A fuming mother today blasted a school in Hull for excluding her 13-year-old daughter in a row over her Primark trousers.
Maddison Buckle was sent into isolation at Sirius Academy North on Tuesday as a punishment for her school trousers not having a button at the front.
Teachers allegedly believed the trousers, from Primark, were too tight, while they also took issue with her shoes for having frills on the front.
After she phone home upset, her mother Jessica, 35, told Maddison not to go into isolation and instead come home before lunch.
But this led to the school excluding her for the afternoon, referring to Maddison’s alleged ‘defiance and truancy’ in a letter sent to their north Hull home.
Miss Buckle, who said the trousers had not caused trouble since term began in September, is now accusing teachers at the secondary of running a ‘military school’.
‘I completely understand they need to be in correct uniform but buttons and shoes, next it will be underwear,’ she told Hull Live.
Maddison Buckle was sent into isolation at Sirius Academy North on Tuesday as a punishment for her school trousers not having a button at the front
After she phone home upset, her mother Jessica, 35, told Maddison not to go into isolation and instead come home before lunch. But this led to the school excluding her for the afternoon, referring to Maddison’s alleged ‘defiance and truancy’ in a letter sent to their north Hull home
‘Why do you need to look at where the button is? No way is what she’s wearing affecting her education.
‘It’s because the button is at the side, rather than in the middle. They class them as leggings but they are not tight.
‘They also had a problem with her black shoes because they had a frill on the front, that wasn’t acceptable, they had to be plain black.
‘It’s the principal of the matter, the school is coming down way to hard, penalising the kids for some of the most ridiculous things.
‘They need to give parents a break and teachers need to do their jobs of teaching and not act like it’s a military school. It’s lunacy in my opinion.’
The letter said Miss Buckle had a ‘duty’ to ensure Maddison was not present in a public place within the Academy during the exclusion afternoon.
It also warns of a fine from the local authority if the 13-year-old entered the Academy during the specified time.
Teachers allegedly also took issue with Maddison’s shoes, which had frills on the front
The mother-of-five said Maddison always dresses smart, with a shirt, tie and blazer, and claims that the teachers should be concentrating on their pupils’ education, instead of ‘obsessing’ over what they wear.
Miss Buckle said her daughter has been scolded by teachers in the past for wearing a knee-length skirt which they said should be below the knee.
She also claimed that Maddison has been told off by staff for not wearing a face mask in school corridors.
‘I’m sick to my back teeth of that school,’ Miss Buckle said.
‘They target and bully her using ridiculous excuses as to why she’s in isolation even though she’s in top sets and never had any issues before.
‘I have had enough, it’s every day for isolation for one thing or another and she’s not a bad kid at all, she’s a lovely girl.’
Miss Buckle said she is now considering pulling her daughter out of the school and home-schooling her instead.
A spokesperson for Sirius Academy North told Hull Live: ‘We cannot comment on individual cases, however we do discuss individual concerns with parents and we have done that in this case.
‘We will listen to parents and if they have any concerns we will talk to them and we will do everything we can to resolve them.’