Schoolboy wears skirt in heatwave uniform protest

A boy wore a skirt to classes during in protest of the school insisting boys had to wear trousers during hot weather.

George, 15, from Keelby near Grimsby, said he was frustrated he could not wear shorts at Caistor Yarborough Academy while temperatures exceeded 25C.

He said wearing trousers during the heatwave had made it harder to concentrate during exams, and instead has been wearing a friend's skirt for the past two days, adding: "If girls can wear a skirt and maybe feel a bit cooler, why can't I? So I did."

The Lincolnshire school said it had not sanctioned George, and had since relaxed rules, with pupils allowed to wear PE kit on Friday as a "personalised approach to the uniform policy".

The school said it had informed parents and carers of its decision.

George said: "I was sat in the exam hall - I think I was doing my chemistry paper - and it was too hot. The trousers were restricting, sweaty, hot. I was hot. And it's just uncomfortable. I can't concentrate properly."

He said the school needed to "think what's best for the kids, because they're all about safeguarding".

"But people are struggling, really, to keep cool," said George.

George's mother, Kitty, said she believed schools should provide a comfortable environment to help students pay attention and learn.

"It's so hot that they can't concentrate... who's that helping? What are they learning? So what's the point?

"You know you might as well have them more comfortable so that they can actually take the information in, which is what we want for our young people - to learn."

In a statement, Caistor Yarborough Academy said it had made adjustments allowing both students and staff "to be more comfortable during the heatwave".

"One male student selected to wear a skirt as per the uniform policy," it said.

"With reference to the male child in question, they were not sanctioned and continues to wear a skirt for school without sanction or question."

A spokesperson for the school said measures it had taken included relaxed uniform rules, longer breaks, additional water breaks, and air-conditioned exam rooms.

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