Schoolgirl 12, put in isolation because 'hips too wide to wear pleated skirt'

A 12-year-old girl has been put in isolation at her school for wearing the wrong kind of skirt.

Shylah Johnson has been taken out of classes at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus in Leicestershire, with her mother Daisy saying her hips are too wide for the school’s pleated skirt.

The school said it has offered to tailor a skirt to fit Shylah but the family and the headteacher have been unable to reach a solution.

Daisy said she had spent the summer trying to find a pleated skirt that would fit her daughter.

She said she had tried a number of skirts, from shops such as Marks & Spencer, New Look, Next, Matalan, and Primark, but none of them fitted properly.

When the school year began, Daisy and her partner, Dharmesh Patel, sent Shylah to school in a plain black skirt instead of a pleated one.

But she was removed from class and placed in the school’s isolation for not wearing the proper uniform.

“We have spent hundreds of pounds ordering skirts that didn't fit and returning them, we've tried everywhere,” said Daisy.

“But because she has wide hips and a small waist the skirts don't fit properly.

“So we had to get her a regular skirt that does fit, but she was immediately sent to isolation because of it not being pleated.

"She has missed two tests already this week because she can't be in full-time education, all because her skirt doesn't have pleats in it.

"She's being discriminated against, really, because she doesn't have a body shape for their uniform policy. The school even gave us one of their skirts for her to wear and it doesn't fit at all around her waist."

Daisy added: "It's not like she doesn't want to wear the school skirt. She is in Year 8 and wore one throughout her first year.

“But she's had a growth spurt over the summer and her old one doesn't fit.

"The school has told us if they let her wear a plain black skirt, others will use it as an excuse to wear one.

“But it's not the case for her, they should be punished for breaking the uniform policy willingly, Shylah would only be breaking it because she has no other option."

Will Teece, headteacher at Brookvale Groby Learning Campus, said the school has offered a range of options to try and get Shylah back to class.

“The school has had the same uniform policy for many years, we've provided the family with a skirt, offered to take them to the shops, and offered to have it tailored - but it simply seems like she doesn't want to wear the skirt,” he said.

“We've got 1,500 other students who have not had any issues with their uniform and have settled well into the start of the new academic year.

“We'll do all we can to offer support to students to get them the right uniform, and everyone else on campus is in the right uniform.

“We'd like nothing more than to get the student back into full-time education, and we feel we have offered more than enough options for the parent and student to do this.”

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