Tight trousers emphasise larger pupils' 'heftiness', says headteacher

The headteacher behind the skinny trousers flare-up has enraged many parents again - by saying tight clothing emphasises the 'heftiness' of some of her larger pupils.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Apr 2016, 11:16 BST
Updated 18th Apr 2016, 16:00 BST

Dr Tracey Jones hit the headlines last week after Lord Grey school sent home 29 girls because their trousers were too tight or their skirts too short.

Afterwards the Bletchley head, who said she wanted her female students to look “modest and demure”, sent a lengthy email explaining her policy to parents.

One paragraph stated: “Ironically, for those girls who are not very slim, the tight clothing emphasises their heftiness and is unflattering. Thus this makes them prone to bullying.”

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Dr Jones added: “If everyone is covered up in slightly loose clothing, there is less bullying over body shape and size.

“Skinny fit trousers and very short skirts are not flattering to the larger girl and make her prone to mean comments from peers.”

One furious parent told the Citizen: “This is a breeding ground for anorexia. Nor headteacher should comment on size and shape where teenage girls are concerned.”

Another said: “So larger girls at Lord Grey who experience bullying about their size should not expect the school to tackle the bullying, but should instead purchase looser clothes and hope the bullies are fooled into thinking that they’ve lost weight?

“It’s a slippery slope. What next? Will we have a letter saying: ‘please can you tell your child to be slightly less gay at school because it makes them prone to homophobic attacks.’? It’s just crazy.”

Dr Jones’s tight trousers stance prompted hundreds of comments from all over the UK last week. Many were from parents who AGREED with her policy.

In the newsletter she blames the press for over-sensationalising the issue and states: “They are under 18 and thus still children. We don’t think that very tight or revealing clothing is right in a mixed gender school situation.

“It might seem like a very old fashioned concept but we want children to be children and we want the girls to be modest, to protect their self respect.

She adds: “We may disagree with methods or approach on this issue, but I hope we all agree that we want to make Lord Grey School a fabulous school to be proud of.”

Dr Jones then revealed that she bought trousers for her own school-aged daughter for £12 at Bon Marche, which a shop famous for fashion for the over-50s.

“They are smart, easy to wash and nice fabric,” she said.

Read the original story here