SAVE OUR SKIRTS!
Police called to school as families say gender-neutral uniform forces girls into trousers
POLICE were called to a secondary school yesterday after angry pupils and parents were locked out for protesting about its new gender-neutral uniform.
Around 150 people marched on Priory School in Lewes, east Sussex, and almost 400 have signed a petition to complain about the changes introduced this week.
Under the new rules, both male and female pupils must wear grey trousers, along with navy blue polo shirts and jumpers adorned with the school badge. School officials said the uniform had been designed to address ‘current issues of inequality and decency’.
But they have angered female pupils, many of whom were locked out when they turned up wearing skirts for the start of term on Thursday.
however the decision to bar pupils and call in police to deal with the protest has been criticised as ‘disturbing’.
The pupils say forcing girls to wear trousers is discriminatory and bad for the environment because those in their final year have to buy new trousers and tops, which they will wear for just ‘two-and-a-half terms’.
And parents have threatened to take the school to court if they fail to reverse the decision. They say the new uniform could be in breach of the equality Act because it discriminates against girls who want to wear skirts.
Placards created by the children for the protest included ones which read ‘Fashion is the second biggest contributor to climate change’ and ‘£100 for one uniform for nine months is not sustainable.’ Other messages included ‘Bring back the skirt’ and ‘We are not buying it’.
Sheila Cullen, 57, whose daughter Nina is a pupil at the
‘We are not buying it’
school, said: ‘This is not about opposing the gender-neutral uniform, it is about sustainability, fast fashion and cost.’
She added: ‘Some girls don’t like to wear trousers because they don’t look good in them and this could cause them to become very body-conscious.’
Nina, 15, added: ‘Given we’re in the middle of a climate crisis, it is ridiculous to expect parents to pay out £100 for a new uniform when we have a perfectly good uniform already.’
Former Priory School pupil and TV host Piers Morgan also waded into the row, calling the ban on skirts ‘ridiculous’.
Following concerns about the length of some pupils’ skirts, and to cater for transgender pupils, the school announced in 2017 that new starters would have to wear trousers.
But in June, it said standards had fallen and dealing with uniform issues was affecting teaching and learning. As a result, the school – a mixed comprehensive – decided to make the new uniform compulsory for all pupils.
Yesterday, around 50 girls were turned away for wearing skirts. A staff member was filmed shutting the gate on pupils to jeers and cheers from pupils.
A Priory School spokesman said: ‘Our uniform is designed to be a practical uniform which encourages students to be ready to focus on their school work and activities. There are at least 40 other schools which have a similar uniform requirement.’
Local MP Maria Caulfield said she would be speaking to Sussex Police chief constable Giles York and police and crime commissioner Katy Bourne.
She tweeted: ‘Very disturbed to see the school turning away girls from Priory School because they choose to wear a skirt and calling the police on them.’
A spokesman for Sussex Police said: ‘Officers engaged with the protesters and they left the area shortly after. There were no offences reported.’