- Harriet Dale told to go home and change as trousers breached dress code
- Blasted school for humiliating her, pointing out her 'slightly bigger legs'
- Comes just months after same school banned girls from wearing skirts
- Headteacher Dr Rowena Blencowe said skirts 'embarrassed' male teachers
A teenager was left humiliated when teachers sent her home from school because her trousers were deemed to be 'too tight'.
Harriet Dale was among a group of pupils singled out for censure as they arrived for lessons at the
start of a new school year.
The Year 11 student claims she was told her trousers were not suitable to be worn at Trentham High School - where skirts were recently banned to save the blushes of male members of staff.
The 15-year-old said other girls wearing the same bottoms were allowed into class.
However, because her legs are 'larger' than theirs, she was picked out for punishment.
She was then left stunned when teachers ordered her to go home and change or face being put in isolation.
The GCSE pupil Harriet, from Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent, said: 'People were deliberately picked out.
'I was with a girl wearing exactly the same pair of trousers but, because I have slightly larger legs than her, I was told my trousers were too tight and that I had to go home and change.
'It's really uncomfortable to think you could be walking around the corridors and teachers will be looking you up and down. I'm not the only person who feels that way.
'I know I've got slightly bigger legs than some people, it doesn't need pointing out.'
Harriet's mother Helen blasted staff for singling out her daughter in the latest uniform clampdown.
The 41 year-old said: 'I'm incredibly angry. I can't believe the school is kicking up a fuss over something so minor. In the last school year it was skirts, now it's trousers.
'Harriet was understandably upset at being picked out within seconds of arriving at school.
'I'm worried this will make Harriet conscious of her size when she should have much bigger worries as she takes her GCSEs. It is supposed to be the most important school year of her life.'
Harriet has said the incident has already knocked her self-confidence.
Trentham High School's new policy comes just months after it imposed a blanket ban on skirts because male staff were 'embarrassed' at the sight of female pupils wearing them.
Headteacher Dr Rowena Blencowe said the clothes made male teachers feel embarrassed when they saw girls 'walk up stairs or sit down'.
Dr Blencowe yesterday kept 10 pupils out of some lessons at the 735-pupil school after the unannounced trouser inspection.
The offending £28 trousers were bought from Next. Harriet has two pairs of tapered trousers and a pair of bootcut ones - but only the bootcut design are now acceptable.
Helen added: 'They are part of Next's workwear range, so how are they not suitable for school? It's beyond belief.'
Harriet, who has never been sent home for wearing inappropriate clothing before, has accused the school of making pupils feel self-conscious.
She said: 'First the school told us skirts are not acceptable, now we are only allowed to wear trousers after they've been inspected.;
Fifteen-year-old Katie Jones was also threatened with isolation - because her trousers were too short.
She was kept out of some lessons yesterday and must attend school in full-length trousers today.
Her dad Andrew, 47, said: 'I can't believe she has been threatened with isolation. This all boils down to the headteacher. There are always going to be slight variations in trousers.'
Dr Blencowe rubbished claims the school's guidelines are not clear.
She said pupils must wear 'black, full-length tailored' trousers' and not 'jeans, leggings, tightly-fitted trousers, cotton trousers, shorts or tracksuit bottoms'.
'The vast majority of pupils turned up to school wearing perfectly suitable clothing,' she added.
'But there was a small minority of elder pupils who decided to push the boundaries - 10 in total.
'They claim our rules do not make it clear but that is not fair. We have sent out several letters to parents, plus advice on our website, and even held an assembly.'
'Our guidelines are clear. It is up to parents to make sure their child attends school wearing trousers which suit their shape. Trousers which fit one pupil may be too tight on another, we have to draw the line somewhere.'
TOO TIGHT AND TOO SHORT: PARENTS' FURY OVER UNIFORM RULES
There, all students were ordered to wear the same style of trousers to stop pupils 'pushing the boundaries' with tight-fitting clothing.
The new rules were introduced after a male teacher complained to the headmistress after being put in an awkward position when he told a pupil her skirt was too short.
Last year parents in Birkenshaw, West Yorkshire, were outraged to have been sent the bill for shoes bought when teachers took their children out of school to buy 'appropriate' footwear without being asked.
Pupils at BBG Academy wearing shoes that apparently did not meet the school's uniform guidelines, prompting teachers to take them out to buy new ones.
Staff initially paid for the shoes - that were £18 each - and sent the parents the bill.
At Headlands School in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, parents claimed their daughters were left in tears and worried about their weight when teachers told them their trousers were too tight.
Sian Hart said her 13-year-old daughter, Jaydee, was among those taken out of class and told her trousers were too tight.
She said: 'She has been wearing the same uniform ever since she started at Headlands.
'She's very skinny and tall and I really struggle to find trousers that fit her.'
Elsewhere parents have complained that they cannot afford to keep up with the changes in uniform policies.
A report in February by the Children's Society discovered families with school-age children spend an average of £316 a year for a child at a state secondary and £251 for one at a state primary.
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