Description

Atrocious behaviour tells the story of a girl's boarding school in the 1970s, where manners and obedience were core curriculum.

A British Boarding school in the 1970s was a world of dormitory games, hidden contraband, and secret friends. It was also the story of their resultant punishments, school rituals and many small humiliations. While many have begun to write from the perspective of both examining the system and relating experience, this story also leads up to the drama of being expelled aged 10, the impact of the theatrical way this was handled, and learning to live with that experience in adult life

After decades of sharing outrageous episodes of pint-sized rebellion, I gradually re framed the stories with new understanding both through a long career in teaching and raising two children myself. It begins with returning to the school (now long since reclaimed as a country house) 30 years later, with my husband and children, which turned out to be the beginning of new understanding of the impact of school culture on a child.