A write rumpus! PC school bans pencil cases
A HEAD teacher has banned fancy pencil cases to prevent poor children who cannot afford them from being picked on.
Pauline Johnstone has also introduced a standard backpack to prevent pupils with wealthier parents buying ones with designer labels.
The changes at St Wilfrid’s primary school in Blyth, Northumberland, came after the charity Children North East carried out a “povertyproofing” audit of the school, which involved pupils of all ages giving feedback about the stigma they experienced.
Ridiculous
But the pencil case ban was dubbed “ridiculous” last night by critics.
Conservative MP Philip Davies said: “I have never heard anything so ridiculous in all my life. If they spent more time worrying about educating children and less time pandering to political correctness then we might get somewhere with improving the standards of children in the classroom.”
One angry parent said: “What will they think of next? Fines for parents who dare take their children on expensive holidays abroad rather than a schoolordained week in a caravan in Blackpool?” Another said: “Don’t work hard at school, don’t strive to get a job that pays well, because you’ll only want to buy nice things which will upset others.
“Everyone is equal and everyone gets a prize for being the best pupil. What has this country become?”
Defending the changes, Mrs Johnstone said: “As a school we had thought we did OK, it was all very equal and children didn’t feel disadvantaged. It was quite difficult to listen to some of the feedback from pupils.”
Children reported it was “very obvious” that some of them did not have the same things everyone else had, she said. She admitted there was initial anxiety from parents “but the majority could see why we were doing it”.
The school calculated it could cost parents up to £580 a year per child for uniforms, meals, trips and after-school events.
It has now begun providing free stationery and has cut down on the number of dressing-up and fundraising days.
Mrs Johnstone added: “We don’t lose out on the lovely things we do, we make sure they are much more cost effective. Part of our uniform policy is a standard backpack so we don’t have any designer goods.”
Children North East has “poverty proofed” more than 100 schools across Teesside, Tyne and Wear and Northumberland, as well as schools in Grimsby and Brighton.
Chief executive Jeremy Cripps said the project had improved attendance, behaviour and helped more pupils take part in extra-curricular activities.
The charity said dressingup days or conversations about “what we did at the weekend” could penalise those from low-income backgrounds.