Cllr Eleanor Chaudry was an English teacher at Waterloo Road during Series 7. She was portrayed by actress Poppy Jhakra.
Personality
Eleanor arrives at Waterloo Road with fantastic references and an exemplary record from her probationary years. She won the title of 'Young Conservative Candidate of the Year' for two years running. She's ultra-professional, faux posh and has a very 'stuff and nonsense' approach to the children. She hates touchy-feely teaching and almost nurtures an 'us and them' approach. Eleanor makes it clear from the off – she wants to be a headteacher as soon as the system (which she abhors) allows. Karen's very proud of herself to have 'bagged' her.
However, despite Eleanor's professional distancing from the children, she's the kind of teacher of whom parents would say 'Thank God she's at our kids' school'. She's got a huge self-belief that she can change things. Her mother told her she can achieve anything. Her major problem is that she takes on too much and struggles to keep all her plates spinning. Eleanor is very involved in local politics. She's passionate about her ward and its people in the same way she's passionate about education, but arrogant, haughty and condescending, she is rather difficult to be liked by pupils and staff alike.
Eleanor has the skin of a rhino and her total lack of self-awareness often causes her to rub people up the wrong way. Eleanor doesn't hold back on her opinions – which get right up Grantly's and Tom's noses. Eleanor's biggest flaw is her unquenchable ambition. She's blinded by her Machiavellian need to get ahead and will trample over people if they happen to stand in her way, including Karen Fisher.
As Series 7 progresses, Eleanor begins to grow a conscience and the foundation of Waterloo Road grows on her, she also acknowledges in Episode 9 that before arriving at Waterloo Road, she thought school was all about exam results, but as her character develops, she begins to realise that it is also about keeping youths out of harm's way.
Series 7
Episode 1
Eleanor Chaudry arrives at Waterloo Road, eager to impress the students and her fellow staff members. Eleanor applies strict rules to her students, and sends Year 12 pupil Sambuca Kelly to the Cooler to complete an essay when she tells Eleanor to "shut up". When Sam returns the essay to Eleanor, Eleanor points out to fellow English teacher Tom Clarkson that Sam's effort is "barely English, let alone A-level". Eleanor sees Sam's behaviour as unruly, but Tom thinks that her and Sam are just having a personality clash.
Episode 2
During career's day, Eleanor organises a mock interview for the sixth form students. She is seen interviewing Year 12 pupils Kyle Stack and Martin Dunbar. She is also seen talking to Karl Johnson from the LEA, telling him she only sees Waterloo Road as a stepping stone for her career, and that she is thinking of applying for a role at a school which Karl says hasn't even been built yet.
Episode 3
Eleanor as she appears in Episode 3
Eleanor organises a controlled assessment for her Year 12 English students, which combines their English assessment with media arts studies. She manages to get fellow English teachers Tom Clarkson and Grantly Budgen to be her 'happy helpers'. She sends Kyle Stack to the Cooler to write an essay when he attempts to steal one of the digital cameras. During second period, an image of pupil Amy Porter from a party appear on screen in Eleanor's class, when really some of the pupil's coursework should've appeared. When Lauren Andrews discovers that Stuart Foley was the one responsible for the gag, she sends him to Eleanor, where Stuart claims that he fancies Amy and was doing it to get her attention. Eleanor then sends Stuart to the Cooler as well. Eleanor and headteacher Karen Fisher have a talk with Stuart's father, who is offended by Eleanor's choice of language. Eleanor tries to convince Stuart to stand up for himself, but this effort backfires when Stuart gives away private information about Amy and himself in front of the class for his media arts studies and English assignment. Eleanor insists to Tom that she was certain she was doing what was right for Stuart, but she is proven wrong and is told off by Karen later on in the day. When Mathematics teacher Daniel Chalk tries out a new trend to try and get his students to like him, Eleanor tells him that he looks ridiculous, which convinces him to return to his previous style. After school, at the pub, Eleanor tells Chris that she is unclear as to whether Karen is actually trying to help her or if she's jealous that a new and younger teacher is now operating at the school.
Episode 4
Karen sits in on one of Eleanor's lessons to assess her teaching and pastoral care skills as part of her appraisal; when new Year 12 pupil Evie Prior laughs in class, Eleanor makes her stand up and tries to make her answer some questions in front of the class. After the class picks on Evie, Karen tells her to sit back down, and after the lesson, Karen tells Eleanor off for making a spectacle of Evie. Eleanor later slips and falls on wet floor that wasn't flagged by a wet floor sign, and rails at site manager Rob Scotcher in front of Karen, prompting Karen to tell her off for speaking to him like that. During a meeting in Karen's office to give Eleanor the results of the appraisal, Karen says Eleanor has "potential" but a lot to work on. In the staffroom afterwards, Eleanor furiously states to Daniel that Karen "had no idea what she was talking about". When it is revealed that Evie Prior is actually Alycia Cross, a girl that murdered her five-year-old cousin, several parents report into the school, complaining that a murderer was allowed to attend school with their children. Karen calls a crisis meeting with parents and staff to discuss it, during which Eleanor tries to be clever and humiliate Karen in front of the parents.
Episode 5
When Karen puts Rob in one of Eleanor's English lessons for some work experience as a teaching assistant, she tries to make him feel small, which Karen later points out to Eleanor at the end of the school day, Eleanor reacts by sighing and walking out of Karen's office.
When Director of Education Richard Whitman pays a visit to the school, he instantly recognises Eleanor and points out to Karen how 'lucky she is' to have Eleanor at her school. After Richard has finished visiting Waterloo Road, he has a conversation with his old friend Eleanor, where they agree that there is something terribly wrong with the school and that Karen Fisher is not well-suited for her occupation. He then gives Eleanor a mission to be an undercover spy to provide him with information that could help him to have Karen sacked. Eleanor provides Richard with more and more information on the school's condition over the next few episodes.
