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15th July 2025
11:43am BST
A school in Manchester announced it will be implementing a trousers-only policy from September, banning school girls from wearing skirts.
Parents are enraged after Newhouse Academy in Heywood, Manchester, will ban skirts, forcing all pupils to wear trousers.
It was announced that "boys and girls will be expected to wear plain black school trousers," per The Sun.
The school wishes to "move away from skirts being a part of the girls' uniform" and claims that the policy has been a success in other schools.
However, parents have expressed their dismay following the school's announcement.
One parent told the Manchester Evening News that she "would never have considered this school" for her daughter if she had known about the new dress code.
Another parent felt it "disregards the female students and their right to express their femininity".
Forcing a girl to "look like a boy" fails to "embrace the two genders equally," another claimed.
Newhouse Academy have released a statement saying they were "committed to working in partnership with our parents and community about important decisions that impact our young people".
Even though the Academy has no legal obligation to consult parents, they claim they have been consulting with the local community for a while.
This included a formal listening period during which people could raise their concerns and share their opinions.
After the first consultation, the feedback on the new rule was relatively positive; however, new parents felt they had been excluded from this listening period.
Following the criticism, the school extended the consultation period to allow all parents to express their opinions, which they said again was mostly positive.
Additionally, the new dress code was also informed by student opinion, allowing students to decide on the type of trousers they would like as their new uniform.
The school went on to say: "We have done more than is required of us because we feel it is right to do so."
The school doesn't deny the fact that not everyone was happy with the decision; however, it remains adamant that the majority of feedback received was positive.
The change follows several other uniform changes across schools in an attempt to maintain higher standards.
Additionally, the new rule aims to curb the trend of girls rolling up their skirts, which, according to the school, had become a "serious safeguarding concern".
