A school that banned girls from wearing skirts was closed on Friday after pupils staged a protest against the uniform policy.
Police were called to The Warriner School, a co-educational secondary school in Banbury, Oxon, as pupils protested against the gender-neutral uniform plan and refused to attend classes.
It comes amid a spate of school protests, reportedly inspired by a trend on the social media site TikTok.
Parents were told on Thursday that all pupils must wear black trousers or knee-length shorts from September.
Lotty Keys, assistant headteacher, said that girls who “roll skirts to an inappropriate length are sending out the wrong social message in their choice of style”.
She said: “They seem to feel they need to conform to a certain image, in order to fit in with friendship groups.
“We feel this has no place in an educational setting and for this reason, we are introducing trousers for all students.”
Videos posted on social media showed a crowd of pupils in the school courtyard with girls appearing to chant: “We want skirts.”
One pupil said that “if teachers can strike over their principles, so can we”, the Banbury Guardian reported.
Thames Valley Police said that neighbourhood and response officers attended the school at around 9.10am on Friday, following “a report of a disturbance”, to ensure the safety of students and staff. No arrests were made.
Parents were sent an email later in the morning stating that the school was closing early “following the advice of police and our concerns around the safety of our school community”.
Read More: School that banned skirts forced to close as outraged students refuse to attend classes
