After attending Grangefield Girls' Grammar School, Stockton-on-Tees, Miss Badger went to the University of East Anglia and gained her degree in English and History in June, 1966.

Her first school appointment was in March, 1967, at Roseworth Secondary Modern School in Stockton as an assistant. After the summer holidays she joined the staff of South Shields Grammar-Technical School for Boys to teach English.

She was an attractive and young female teacher and she (and her black beaver-skin coat and short skirts) made something a serious impression on many boys. However, her stay was short-lived and only eight months after she arrived, she moved to Baring St County Secondary Girls' School.