1938. Rhiannon is a happy scholarship student at a High School in Cardiff. But when times become hard, she is forced to leave school and work as a nursery and kitchen maid.

The war begins and her home, workplace, and all she knows are blown to pieces. As a result, she has to go to work as a maid at the Chalet School in the country. Rhiannon is surrounded by schoolgirls, no cleverer than her, learning and playing while she toils from 5am to 10pm.

When she borrows a book from the school library, to get her First Class Badge, she is accused of stealing and is told the books 'are for young ladies not for the likes of you'. But when a schoolteacher insists on helping her, she gets to study with the Royal Society of Arts and gets the opportunity to join a local Guide Company.

But things become tricky when Rhiannon's best friend comes to the Chalet School as a pupil. Can pupils and servants be friends, or is the divide between the rich and poor too wide?

Will Rhiannon get the chance to prove to those around her that being a maid is just as good and important as being a pupil?