A furious mother has claimed girls at a secondary school are being told to stop wearing “tight” black trousers because they are “distracting teachers”.
Amy Moule, 37, said her 15-year-old daughter Beth is repeatedly being hauled into detention because of a “ridiculous” uniform clampdown over how tight girls’ trousers should be.
More than 200 parents have backed her petition for staff to “stop harassing” its female pupils by dishing out the punishment for not wearing “baggy” school trousers.
She claimed nine in ten parents are ignoring the “ridiculous” uniform clampdown at St Peter’s School, Huntingdon, Cambs.
Amy said: “The kids are being told they are distracting teachers and students.
“It’s paedophilic – that was one of the feelings I had about it.
“It’s atrocious, it’s not the right calibre of teacher at the school – they shouldn’t be working as teachers.
“Maybe the teachers that are feeling that they are distracting are the ones that are pushing the detentions.”
The row broke out after girls’ tight trousers which for years were acceptable as school uniform were banned under a policy change.
The stay-at-home mum refused to buy the new trousers after teachers started clamping down by dishing out one-hour detentions after the half-term.
She claimed that only about one in ten girls at the school were wearing “baggy” trousers recommended by the school following the change brought in this school term.
“The majority of them are wearing the same trousers – there’s very few that aren’t,” Ms Moule, of Huntingdon, said.
“I would say only 10% are wearing the school trousers. The rest are wearing tight trousers which the school aren’t happy with.”
“It’s just a wasteful ethos,” she added. “My daughter has been in a few detentions and I’ve said she cannot do them because I’m not changing the trousers as I don’t have enough money to do that.”
Ms Moule claimed her daughter was being “victimised” by teachers handing out one-hour detentions and that the resulting stress had affected her GCSE mock exam grades.
“It’s stressed the girls out – they’ve got really stressed out at having to do this and have all these detentions and how they are going to keep getting detentions until they change these trousers.
“Beth told me and it infuriated me, I phoned up the school.
“[The head] says they not acceptable and they are leggings – I don’t think they are leggings at all.”
She branded Head Christopher Bennet as “old-fashioned” and claimed he did not know the difference betweeen girls’ “leggings” and formal trousers, saying: “I don’t think he does.
“It’s ridiculous isn’t it? It’s a matter of perception and he’s perceiving them to be.”
Ms Moule said teachers were “inconsistently” raising the issue during lessons which meant girls believed getting detentions for their trousers was due to them not fitting their trousers.
“I just think it’s absurd the way they are dealing with the trousers,” she said.
“A girl would get a detention and she will go into another class and it would not be mentioned – probably because the teacher is more interested in teaching than worrying about the trousers which they have been using for so long.”
Amy said her daughters had used £15.99 New Look black trousers as school uniform at the school for ten years.
Head Christopher Bennet said “we expect professional attire” and claims only 25 out of the 1,002 pupils at his school were affected by the uniform change.
He said a minority of parents had taken issue with the policy and a letter with an image of what was “acceptable” and “not acceptable” girl’s trousers had been sent to parents over the summer holidays.
“It is all about expectation,” he added. “Some girls are coming in in leggings.”
Dad Melvin Bream, 40, of Huntingdon, whose 12-year-old and 15-year-old daughters have been affected by the policy change, said: “It’s a loud of rubbish. I feel that the uniform is too ‘correct’.
“I’ve had the kids not want to come to school because of it.
“I don’t think they overtight, no, I think they should be allowed ‘tight’ trousers.
“The school has clamped down on it and the girls are getting detentions for it for no reason.”
Paula Lloyd-Northrop, 47, has told her twin 15-year-old girls not to go to detentions after they got one every day of the week for wearing “skinny” trousers.
She said: “They’ve got something like three-and-a-half months actually left in school to do education for GCSEs and they are clamping right down yet they’ve worn their brand of trousers for the last five years.
“It’s just crazy at the minute because they’ve got their GCSEs – I think they should allow any child to war whatever trousers they want as long as it’s smart.”
Her daughter Freddi Lloyd-Northrop said she disagreed with policy change and added: “We are getting in trouble for wearing trousers when we should be concentrating on our GCSEs in our last year.
“We’ve been given one detention each day of the week.”
The school’s news uniform policy states: “Black, full length tailored trousers only. No leggings, skinny trousers or culottes. No denim of any type. No studs or embroidery on pockets. Girls will not be allowed to wear tight fashion trousers.”
Its website states school trousers can be bought from the school and also recommends buying £14 REV One Clip Trousers from an online shop.
The school refused to comment on the claims over “paedophilic” teachers being “distracted” by the schoolgirls wearing “tight trousers”.
