Nene Park Academy in Peterborough changes to gender-neutral uniform policy after complaints over costs

A Peterborough secondary school has changed its uniform policy for next year after complaints from the school’s pupil body.

Parents of pupils at Nene Park Academy, on Oundle Road in the city, hit out after having to fork out more than £100 for clothing for children – and with girls uniform costing more than boys uniform.

Many of the items – including trousers – on the required list must have the school’s logo printed on them.

Now, the school have changed their uniform rules – and have reduced the cost – meaning girls and boys uniforms now cost the same amount.

More than 100 parents signed a letter calling for the rules to be changed.

Now the school said there would be a gender neutral uniform policy starting in September.

The school said the decision to change the policy was made in the middle June following a request from the student body – however, parents were not due to be told about the change until this week.

A petition calling for changes attracted more than 150 signatures after it was sent up by parents who were unaware of the planned alterations.

The school offers a hardship fund for parents who need help.

Parents want option to buy items from high street

Angie McClean, who will have three children at the school in September, said that for the full uniform, including shoes, she’s had to pay £566.50.

She said: “One of the reasons they give for branding every item, is that it stops pupils wearing the wrong trousers, such as jeans and leggings. I think this is totally unfair on the majority of parents who would ensure their child had the correct uniform. No one is against the school jumpers with the house colours on them – and everyone is happy to have a uniform – but we want the option to buy all other items from the high street, saving a lot of money.

“It costs more for the girls uniform than boys. Boys are allowed to wear unbranded shirts as they have to wear a tie, which is £6.50 (my son still has his from when he started). Girls have to wear branded shirts at £20 for two and then the bigger they get, that increases to £26.40 for two. As you know teenagers can rarely get away with just two shirts as you would be forever washing. My girls need 4 to get them through the week. I got my son 4 shirts (age 15) from George at a cost of £14.

”I am a big believer in recycling but unfortunately I am unable to hand down the uniform as by the time one child has outgrown it, it's good for nothing!

"I used to be able to buy uniform from the high street for primary school and it was always good enough to hand down between my two girls.”

‘Looking at ways to improve the affordability of uniform’

Rob Grover, principal of Nene Park Academy, said: “We understand the increasing pressure on our parents’ finances with rises to the cost of living and have been looking at ways to improve the affordability of our uniform. We have been working hard over the past year on our uniform provision to ensure that we meet the new statutory guidance from the Government for school uniform ahead of time.

“This involved discussions with our students, stakeholders and academy council members. Central to this has been that parents have choice, flexibility and a quality uniform, which maintains the high standards synonymous with Nene Park Academy.

“We have ensured that our minimum requirement for uniform at NPA costs parents £87. This includes a jumper, tie, three shirts, two trousers and a PE top, all of which are available at our chosen supplier. Our uniform policy requires parents to buy four branded items to meet our minimum requirements and there are other optional branded items that parents can choose to purchase.

Gender-neutral uniform policy from September

He went on to add: “In support of this, we can confirm that a gender-neutral uniform policy will be in place for all students from September 2022. This was a request from our student body and we thank them for putting this forward.

“We regularly use a hardship fund and other additional funding that families can access in order to provide help to purchase uniform if families are struggling."

The gender-neutral policy means it will allow the option for all students to wear any of the uniform, such as a shirt and their associated house tie, instead of a logoed blouse.

Each year the school says it plans to offer four additional uniform sales which offer a mix of reduced new uniform twice a year and two further second-hand sales during the summer holidays, which it’s already held two of.

Over the next year the headteacher says it will be looking at other ways to improve affordability and will continue to involve the whole school community in “future discussions.”