Merseyside school girls anxious as teachers measure pupils skirts
Hundreds of students staged a protest after students were left in tears over uniform policy.
Last updated 27th Feb 2023
Girls at Rainford High School in St Helens have been made to enter the school separately to boys, to have their skirt length inspected by 'predominantly male teachers', one mum told us.
The protests come after a letter was sent to parents in October, in which the school stated it had seen a "majority" of female students wearing skirts "significantly north of knee length".
Claims have also been made that the girls are being told to watch their skirt length as it could distract male teachers and pupils. We reached out to the school for comment but they declined.
The letter to parents argued skirts need to meet standards so pupils concentrate on work "without worrying that actions such as sitting down become overly precarious due to skirt length".
Emma who has a daughter at the school told us: " The last couple of days she's been sobbing at school, at night time at home she's upset about going to school the next day because she knows she's going to go through it again."
"In the car on the way to school in the morning she's upset as well."
"As they're all going in they separate the girls off and they'll get their skirts checked and the boys go in."
On Twitter, Marie Rimmer MP for St Helens South and Whiston said:
"This is disgusting and I am ashamed it is happening at Rainford High School in St Helens. Male teachers should not be measuring the length of girls' skirts. "It is so demeaning and I am proud of our local girls and boys that are protesting against it."
Emma also told us: " I think it's the way the school has handled it really, like splitting the girls off and examining them on their way in. I think if they rang home it wouldn't be that much of an issue"
"She's worrying about it (her daughter) when she was trying to do homework she was stressing about skirt checks, she thinks she's got a few things wrong on her homework"