Sussex school alters uniform to stop skinny trouser trend

8:10am Thursday 14th February 2013 in News By Anna Roberts, Crime reporter

A school has introduced a more formal style of dress because girls have been flouting the current uniform rules to make super-skinny trousers.

Pupils at Chailey Secondary School are so desperate to wear skinny-style trousers they are making home-made adjustments to their uniform.

Headteacher of the school in Mill Lane, South Chailey, near Lewes, Lesley Young said pupils were sewing the inner seams of their navy blue trousers so they appeared “skin tight”.

She added the trend for skinny trousers had “multiplied” so “rapidly” that the school is introducing a standard pair.

Mrs Young said this was so pupils could not ‘improve’ them.

They will be introduced in September 2013.

In a letter, she wrote: “The school has a specific uniform for female students but to date we have left the choice of navy blue trousers to parents and their daughters to purchase from any retail outlet – provided they take account of our requirement that the trousers are not excessively wide or of the ‘skinny’ type which is currently the fashion.

Difficult for parents

“Regrettably, despite the best efforts of parents and staff, ‘skinny’ trousers have multiplied – with girls sewing in the trousers their parents have bought for them to make them really skin tight.

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“I also appreciate it is very difficult for parents whose daughters are telling them ‘Everyone has them like this’, and for staff to enforce a school uniform requirement where a fashion trend increases so rapidly.”

She added that from the new autumn term “No other trousers will be acceptable.”

Previously pupils at the school came under fire for wearing onesies when it was cold and staff said they could wear something warmer to school – meaning woollen jumpers and scarves.

No one at the school wanted to comment.

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Comments(20)

Charismatic Andrew says...
8:27am Thu 14 Feb 13

At least they're enhancing their sewing skills.

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mimseycal says...
8:59am Thu 14 Feb 13

It has ever been thus. I remember when I was at school way back in the depth of the mini-skirt era. Girls would roll up the waistband of their school skirt.

Nothing new under the sun and there are other things to worry about. Are they doing their homework? Not disrupting classes? Attentive and participating in school assignments?

Then leave well enough alone and carry on teaching!

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BURIRAM says...
9:00am Thu 14 Feb 13

Skinny trousers are warmer to wear in the winter also safer to cycle to school with tight trousers.

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raymondo999 says...
9:06am Thu 14 Feb 13

I had to wear a school cap until the age of 18. Thought all this pettiness was a thing of the past. Not surprised the school doesn't want to comment. Pathetic.

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whereisthe...? says...
9:09am Thu 14 Feb 13

And yet again, teachers have to intervene where useless, often single mother parents, won't act.


When are we going to accept that this lazy 'parental' attitude so many women have is part of a much wider, national problem, resulting in messed up kids/ disruption, etc? Probably never I guess.... cant be a man today and dare criticise women without being labelled misogynist, etc

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mimseycal says...
9:29am Thu 14 Feb 13

I've seen a few fathers with the lazy parental attitude. Quite a few in fact.

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ICantThinkOfAName says...
9:48am Thu 14 Feb 13

As a schoolboy during the Teddy Boy era of the late 1950s, I pegged my trousers to the fashionable 14 inch bottoms as did my friends. It didn't affect our education and we grew up to be well adjusted citizens, parents and grandparents. Leave the kids alone.

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dhamallamafarmer says...
10:09am Thu 14 Feb 13

Good to see that, according to their Ofsted report for last year Lesley Young really doesn't have anything better to worry about than girls vandalising their own clothes for the sake of fashion. I think a head teacher should be a petty little Hitler, it gives the students something to rebel against and a chance to see that when you give people authority they are quite happy to make fools of themselves just to enforce it. Hubris Lesley, hubris.

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mimseycal says...
10:46am Thu 14 Feb 13

lillylou wrote:
Whereisthe hates women read its comments uumm women beater comes to mind or a gay yuk
Let's leave the personal comments aside shall we. The responses are in most cases equally as revealing of the posters personal hang-ups as the original post. This is after all a facility for commenting on the issues the articles relate to. Not a bash your fellow poster forum.

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lillylou says...
11:30am Thu 14 Feb 13

mimseycal wrote:
lillylou wrote:
Whereisthe hates women read its comments uumm women beater comes to mind or a gay yuk
Let's leave the personal comments aside shall we. The responses are in most cases equally as revealing of the posters personal hang-ups as the original post. This is after all a facility for commenting on the issues the articles relate to. Not a bash your fellow poster forum.
Than he should nt be s......ing off single mums it's got nothing to do with this topic !!!

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mimseycal says...
11:41am Thu 14 Feb 13

Single mums/parent is a category, not an individual. Let us not get too precious.

If a poster, myopically, determines that in his/her view, single mums/parents, are behind most of the instances of tight trousers worn at school, you can correct the assumption but not the assumer.

Play the ball, not the player.

