Following her father's death, Goff, along with her mother and sisters, moved to Bowral, New South Wales, in 1907, and she attended the local branch of the Sydney Church of England Grammar School. She boarded at the now-defunct Normanhurst School in Ashfield, a suburb of Sydney, from 1912 to. At Normanhurst she began to love theatre. In 1914 she published an article in the "Normanhurst School Magazine", her first, and later that year directed a school concert. The following year, Goff played the role of Bottom in a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and acted in "". She became a prefect and sought to have a successful career as an actress. living there until 1917. Goff's first employment was at the Australian Gas Light Company as a cashier. In 1920 Goff appeared in her first pantomime. The following year she was hired to work in a Shakespearean Company run by Allan Wilkie based in Sydney.