She returned to Downe to teach from 1960- 1991, becoming Head of English and Deputy Headmistress.

As a pupil, she remembered sleeping out near the Lily Pond on a camp-bed one night, waking up in the deepest part of the night to see nothing but the black sky full of stars.

During the Second World War Canadian soldiers, based nearby, were allowed to use the girls’ bathrooms. She nearly saw more than she bargained for but another girl stopped her going into the bathroom, just in time.

In her second term, she smuggled white mice into her bedroom where they were rapidly discovered. Sent to explain herself to Miss Willis, she found a stern but not unsympathetic hearing. At Miss Willis’ bidding Alfred Gadd, the school carpenter, made a superb, two-roomed mouse-palace for the menagerie.

“She was a most inspirational teacher and I always looked forward to her lessons. She gave us all confidence and it was clear she loved teaching.” Eileen Field (Gower, DH 1965)

As a teacher, she inspired her pupils with a love of language and literature. Being a great animal lover, she was delighted to be presented with a tortoise from one class, as Diana Williams (Temple, DH 1965) remembers.

Despite the girls frenzied preparations for her retirement send-off, it was a delightful surprise, with speeches, performances and poetry readings.

“She was also always entirely herself, and she encouraged us to be entirely ourselves.” Geraldine James (Thomas, DH 1968)

She came from a long line of poets, painters and naturalists. Her great-grandfather was a naturalist who corresponded with Charles Darwin. Her father was also a naturalist and a friend of Siegfried Sasson. One aunt was a suffragette, the other was a renowned painter who worked closely with Walter Sickert and the Camden Town Group and exhibited with the London Group. So, Jennifer’s love of the arts and nature, as well as a certain rebellious streak, were all in the blood.

“For her, learning is a shared journey, and achieving the goal is a shared excitement between pupil and teacher.” Headmistress (1978-1989), Sue Farr

Jennifer was never far from Downe when she retired. She lived with her former colleague and friend Mary Bellhouse close to the school. She would often head out through the garden gate into the woods with her beloved dog, Ivy, offering treats to fellow dog-walkers along the way. Or she would simply look out of her windows into woodlands that stretch as far as the eye can see, filled with birds, flowers and trees.

“She was a legend.” Jane Busby (Bagwell, DH 1974)