A mother has blasted a school's 'ridiculous' uniform policy as temperatures surged towards 40C. The furious parent attacked a decision to block pupils wearing cooler outfits during the unprecedented heat.
Lincoln Castle Academy refused to allow students to wear PE kits during the extreme temperatures with a number of children sent home and the school classing it as a 'fixed term exclusion.' Tanisha Smith, mum of Year 7 student Jessica Smith, 12, sent her child to school on Monday morning wearing her PE kit.
The kit included the school badge, meaning her school could be identified in case of any emergency. But Lincoln Castle Academy's uniform policy said that students could leave their blazers and ties at home, but they would still be required to wear trousers, or tights if they were wearing a skirt, LincolshireLive reports.
A number of parents criticised this decision on the school's Facebook page, which has since been removed and appears to have been deleted. Ms Smith said: "Lincoln Castle Academy sent an email out to parents saying (the kids) could leave their blazers and ties at home, but they still need to come in their uniforms, and I know that the girls that wear skirts have to wear tights still in this weather, and the lads are expected to wear trousers, not shorts.
"The teachers are wearing nice, flowy, dresses and not wearing tights, and the male teachers are wearing shorts. Some of the parents had decided not to send their kids to school, I decided I wasn't going to do that because I don't think her education should be stopped just because of the heat.
"So, I sent her to school in her PE kit like most of the other parents said they were going to do. I also thought this was a good idea as the PE top has their school logo on, and leaving their blazers and ties at home means they don't have a school logo.
"(Jessica) cycles 20 minutes to our school from our home address, so god forbid if anything were to happen to her, at least someone would know where she's from. I thought that was a good reason."
Ms Smith explained that when Jessica got to school, she was contacted and asked to bring her child's uniform so she could change. The parent declined this request and told them her reasoning, which she says the school staff member on the phone said was a valid point.
It was at this point that the school said they would be sending Jessica home, and that it would be classed as a 'fixed-term exclusion'. Lincoln Castle Academy has been contacted for comment, but it has yet to respond and has since confirmed to parents that today, July 19, will be a non-uniform day.
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