While her famous parents were still married, the idea of Suri Cruise packing her sandwiches, shrugging on a backpack and heading off to school surrounded by her fellow students was out of the question. Instead, at the insistence of her intensely private and religious father Tom Cruise, Suri faced a similar upbringing to her older siblings Connor and Bella — home-schooling with a Scientology practising teacher. Or worse — being enrolled in the extreme boot-camp style facility, Sea Org.

But after being deftly removed from her old life by mum Katie Holmes, whose divorce was finalised last month, the six-year-old is preparing for Thursday, September 6 — her first day at school, where she’ll finally be able to mix with hundreds of girls her own age. It’s yet another victory for Katie since her split from Tom, with insiders saying she was desperate to give Suri a life that was not dictated by the church.

Now the 33-year-old actress is finally able to give her little girl a normal upbringing, in which she’ll attend Manhattan’s prestigious Convent of the Sacred Heart — an all-girls Catholic school much like the one Katie attended as a child. The only thorn in Katie’s side after getting her own way is that her ex-husband is insisting on being there on Suri’s milestone day.

“Katie has very reluctantly agreed to Tom’s demands that he walk Suri to school,” a close friend of the actress tells Woman’s Day exclusively. “She sees this as little more than a photo opportunity for Tom, who continually goes over the top with his public attempts to win ‘Father of the Year’.” While it’s believed Katie is digging her heels in, she knows she has to carefully choose her battles against Tom – one of the most powerful people in Hollywood.

Read more about Suri's first day of school in this week's Woman’s Day on sale Monday September 3, 2012.