The parents of Tiverton High School (THS) students in Devon were informed on June 9 that the “modifications” to the school uniform will take effect from September this year. Students in high school should lose their skirts, which are currently allowed, and attend classes wearing only trousers, with the exception of PE sessions. Sammy Crook, the school’s principal, said: “We will follow other secondary schools in implementing a more uniform gender policy. “Parents / guardians will be happy to know that the majority of the uniform will remain the same, except that from September all students will have to wear trousers.”
“Complete lack of democracy”
Several parents expressed frustration after the announcement of the big change, which was decided without prior consultation. Among those who were outraged by the lack of warning was Stephen Moakes, who said: “As a parent, I have concerns … These were done without any consultation with students or parents and are simply enforced. “I feel that as a school that encourages its students to engage and have a voice, this seems to be a complete lack of democracy, as it does not allow established student forums to contribute to school uniform changes.” In addition to implementing the change for a more gender-neutral outfit, it was also announced due to a persistent problem of girls wearing their skirts shorter than knee length. Ms Crook said: “We never make decisions like this superficially and go through a detailed process over time to reach the right conclusions for our students and the school. “This change to a unified policy has the approval of our governments and balances the demands placed on us on issues such as education standards, parental costs, inclusion and student health.”
“Time consuming” to enforce the skirt length policy
He added that it had become “frustrating” and “time consuming” for staff to continue to impose the school skirt length policy and that parents had been contacted in November about these concerns. “In January we held a series of meetings with groups all year round on skirts, advising them that if the uniform policy is not followed properly, we will move on to a policy for all pants. “Our current policy has allowed girls to wear pants, which many already do, and boys could wear skirts if they wanted to,” Crook said. “Pants also standardize how our students dress, so that we too can focus on what we consider to be our primary goal: learning.” The school said the new move will end up being cheaper for parents, as they have provided options around the price and fit of the pants, without limiting it to one brand. THS said the shorts will continue to be allowed in the summer, as defined in their existing policy, and will look into individual cases where there may be a “medical or other need” to wear a skirt. The school also announced changes to the school day’s schedule and structure, saying the day would start 30 minutes earlier, the lunch break would be shortened and two-and-a-half-hour breaks would be introduced during the day.