Episode 8
A mock election is held at the school where Eleanor is running the Conservative campaign with Jess against the Labour campaign run by Tom and Vicki. The election results in a tie, which Eleanor disagrees with at first by demanding a recount, showing explicit signs of her competitiveness, but Eleanor then reluctantly shares the winning title with the fellow debating team, when Jess and Vicki agree to a coalition. Eleanor expresses dislike for new Year 10 pupil Jodi "Scout" Allen by almost laughing at how Chris was convinced that Scout had drugs for her mother who is suffering from MS, it is later proven that Eleanor's hypothesis was true. Eleanor reports drugs being found in the school to Richard, which results in Chris taking the blame instead of Scout by taking the drugs from Scout and placing them in his jacket pocket; Eleanor shows signs of remorse when Chris is suspended from his duty as deputy head and is arrested and interrogated by the police for three hours. It is also revealed that Eleanor just wanted to get Karen Fisher fired, while Richard wanted to shut down the whole school. Once the school day is over, Eleanor decides that she no longer wants to be part of Richard's scheme once Tom exclaims how important the school is to him and how important it is to all of the pupils at the school as well.
Tom and Eleanor kissing in Series 7 Episode 8
After school, Tom, Daniel, Janeece, Grantly, Chris and Eleanor go to the pub to get a drink like they generally do; eventually Janeece, Grantly and Chris leave, leaving Daniel singing while Tom and Eleanor continue to drink far too much beer. At first, they sing a duet together at the pub rather drunkenly, but eventually they settle down at a table and exchange stories, and soon enough, Eleanor kisses Tom, which Tom responds by kissing her back. Some time later, Eleanor and Tom return to Tom's house where Tom offers Eleanor the choice of drinking "beer or beer", Eleanor replies by saying that she "doesn't want a drink" and wraps her arms around Tom as she kisses him.
Episode 9
Eleanor quits working for Richard, who then takes his vengeance when he confronts Karen and implies that Eleanor has been a spy on the inside that has been supplying him with information to help him shut the school down. Eleanor convinces Tom to try to forget about the previous night, which fellow English teacher Grantly Budgen just manages to overhear. During the community gardening project with the Year 10s, Eleanor becomes irritated by community gardener Keeley James as she consistently flirts with Tom throughout the project, but she eventually chooses to give up. Eleanor takes her anger out on the pupils, which eventually causes Daniel to lose his temper with her and he shouts at her that she is "a bully", which Eleanor agrees with. She then expresses to Tom how she wants to change her personality as she wants to fit in at Waterloo Road, which she is struggling to do. With plenty of help, she is able to elevate the mess of the project to an acceptable standard. When the group arrives back at the school, Karen reveals that she is aware of Eleanor's betrayal and she acknowledges this in front of the other members of staff, who are then disgusted by her actions, including Tom. Eleanor reveals to Karen afterwards that she thought she "was doing the right thing" and that she never intended on anyone "losing their jobs" or getting sacked, and offers her resignation, but Karen refuses to allow her to leave. Karen asks that to show that she genuinely is sorry for her actions, she return to the school tomorrow morning and face her colleagues and continue her job. Karen later confronts Richard about how he manipulated Eleanor to do his "dirty work".
Episode 10
Showing her allegiance to Waterloo Road, Eleanor stands alongside Karen during the protest.
Eleanor arrives for what becomes her final day at Waterloo Road. Tom ignores her when she tries to explain herself in the car park as she continues to regret her actions. Later, following the school inspector's decision to suspend Karen, Eleanor and Jess organise a protest for the entire school. She appears at the forefront of the protest and stands alongside Karen, showing her allegiance to Waterloo Road. As the protest ends, Kyle chucks an egg at Richard Whitman; Eleanor attracts Kyle's attention, and directly applauds him. At the pub after school, Eleanor has her last drink with her colleagues who have forgiven her and were glad she helped Jess with the protest.
Quotes
- "Hi everyone!" (first line)
- "Now that I've got your attention, perhaps you could focus on me?"
- "If making sure this girl behaves properly is construed as a personality clash, then it's no wonder this school's going to the dogs."
- "Apart from the fact that we've landed a school where you work your fingers to the bone, and for no thanks whatsoever, everything is wonderful!...you look ridiculous."
- Eleanor: "I slipped and nearly broke my neck because of you."
- Rob: "Excuse me?"
- Eleanor: "You call yourself a site manager? Well that would suggest a modicum of managing the site?!"
- Richard: "From what I've seen today, there's something very wrong with this school."
- Eleanor: "The buck stops at Karen Fisher's office door."
- "I've tried to help. I've given her loads of suggestions for the kids, but, she likes the sound of her own voice. It's bordering on self-obsessed."
- Eleanor: "I demand a recount!"
- Grantly: "Is there no end to the misery?"
- "It's not about that any more, Richard. I'm not interested in getting on. I'm not your little star pupil."
- Eleanor: "I thought I was doing the right thing. I didn't agree with the way the school was being run."
- Karen: "All your years of experience tell you that, did they?"
- Eleanor: "I was wrong...I'm sorry."
- "That man, Richard Whitman, has conducted a personal vendetta against this school, and its headteacher! I know, because he recruited me to help him, asking me to provide information that would discredit Karen Fisher, allow him to suspend her, and close the school!"
- "Kyle Stack!" [claps]
- "That wasn't me. That was the school. But thank you." (Final spoken line. Eleanor's actual final on-screen words are her singing along to 'Hi Ho Silver Lining' by Jeff Beck with the rest of the staff at the pub)