I went to Notting Hill and Ealing High School in west London, where I grew up. I really enjoyed my school days as I had a great group of mates - many of whom I am still friends with now. One of the advantages of growing up in London is that people often stay there, so it is really straightforward staying friends with people and keeping in touch.
Drama was one of my favourite subjects at school. I guess that was the exhibitionist in me coming out. I did my Guildhall drama exams and joined Questors, my local theatre. When my sister heard about open auditions for the National Youth Music Theatre, she told me and I jumped at the chance. I auditioned and did a couple of productions with them.
I also got my first telly job during sixth form at school and so I was working on a really fun magazine show in between my studies. It was ace. I got to interview the likes of E17 and Take That and even got to travel to America. I was so lucky.
As well as drama, I quite liked maths and science. One of my best teachers was my physics teacher, Mr Davidson. He was such a nice guy that pupils would find him a soft touch. It really worked for me, though, as physics was probably the A-level subject that I found the hardest. It is fascinating, but it is quite heavy so having a teacher as nice as “Mr D” - as we called him - was a nice light relief and made learning fun. Ours was a cheeky, fun relationship. He definitely showed me that it is a lot easier to learn something if you make it enjoyable.
He was very popular with other pupils and staff. I think it was difficult for him to discipline us, but he was so nice that whenever he really needed us to behave, we would fall in line.
My favourite teacher, though, was Mrs Sergeant, who is the wife of former ITN political editor John Sergeant. She was my head of sixth form and helped me get to my first-choice university because she believed in me - it involved tweaking my predicted grades for A-levels. I didn’t let her down, though, and managed to get them.
She had brown hair which she wore in a bob and was always well turned out and quite glamorous. She would wear smart blouses, pencil skirts and heels and always accessorised with bold, colourful jewellery. She was quite a colourful dresser in general. Mrs Sergeant was actually a Latin teacher, but I just knew her as my head of year. She was funny and nice, but could be stern when necessary.
My parents always wanted me to keep up with studies and school work. Having come to the UK from Bangladesh, where a lot of people don’t get a proper education, meant they didn’t want me to drop out or do badly at school.
We didn’t really have computing much then but I would love to be more proficient than I am now. Kids today have so many great opportunities. It sounds naff but I always want them to grab on to them.
Konnie Huq is a TV presenter and ambassador for npower’s Climate Cops SOS. To enter this year’s npower Climate Cops SOS, the search for the greenest teens, visit www.npower.comclimatecopssos. She was talking to Meabh Ritchie
PERSONAL PROFILE
Born: Hammersmith, London, 1975
Education: Notting Hill and Ealing High School, London; Robinson College, Cambridge
Career: Presenter on BBC’s Blue Peter, 1997-2008; Top of the Pops presenter, 2004; fronted ITV2‘s The Xtra Factor, 2010.
