Pupils sent home in school uniform row as trust brings in new rules

Pupils have been sent home from school amid a row over new uniform rules at a high school in Salford.

The changes have been brought in at Buile Hill Academy in Salford, which is being supported by a new education trust after failing to improve its 'requires improvement' Ofsted rating.

Prior to the Easter holidays, pupils were able to wear socks with their skirts, but have now been told they must have 60 denier black tights.

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Footwear has also been an issue, with other students sent home for not meeting the required standards. The school insists on 'plain black shoes that can be polished', and 'must be completely black with no logos, no strips, no large or coloured bows or clips'.

It says families were notified of the proposed changes before the holidays when a parents evening was held and individual appointments offered 'to discuss any specific matters'. At that meeting, it was explained that Northern Education Trust (NET), which has been brought in to help turn the failing school around, has 'an unashamed focus on high standards'.

Parents told the Manchester Evening News that their children were sent home on the first day of the new term on Tuesday to address the uniform breaches. But they say some of the rules are unnecessary and don't think it's fair for the uniform to change during the middle of a school year.

"Changing a uniform policy halfway through a school year in a cost of living crisis is completely unfair," said one dad, whose two children were sent home for having incorrect footwear. "Also to have children miss vital educational time for such a minor thing when they have missed so much from the pandemic and with teacher strikes is absolutely ridiculous."

He added: "They wear plain black polishable leather shoes, which we have bought the same ones for the last five years and have been deemed acceptable footwear by the school, but no longer fall into their niche category. As one of our children should be getting ready for his GCSEs and they only have a matter of weeks left in school this also adds to the insanity of the situation."

One mum, whose child has also been sent home, described it as 'outrageous' and said pupils were made to line up outside while staff checked their hair, make-up, shoes and uniform.

"My child has been sent home, I don't know how long for. I just think it's outrageous how they can do that. Kids are struggling with their mental health since Covid, to get back in school, and now they've implemented this, not even in September, it's just horrendous."

Another dad, who says his daughter was sent home for wearing socks, said: "Before Easter, they could wear white or black socks. With the weather changing, along with classrooms being warm already, wearing tights constantly does seem nonsensical.

"The rules are even down to stating a hair bobble has to be black or purple, with no other accessories allowed."

Another mum said she too feels the rules are unfair, adding: "It's not really good for the year 11s, who are already under a vast amount of stress with the run up to their GCSES. There’s going to be people sent home for uniform when the most important thing really is being in school and concentrating on their exams.

"If they were going to enforce all of this, then it should be in September at the start of the school year, not now at the most important time for these young people."

Families told us some youngsters were given tights to wear by school and handed new school shoes, which are to be kept at school as spares for kids to hand back at the end of the school day.

"They have told some pupils they have to wear spare shoes that the school are providing and return them at the end of the day," said one dad. "As my child and I’m sure other children suffer from infectious foot issues, this is not a sustainable and safe practice going forward."

The changes have been introduced by the NET, which has been brought in by the government to support Consilium Academies' running of the Pendleton school as part of a National Leaders of Education contract.

NLEs are headteachers and trust leaders with strong experience of school improvement. They support underperforming schools, helping them to identify and address areas in need of improvement, including leadership, governance and finances.

The school has received two successive judgements of requires improvement in 2018 and 2022. And last October we reported how it had the worst truancy rate of any state-run primary or secondary school in Greater Manchester, with students missing the equivalent of 11,905 days of school through unauthorised absences in the autumn and spring terms of the 2022/23 school year.

A monitoring inspection by Ofsted in November last year found that: "Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but more work is necessary for the school to become good."

It said the school, where the interim principal is Martin Knowles, should take further action to 'swiftly increase pupils’ attendance so that more pupils benefit from the education that is on offer' and 'ensure that the expectations of pupils’ behaviour are communicated clearly and applied consistently'.

NET, which Buile Hill formally joins on June 1, says that from its vast experience, it knows 'that good attendance and being prepared with the correct uniform and learning resources ensures good progress and attainment'.

It says it will always ask students to rectify any issues with uniform 'which is a reasonable request' and If a student fails to comply with a reasonable request then the academy will issue a further sanction, which may be a detention, which could lead to a suspension, if there is failure to comply.

The vast majority of pupils are said to have adhered to the policy and the overwhelming response 'incredibly supportive'.

To prevent any financial hardship to families, it has purchased hundreds of items of uniform to provide to students who may not have the correct items already, including shoes, tights, ties, shirts, trousers and blazers.

Andrew Jordon, senior executive principal stated: “We are delighted to be supporting Buile Hill Academy. As a multi-academy-trust serving the northern region we would always wish to act in a way that has a positive effect on our neighbouring schools and their communities.

"I have been delighted by the overwhelming positive response to our request that the uniform policy must be adhered to and applied consistently and will continue to work closely with students, staff and parents/carers for the benefit of the communities we serve.”