'My daughter is a model student but I've pulled her from school over sock row and staff losses'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A mum has pulled her teenage daughter out of school in a row over its uniform policy and swift departure of staff. Girls at Irlam and Cadishead Academy, in Irlam, Salford, were previously told to wear knee length black socks and Wendy Allsopp's daughter Olivia, in Year 9, was one of a few students chosen to appear in the school's open evening poster displaying the uniform.

But this academic year, the longer socks have been replaced with ankle socks in a policy change that Wendy says wasn't adequately communicated to parents - mentioned briefly in an end of summer term pastoral letter and not a specific uniform update, which she believes was necessary. Read more: 'Rules are rules, but some schools are taking them way too far' The school says the move was requested by 'a large number of female students and trialled during the previous academic year' and that parents were notified 'through both letters and the Parent Handbook'.

Girls also have a choice to wear either tights or trousers, but Wendy says it can sometimes to be too warm for those and students looked much smarter in the full length socks. "We've had mixed stories as to how this change even came about," said Wendy. "Olivia was told two girls in her year were told that if they got more than 100 signatures on a petition, they would be allowed to wear the ankle socks.

If that's the case there are 360 female students at that school, so it's not a majority by any stretch of the imagination. "The school is saying it was their Student Voices who made the decision.