Chalet School Head Girls in the Early Years Quiz

Answer: Gisela Marani

Despite starting with only a handful of pupils, Madge Bettany decided that her new school in the Austrian Tyrol should have a Head Girl and prefects, just like any other English school. So, in "The School at the Chalet", Gisela Marani was appointed as the first Head Girl of the Chalet School; Bernhilda Mensch was second prefect, while Bette Rincini and Gertrud Steinbrucke were sub-prefects.

By the second term Juliet Carrick had joined them as a prefect. Gisela remained Head Girl throughout the second and third terms, covered by "Jo of the Chalet School".

Her last term as Head Girl wasn't described by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer.

Answer: Juliet Carrick

When Gisela Marani left after her four terms as Head Girl, Juliet Carrick was appointed in her place. Although it is apparent that Juliet was Head Girl for all of the academic year, Elinor M. Brent-Dyer only wrote about the last term of that year, when Princess Elisaveta of Belsornia arrived at the Chalet School.

Answer: Grizel Cochrane

There was another gap in Elinor M. Brent-Dyer's chronicles of the Chalet School. We are told that Bette Rincini took over from Juliet Carrick, but she only held the post for one term, since she left the Chalet School at Christmas when she was eighteen. Grizel Cochrane was appointed to succeed her for the remaining two terms in that academic year, both of which are described in "The Head Girl of the Chalet School".

Answer: Mary Burnett

Mary Burnett was Head Girl for the two terms covered by "The Rivals of the Chalet School" and "Eustacia Goes to the Chalet School".
The 'rivals' are an English school, formerly known as St. Margaret's, which moves from England to Austria. They are very scathing about all the 'foreigners' at the Chalet School; the Chalet girls are critical of the new school's preparedness for the cold of the Tyrolean winter. However, after some typical pranks and mishaps, the girls from two schools become friends.
Eustacia was an orphan, who had been brought up by her parents, a professor of Greek and a lady doctor, in Oxford and subjected to their theories on the upbringing of children. Consequently she found it very hard to make friends and settle down, so she ran away. After being trapped by a flood and thus injuring her back and having to lie flat for many months, she learned to understand people better and became a happy pupil at the School.

Answer: Joey Bettany

"The Exploits of the Chalet Girls" covers the second of Joey Bettany's four terms as Head Girl. "The Chalet School and Jo" tells the story of her first term in that role. The next book in the series, "The Chalet Girls in Camp", is about a Guide camp in the summer holidays. Joey's last two terms as Head Girl are narrated in "The Chalet School and the Lintons" and "The New House at the Chalet School".

Although nothing is said at the time, in later years Joey is often described as the best Head Girl the School ever had.

Answer: Louise Redfield

Louise Redfield was Head Girl for the whole of the next academic year. Elinor M. Brent-Dyer wrote about two of those three terms. In the first term Jo decided to visit the School to welcome everybody back at the beginning of term; she was persuaded to stay for the weekend, and then couldn't return home to her sister's house because her nephews and nieces had caught measles.

Then her nephew, Rix, went down with whooping cough, after which the history teacher was sent home to recover from laryngitis, so Jo agreed to stay at School for the rest of the term to take some of the history classes.

In "The New Chalet School", their former rivals, St. Scholastika's, has closed down, and most of the pupils have joined the Chalet School. Some visiting children, whose names all begin with the letter 'M', start a feud with the newly enlarged School and Dr. Russell's family.

Answer: Hilary Burn

"The Chalet School in Exile" starts around the time of the Anschluss in the spring of 1938. It's not clear whether Elinor M. Brent-Dyer intended that to be just over a term after "The New Chalet School", or if it's more than a year later. We are told that Gillian Linton was expected to be the next Head Girl after Louise Redfield.

She may have stayed for a whole year, allowing Hilary Burn to take over in the following autumn, or she may only have held the office for a term, which would mean that Hilary had only just become Head Girl at the time of the Anschluss. Because of the events in Austria, the Chalet School had to leave before the end of the summer term that year.

The extended Russell family moved to Guernsey, where the School finally re-opened at the end of August in 1939, with Maria Marani (Gisela's younger sister) as the next Head Girl.

Answer: Cornelia Flower

Once again, world events overtook the Chalet School, and they had to move. This time they settled in the Golden Valley in 'Armishire'. Cornelia Flower took over as Head Girl from Maria Marani, when the latter was taken ill due to the combined shock of burns acquired while helping to rescue two German airmen from a burning aircraft and also receiving the news that her father had been killed in a concentration camp.

Answer: Elizabeth Arnett

Like many of her predecessors, Elizabeth Arnett had not always been a model pupil, indeed she was one of the naughtiest girls at St. Scholastika's. However, she settled down and was Head Girl in both "Lavender Laughs at the Chalet School" and the subsequent book, "Gay from China at the Chalet School".
We are told that Robin Humphries held the post of Head Girl, but we never see that. Later on in the series we are also told that a girl called Marilyn Evans had been Head Girl, but had spent most of her time concentrating on her own work to the detriment of the School.

Answer: Beth Chester

There were three long stories in the three Chalet Books for Girls; "Tom Tackles the Chalet School" appeared in two parts in the second and third of these. It, along with the account of the following term, "The Chalet School and Rosalie", were both clearly set during the war, but published in book form out of sequence several years later.

In both of these, Beth Chester is Head Girl. She takes over from Jesanne Gellibrand, who held that role in the first long story "The Mystery at the Chalet School", which only appeared as a book when re-printed first by Armada and subsequently by Girls Gone By Publishers.