Gabrielle is a singer-songwriter whose pop career began in 1993 with the hit single Dreams. She continues to make music and recently appeared on the ITV show The Masked Singer as Harlequin.

She is also participating in The Big Sing, an initiative to get children in primary and secondary schools singing again after the coronavirus restrictions temporarily paused group singing.

She spoke to Tes about her time in school, the impact that poetry lessons had on her songwriting, how an American exchange led to her picking psychology for her A levels, and playing Danny Zuko in a production of Grease - minus the leather trousers.

1. Where did you go to primary school?

I went to a school in Brockley, south-east London - it was called John Stainer.

2. Where did you go to secondary school?

My secondary school was in Peckham and it was called Collingwood Girls. It was a nice school, an all-girls school - I think I would have been better off in a mixed school.

3. Who was your best teacher?

[An] inspiring teacher for me was my English teacher, and her name was Miss Fieldhouse. When she was teaching us English, and poetry, she could tell that there was a bit of boredom in the class. And [although] we would be encouraged to read all the old poems, she would also say: “Right, now it’s your opportunity to write and compose your own poetry.”

And that was it - I was off! She was inspiring. I think because of her I was able to go on and write my own songs. She didn’t just say it to me - she said it to the whole class - and obviously some people would have been excited and some people may not have been, but for me, it was amazing.

Because as much as you’d be reading poetry by Keats and all these other poets, [having the chance] to write something that you can relate to and that’s not hundreds of years old,
and to be able to present that work to your teacher - for her to critique it, even though you don’t ever believe it’s going be any good - it was the most exhilarating experience.

My poetry became my songs. Through my adventure with poetry, I was able to venture into the world of song, because I love singing, I love writing songs. It was such a fabulous thing for me to be able to do at such a young age.

4. Were there any other teachers who stood out for you?

Miss George, my French teacher - she was really lovely. I always wanted to learn French because I used to go to France back and forth. My mum is from Dominica and they speak patois, which is broken French, and I’ve got family from Martinique and Guadalupe who speak French. So [because] I’ve got relatives in France, I would have loved to have been able to master it, but I could never quite get there.

To this day, I still remember a lot of words; I keep saying to myself, “I’d like to learn, it’s not too late.” I’m going to be 52 this year, and they say it’s never too late to learn.

I did enjoy French because I liked the way that Miss George pronounced everything. But I think that I was probably one student that frustrated
her because I’m very talkative.

5. What would your teachers remember most about you?

I was a chatterbox! There weren’t that many lessons that held my attention. I don’t even know if I was the model student in English, and I loved English.

I’d say to every youngster out there: pay attention in class. You won’t know if you’re going to enjoy it until you participate, so try it and give it a chance.

6. Did you ever get in trouble at school?

I do remember getting a few detentions because I had been caught talking - and I wasn’t always the only one talking but I was always the one who got caught! I would sometimes land in detention, but not too often. I wasn’t cheeky to the teachers.

7. Did you ever take part in any school exchanges?

We had American students come over when I was about 14 or 15, and that was the first time we had exchange students. I remember being enamoured by the American exchange students because they talked about psychology, and that was how I then developed an interest in psychology. I’d later go on to study psychology as an A level in college.

8. Were you very sporty at school?

I did enjoy PE lessons - we used to play netball and I wasn’t that great at it, but I used to love when we’d run and do outdoor things. I was very athletic as a child and very competitive, whereas now I’ve got a treadmill and if I go on that, straight away I want to get off!

When I was younger I used to love running and going out on bikes, whereas at school it was very much about netball, rounders and stuff like that. I think now when we’re trying to push the agenda of sports in school, I think that’s a great thing.

9. Did you ever take part in the school play?

We did have plays. One play I remember I was involved in was when I played John Travolta’s part in Grease.

I loved John Travolta [back in his] Staying Alive days - and I was [given the role] of Danny in Grease. My mum was meant to get me a pair of trousers [for the play] … and she didn’t. So although I love the fact that we put on school plays, I always remember that one because I was upset my mother didn’t get me my trousers, and I ended up doing my part in a dungarees dress.

10. Now you have been involved with schools for The Big Sing - what has that been like?

It was amazing to be part of The Big Sing, because it’s the opportunity to kind of be a part of [that time in life when] young people [who are] primary school or secondary school ages are finding and discovering new things to love.

I know how inspiring music can be; if you have the right music person, the right music teacher, so much fun could be had in those classes.

Gabrielle was talking to Grainne Hallahan, senior content writer at Tes

To listen to the full interview on your podcast platform of choice, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Google, search ‘Tes My Best Teacher’ and subscribe to listen on demand to each new episode