Rosamund Lilley is horrified to learn that she has won a scholarship to the Chalet School given by Tom Gay's parents. She doesn't want to leave her friends and family in a south of England town and go to Switzerland. But her mother feels that Rosamund was being influenced by the wrong girls, especially Joan Baker, their next-door neighbour, and accepts for her.

Once she arrives she is introduced to the Maynard triplets and quickly becomes friends with Len, making the transition into school life easier. She also discovers that it isn't as scary as she had feared.