There was fierce competition from several other girls' schools in the Folkestone area, and the de la Mares were always anxious to make a good impression on prospective parents who might be watching the Sunday afternoon walks along the Leas. The girls' uniforms were inspected before leaving the building to ensure they were smart and correctly worn. Then they could join the dozens of school 'crocodiles' in assorted colours walking among the top hats and trailing skirts of the elegant visitors. One of the boys' schools wore top hats, Eton suits and red carnations. The eastern limits of the walks were marked by the William Harvey statue, beyond which there was a risk of being contaminated by the east end of town.

Ruby Gordon recalled: "As the crocodiles passed and re-passed each other, scornful looks and impolite remarks were exchanged if the mistress in charge did not notice."

THE END OF AN ERA
One day during the summer holidays of 1922, Miss de la Mare taught for two hours in the morning and then took her great friend, Miss le Cocq, and a few holiday pupils to Hythe for tea in the open air. The next morning, 29 August, she made an early cup of tea for Miss Le Cocq, who was sleeping in her room, and returned to bed. Shortly afterwards, hearing a slight sound, Miss Le Cocq spoke to her and, receiving no reply, realised with a shock that Miss de la Mare had quietly died. As someone wrote in the booklet published to commemorate her death: "It seems fitting and beautiful that a life devoted to others should end on a note of personal service".

The Old Girls' Guild organised a fund for a memorial in Holy Trinity Church and invited subscriptions of 1/- or more. The result was a wooden carving placed beneath the reredos above the altar inscribed:

THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Apart from a temporary drop in numbers to as low as twelve girls, the First World War had little direct impact on the running of the school, unlike the Second. Life had to be adjusted only slightly. My mother who, as Ruby Gordon, had joined the school in 1911, recalled: "My sister Ivy and I frequently used to run down the cliff for a bathe, join a margarine queue and be at school at nine." Immediately after the war numbers rose again.

UNIFORMS 1890-1922
It comes as a surprise to learn that the original school uniform colours were not navy blue and white as in later years. Alice Renford (1894-99) wrote:  "In those days the sleeves of our red woollen jerseys used to follow the fashion or attempt to, and you could tell a girl's year by the shape of her sleeve - either leg of mutton, or puff, or the more graceful shape gathered into a ribbed cuff. The plain jumper sleeve of today would have been unwomanly then."

Ruby Gordon used to recall one summer afternoon when the girls were playing tennis in the garden:
"We wore navy blue skirts and white flannel blouses with Peter Pan collars. Suddenly Delly appeared on the steps and called out: 'Girls! Girls! Fasten up your collars. You are going to play tennis with a Man!' Tie-pins were hastily moved to join the collar even higher, before the curate appeared in white flannels bearing a racquet."