Wendy Coburn was a student at Coal Hill School. In March–April 1963, she was in Year Four, the same year as Susan Foreman. A popular girl, she led a clique.
When games were cancelled due to the unseasonable cold and frozen pipes, Wendy and the rest of her class were gathered in the school's assembly hall to play board games. Wendy asked Mr Chesterton if she and her friends could play music on her Dansette; he agreed, and encouraged the girls to dance to keep warm.
The following week, Wendy and her friends arrived at school to discover the dead bodies of Mr Okehurst and several boys in the school yard. Although Mr Carker, the headmaster, tried to maintain order, Wendy was the first student (besides Susan Foreman, Gillian Roberts and John Brent, who had witnessed the assault by the Cold) to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. On John's advice, she and her friends left school, ignoring Mr Carker's threats of punishment. (PROSE: Time and Relative)