My headmistress. Miss Bowles (we wouldnt dream of knowing her first name) was a stout woman of vision. She was very strict but she loved us all. She treated every girl as an individual. She encouraged me personally, and all the other girls, to do their best
Unfortunately Miss Bowles died about five years ago. It was very sad because we all thought that she would go on for ever. But she had retired by then. so I think she did a good stint, she had a long run. And she influenced a lot of girls.
Miss Bowles exposed us to some great things: we had driving lessons in the playground, tennis coaches would come to the school, we learned computing, we had poetry reading - you name it, we did it.
Even the great ballroom dancer Peggy Spencer, who was based in Penge, used to come to teach us dance. She really had a great influence on me.
When you're little and there are people up there you admire, you never expect to be working with them in life. But I did work with Peggy after I went into showbusiness. She has style and grandeur and taught me how to hold myself - it just came naturally to her. People have often asked me if I trained as a dancer; That all comes from working with Peggy. I think I had a well-rounded education. It gave me a broad outlook.
Perhaps the most memorable thing I ever did at school occurred when I had to be part of the Christmas concert. I sang She'll be coming round the mountain like a Beverly hillbilly. With everybody cheering me and wanting more and more and more, I suddenly got terribly excited about performing.
I must admit I was a schoolaholic. I loved school. I used to rush to school because l adored lessons, everything that was given to me.
Peggy Spencer MBE has been teaching dance for over 50 years. She now runs The Peggy Spencer Dancing School.
Floella was about nine when I took her for disco classes. She was hardworking, attentive and very talented so I knew she would go on to do something great. Years later I ended up working with Floella on a couple of adverts - we hadn't kept in contact but when the producer said Floella I recognised her name immediately. I found her just as I had expected - very efficient and very good.
I was pleased to see that my thoughts about her at that early age were quite right. After all these years of teaching I can usually tell who is going to be a success, and in fact I'm very rarely wrong in this department! Even though thousands of children have passed through my hands over the years, there is always time for the kids to come and talk to you and tell you what they want to do - the pupil-teacher relationship is very close.
About the team
Interviews by Children's Express editors Nurul Ali, Rachel Bulford, Natasha Asare and Abeyna Jones and Emily Watson. The article was published in The Guardian.
