Nikki has a tough decision to make when her estranged daughter shows up at Waterloo Road. Elsewhere, the staff and pupils mourn Grantly, and the school's sponsored clean goes awry, worsening Christine and Simon's relationship.

Kacey begins to feel the pressure of people's expectations when it's revealed the school will be having a fundraising visit from an Olympic boxing champion. The arrival of enigmatic new supply teacher Frankie McGregor divides the already fractured staff room, as well as providing an unlikely companion for an increasingly isolated Lenny.