Angry parents claimed their children had been kept inside in detention for wearing shorts to school during this week's heatwave. As temperatures soared into the high twenties Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen, in Tondu, Bridgend insisted on normal uniform, including skirts with tights for girls, they claimed.
Following a number of complaints, the school's headteacher, Tracey Wellington, wrote to parents today (June 14) saying that black, knee-length shorts could be worn from tomorrow (June 15).
But parents have claimed that teachers were coming in wearing dresses and skirts and sandals with bare legs while children were required to follow a stricter dress code in "sweltering conditions". They questioned why the school didn't follow the policy adopted by some to allow pupils to wear PE kit during hot weather. To get our free daily briefing on the biggest issues affecting the nation, Wales Matters here
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One mother claimed as many as 30 year eight pupils were put in detention on Tuesday and today (June 14) and dozens more in other year groups. When parents rang the school they claimed they were told their children must follow uniform rules, although some were told girls could wear socks instead of tights.
"It is absolutely boiling this week. So many children are in isolation today that they have had to put them in an additional classroom, it's chaos," claimed one parent who complained to the school.
"Wearing shorts does not affect their education, but trying to work when you are too hot does. A lot of female staff are coming in in summer dresses and skirts with sandals - it's another rule for the children." The mother said it was odd that different schools had different hot weather uniform policies. Not being flexible went against Welsh Government guidance, she claimed.
Another parent, with two children in years seven and nine, claimed: "They gathered every child in shorts and put them all in one room for the day. When we rang we were told it was up to the head and there had been no hot weather warnings, but it was 28C on Tuesday and my daughter was expected to wear tights with her skirt.
"My 13-year-old daughter spent a day in detention - I sent her in in black cycling shorts because it was so hot. She has texted me to say they have been told they have agreed to shorts for tomorrow, but it's a shambles. She said about 30 people in her year, year eight, were taken into a room for exclusion on Tuesday because they were wearing shorts. The school rang me and said shorts were not part of the uniform, but they were allowed to wear them when it was hot last summer," they claimed.
Another parent said the matter was a health and safety issue. She said a number of parents had not sent their children in earlier this week because it was too hot to wear uniform if they couldn't wear shorts.
In a letter to parents this afternoon (June 14), seen by WalesOnline, the headteacher said the school would now allow black, knee-length shorts to be worn. The letter from Tracey Wellington said shorts had been banned initially because a minority of pupils were wearing inappropriate "micro shorts".
The letter added: "The reason we did not allow shorts was due to the minority of learners who have worn inappropriate clothing/shorts to school. These are known as micro-shorts/Nike Pros which are completely unacceptable for school attire.
"These will never be accepted and we will place learners who wear them into our internal exclusion unit until parents/carers bring appropriate clothing for them. The decision has been made to allow learners to wear black shorts for the rest of this week and that includes CCYD-badged PE shorts."
She said there could be no denim shorts, micro-shorts or short cycling shorts and the temperature inside the school building was not high in any case. Classrooms had windows that opened and these were opened early in the morning and late at night to keep the air cool.
"From tomorrow, plain, black, knee-length shorts can be worn until the weather forecast changes. However, black shoes/trainers must still be worn. Any learners wearing inappropriate shorts or incorrect footwear will be challenged and parents/carers informed immediately."
The school response:
A Spokesperson for Coleg Cymunedol Y Dderwen said: “It’s really important that learners comply with our school uniform policy so we can reduce the risk of some potentially serious safeguarding issues arising. Some pupils were wearing shorts such as micro-shorts which are clearly too short in length and were asked to remain in our holding room whilst their parents/carers delivered more appropriate clothing to the school.
"We would like to make clear that during this time learners had access to water and supervised breaks. In line with staff policy, PE teachers have been the only members of staff wearing shorts during this period.
“A letter has now been sent to all parents to confirm that black shorts can now be worn but any pupils breaking this policy will continue to be challenged. Prior to this, it has been agreed with our governing body that there will be a full consultation about summer uniform for 2024. Our "Learner Voice" initiative will play a key part in this.”
Councillor Alex Williams, chair of the Bridgend education scrutiny committee, said he had raised the matter with the authority's director of education but was told that school uniform was a matter for school governing bodies. He urged schools to use "common sense" on uniform policy and agreed it wasn't ideal that different schools in the same local education authority adopted different polices.
"I would encourage all headteachers and governing bodies to ensure they have a school uniform policy in place and use a common sense approach to take into account weather conditions and ensure pupils are in comfortable learning conditions. Uniform is up to governors but it would be preferable if all schools could adopt the same approach on uniforms."
The row follows an outcry at another Bridgend School after girls were claimed to have been given detentions for wearing too short skirts. Parents of children at Pencoed Comprehensive complained about a crackdown on uniform compliance which they claimed went against Welsh Government guidelines on gender discrimination. The school's rules state that skirts must be no more than 5cm above the knee.
Pencoed Comprehensive has denied any staff measured pupils' skirts but confirmed around 20 children were taken into the school hall and spoken to about wearing the wrong uniform last week.
Read next:
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Row over school's uniform policy taken to Welsh Government after outcry from parents
- Children 'threatened with detention' for wearing PE kit during heatwave, parents claim
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