Pupils protest over school's trousers only uniform plan
A group of pupils who attend a school in East Sussex have been protesting, alongside parents, over the school's plans to introduce a new 'trousers only' uniform policy for all students.
The Priory School on Mountfield Road in Lewes is a mixed school which teaches boys and girls between the ages of eleven and sixteen. The ban would mean that girls can no longer wear their school skirts.
The school says that it is not the only one introducing a gender neutral uniform policy and that everyone wearing the same uniform will instil a sense of equality among the students.
However, pupils say the change in uniform is pointless for some of them.
Some Year 11 students say it is not fair to have to buy a brand new uniform when they have just nine months of school left. They say they could continue using the uniforms they are wearing now.
Pupil, Nina Cullen, says that she does not not think the policy would be gender neutral because buying the new uniform would cost girls more money than it would cost boys - who already have the uniform trousers. She also expressed concerns about pupils discarding all their skirts at a time when the impact of so-called 'fast fashion' and its effect on the environment is in the news and high on the public and political agenda.
Parents have expressed anger at the extra expense of the school effectively banning skirts because it means the uniform skirts their children already possess would have to be replaced by new trousers.
Mother, Tracey Mayor, whose children attend the school says her daughters are both more comfortable in skirts. She also suggested a way she thinks would the uniform truly 'gender neutral'.
The school has issued a statement saying that the change would ensure equality and instil a sense of camaraderie:
Girls who ignored the new policy and wore skirts today were banned from entering the school. Police officers were called during the protest to help prevent pupils who were involved in the demonstration gaining access to school premises.
The local MP, Maria Caulfield, has weighed in on the argument, saying that the girls should have a choice over whether to wear trousers or skirts.
Watch a report by Chloe Oliver below: