Davina Shackleton began her career at Waterloo Road as former headteacher Jack Rimmer's secretary, and later his lover, but when Jack left Waterloo Road, Davina threw herself into a teaching assistant role, taking special interest in autistic pupil Karla Bentham.
She was good friends with: Matt Wilding, Jasmine Koreshi and Lorna Dickey during her time at Waterloo Road.
Encouraged by Rachel Mason and Tom Clarkson, she embarked on a course to become a fully fledged teacher. This drew Davina and Tom together but she found it difficult playing second fiddle to the other women in Tom's life, at first Mika and Chlo and then when he began devoting more time to help fix Rose Kelly's problems. At first, Mika was not really happy with the relationship between Tom and Davina, as Mika split up with Brett because he cheated on her with Chlo, and Davina and Brett had a relationship before.
In Series 3, one of Davina's AEN pupils' father, Darren Brigg, wanted to be in a relationship with her, but when she rejected him, he tried to complain to Rachel Mason about her touching his son up. Towards the end of Series 3, Davina was in a relationship with English Teacher Tom Clarkson, however, she was forced to choose between Tom and her ex-fiancé, former Headteacher Jack Rimmer, who was offered a headteacher post in Dubai, and wanted Davina to go with him. Davina decided to stay in Rochdale with Tom. In the Series 3 finale, Davina suffered smoke inhalation in the school fire, but was saved by pupil Bolton Smilie.
In Series 4, Davina returned and started her journey to transform from a Teaching Assistant to an English Teacher. She then started a feud with new Supply Teacher Maaka Lacey, after Maaka entered the classroom while Davina was covering his Year 11 PSHE class delivering a successful lesson on stereotypes, and Maaka began to speak about his own culture of New Zealand, not teaching the students anything, much to the annoyance of Davina. After Bolton Smilie and Paul Langley made some homophobic remarks in class and Maaka laughed them off, Davina informed Maaka that at Waterloo Road, they do not stand for homophobia. Maaka then reported Davina to Rachel Mason, claiming that Davina insulted his culture when she used the words "where you come from". Later, after Maaka shouted at Asperger's pupil Karla Bentham, Davina confronted Maaka outside the classroom. Maaka then made another complaint to Rachel about Davina, but after Rachel and Deputy Head Eddie Lawson discovered half of Maaka's class wandering the corridors, the two then decided that Davina was right and that Maaka could not teach and was fired.
After Davina qualified as an English teacher, her first day was far from normal. She discovered that Tom had lent £2000 from their own account to Rose Kelly, and after witnessing Rose slap Tom, she assumed that the two were having an affair. After Tom denied the affair, Davina then packed a bag and left a note to Tom saying she was leaving him and Waterloo Road. She was last seen entering a train station, apparently having her own ambitions in mind. Although she is initially hesitant, she declines Tom's phone call and boards the train, and is not seen again.
Quotes[]
- "Mr Rimmer?" (first line)
- "A girl can change her mind, can't she?"
- "Davina Shagathon" (referred to by Mika Grainger)
- "Can I have a word with you Mr Lacey? Outside Please!"
- Davina: "Look. I have been watching you all morning and you haven't taught these kids a thing."
- Maaka: "Don't you dare tell me how to teach my classes."
- Davina: "Teach? You can't teach. But talk about yourself; oh yeah, you can do that."
- Maaka: "Homophobia, as you call it, is endemic in all human culture."
- Davina: "Well, it may be endemic where you come from, but we have a code of conduct in this school."
- Maaka: "See, where I come from, you'd be guilty of the same thing you accuse those boys."
- Davina: "I'm sorry?"
- Maaka: "Prejudice."
- "Look, um...Jasmine's gonna give me a lift home, so..." (final line)