Wednesday 14 September 2022 11:32 AM Teenage girls left 'in tears' after being put in ISOLATION because their skirts ... trends now
Furious parents have hit out at a secondary school which they say left their children in tears after putting them in isolation because their skirts were too short.
Some female students at South Wigston High School in Leicestershire were taken out of class earlier this week after falling foul of its uniform policy.
Angry parents have complained their daughters were forced to line up and had their skirts measured by staff on Monday.
Those whose clothing did not match the uniform policy, which has a knee-length requirement for skirts, were told they would be put in isolation with one girl having to wait for two hours before she could leave.
One mother has branded the school's actions as 'ridiculous' and that it suggests 'girls are only entitled to education if they cover up'.
Another parent said her daughter, who is 12 and has autism, was left so upset that she no longer wants to go to the school after being 'humiliated' by staff.
The school has said it did not intent to upset the girls involved and says it is reviewing its uniform policy.
Spot the difference: Emma Harvey says her 14-year-old daughter was told she would be put in isolation if she wore the skirt she had turned up to school in (left) because it was too short. But when she was offered a different skirt by the school that it said met its uniform policy (right) she found it was nearly the exact same length
Emma Harvey says her 14-year-old daughter was left 'extremely upset' after staff at the school raised issues with her skirt.
'Basically, on Monday morning, girls at the school were brought into the school hall and staff proceeded to measure their skirts to make sure they complied with a new school uniform policy introduced at the start of this term,' she said.
'The policy brought in by principal Stuart Kay is that the skirts of female students have to be no shorter than knee length.
'This was the first day it was enforced and students were told they faced being put into isolation if their skirts didn't comply.
'In my daughter's case, her skirt was just slightly above her knee. She was told to either put on a skirt provided by the school for the day or be taken out of class and put in isolation.
'She was a bit shocked to be told her skirt didn't comply with the new policy and accepted the skirt offered to her so she could return to class. But when she went to the changing room to put it on she found it didn't fit her.
'Basically, instead of a perfectly respectable skirt, they wanted her to wear one that was likely to fall down. It beggars belief.
'In the end she had to use a hair bobble to fasten it around her waist. But the crazy thing is, even then, the new skirt was about the same length as hers was.'
Ms Harvey, a psychotherapist who works with children, said the new policy and its clumsy enforcement sends out entirely the wrong message to girls - and to boys.
She said: 'Putting girls in isolation for the length of their school skirts is utterly ridiculous.
'My daughter and other young girls being penalised and removed from accessing their education due to the length of their skirts is unacceptable.
'It's suggesting that girls are only entitled to education if they cover up. Yet boys can wear shorts at any length.
'We should not be giving our daughters the message that their rights are based on whether they're covered up or not.'
Ms Harvey added: 'My daughter is a good student.