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John Steed says...
11:48am Thu 14 Feb 13

how behind the times are chailey school staff and pupils, girls were wearing skinnies in worthing years ago, my daughter did, so what is the fuss if the kids take care in their appearance, fashions & fads change all the time, especially amongst children, seems thats chailey school staff obviously are lacking in common sense.
skinnies may be in now, they will be out later, live with it

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getThisCoalitionOut says...
1:02pm Thu 14 Feb 13

I was a former pupil at Chailey - it was the best school I ever went to.

Unlike other people's comments on here, I can see why the headteacher has done this.

Young girls can become obsessed about their figures and often believe they are fat, when they are very slim. This can lead to girls easily becoming anorexic or bulimic - which is very dangerous.

So well done to this headteacher for recognising a problem and stopping it.

Chailey school, when I was there, was excellent at sorting problems out and I'm glad to see they appear to still be excellent.

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Tallywhacker says...
1:05pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Remove uniforms (not just from the girls cause that would be sexist and somehow sounds a bit wrong). They serve no purpose except for the kids to try and change them as much as they can get away with. Forced uniformity doesn't work in society so why in schools.

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dhamallamafarmer says...
1:16pm Thu 14 Feb 13

getThisCoalitionOut wrote:
I was a former pupil at Chailey - it was the best school I ever went to.

Unlike other people's comments on here, I can see why the headteacher has done this.

Young girls can become obsessed about their figures and often believe they are fat, when they are very slim. This can lead to girls easily becoming anorexic or bulimic - which is very dangerous.

So well done to this headteacher for recognising a problem and stopping it.

Chailey school, when I was there, was excellent at sorting problems out and I'm glad to see they appear to still be excellent.
Anorexia and bulimia are psychological conditions which require treatment by medical professionals, stopping girls from wearing the Wrong Trousers isn't really going to help anyone much.

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Fight_Back says...
1:55pm Thu 14 Feb 13

whereisthe...? wrote:
And yet again, teachers have to intervene where useless, often single mother parents, won't act.


When are we going to accept that this lazy 'parental' attitude so many women have is part of a much wider, national problem, resulting in messed up kids/ disruption, etc? Probably never I guess.... cant be a man today and dare criticise women without being labelled misogynist, etc
What a moronic comment !!!

The biggest problem is that head teachers are more interested in uniform that actually running the school. My daughter goes to Blatch and trying to get a response to basic questions via email or the phone is close to impossible ( but their very quick to keep asking for yet more money ! ). Yet apparently it's a cardinal sin to wear sensible winter boots to school !

Likewise at Shoreham Beach Primary - the old Head allowed, very sensibly, the children to wear appropriately coloured Crocs to school in the Summer term. The new Head comes in and claims it's a Health and Safety risk !

Head teachers don't actually live in the real world and they'd do better to worry about education that uniform. Let's not forget, most Heads look pretty scruffy anyway.

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george smith says...
5:15pm Thu 14 Feb 13

getThisCoalitionOut wrote:
I was a former pupil at Chailey - it was the best school I ever went to. Unlike other people's comments on here, I can see why the headteacher has done this. Young girls can become obsessed about their figures and often believe they are fat, when they are very slim. This can lead to girls easily becoming anorexic or bulimic - which is very dangerous. So well done to this headteacher for recognising a problem and stopping it. Chailey school, when I was there, was excellent at sorting problems out and I'm glad to see they appear to still be excellent.
Didn't Piers Morgan go to Chailey?

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ethel80 says...
10:36pm Thu 14 Feb 13

Honestly when are people going to learn that uniform isn't going to improve education. The school I went to was obsessed with uniform and It is named one of ten worst schools in the country. I went back to college a few years ago and got 4 A's at A level. I didn't wear a uniform once. The college I went to was excellent. It's the teachers outlook and enthusiasm for educating what matters, not what uniform the children are wearing. What is wrong with skinny trousers? at least they haven't got their knickers on display!

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whereisthe...? says...
11:12am Fri 15 Feb 13

Yep, this is EXACTLY the kind of childish response expected. Note it was from a woman, lily-somethingorwhat
ever.

If she had criticised men, would people jump at her calling her a man hater? Nope. Arent womens mags full of similar views? Do we complain? Nope.


Criticise / comment on a woman/ women and suddenly you are a big bad evil man.

What a joke. Lily, the tide is turning, and people are quite clearly seeing through people like you, with your hysterical, and (my turn) man-hating, paranoid hysteria.


I see also that you insulted gays, generalising A WHOLE community. YOU my dear are a sexist, paranoid, homophobe.


These are not insults. READ her comments, these are FACTS, and as such, I have reported her comments to the Argus.

Now lets try an actual debate shall we?

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whereisthe...? says...
11:15am Fri 15 Feb 13

Also note I stated clearly "SOME women" Duh. Not ALL.


Yet her response was to generalise, insult gays, and put words in my mouth.

Lovely.

See what I mean about paranoid women who wont even allow a debate? always seeing sexism everywhere, yet generalising themselves?! What a joke.


If this is the voice of the average woman/ feminist, then we need to take a close look at what is going on in society.

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