Parents Upset After School Informs That Secondary Boys Can Wear Skirts But Not Shorts

After male students at Wymondham High Academy in Norfolk complained that they felt uncomfortable wearing trousers in the summer, the school instituted a new "gender-neutral" uniform policy.

The school's 1,705 students' headteacher, Jonathan Rockey, justified the adjustment as "something we are very proud of" and claimed that parents had been consulted.

However, one person referred to the decision to loosen the rules governing shorts even in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius as "insane."

They added: ‘The school appears to be deaf to parents voicing concerns on this matter.’

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‘It is not in our children’s best interest to be overdressed and overheated in the summer.'

‘This is not conductive to an effective learning environment and I believe it is a health and safety issue.’

Another parent said: ‘We have been repeatedly asking year after year for shorts to be added to the uniform.’

‘This is because girls can currently wear a skirt in the summer but boys have to wear trousers all year around.’

(Picture: East Anglia News Service)

‘Every summer boys have found the heat hard to bear and so there have been repeated requests for shorts for both genders.’

‘Offering a skirt as an option is not gender-neutral. It would be gender-neutral to offer both boys and girls the option of a skirt or shorts.’

‘A skirt is an item of clothing traditionally associated with girls so although it is absolutely fine for a boy to wear a skirt, many boys and girls might feel uncomfortable about that and would choose to wear shorts.’

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A third parent added: ‘I don’t have any issues with boys wearing skirts.’

‘That isn’t the problem here. I’m sure many girls would also like the opportunity to wear shorts instead of trousers in hotter months.’

All students were no longer required to wear blazers for the whole school year, according to Mr. Rockey.

In a statement, he stated that the school had not ruled out future updates to its uniform policy.

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Mr. Rockey said: ‘Many parents were supportive of us considering a ‘summer uniform’, which we will consider for 2023-24.’

‘In the short term, we have enabled pupils to remove their blazers during hot weather.’

‘Changing everything about our uniform in one go, especially with the current financial concerns, would not be sensible so we can stage changes over some time.’

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