BOHUNT students launched an online petition after new punishments were introduced for infringement of the school’s uniform policy.

They claim more than 180 pupils were made to sit in silence in the sports hall for not complying with regulations set out by the head of school, Neil Pittaway, as a consequence of ‘minor uniform issues’.

Reaching its target of 1,000, the online petition, which was viewed by 1,100 people in total, also claims pupils were not given a warning or a chance to adjust their uniform.

It stated they missed a total of 376 hours of learning during the ‘inclusion’ in the sports hall, which was set out like an exam hall, as students were required to spend two hours of their lessons in complete silence with no work to complete.

Offences included:–

•Wearing hair bands on wrists

•Entering school without a jumper

•Trousers too tight

•Skirts too short

•Boys with white socks

•Top buttons undone and

•Ties too short.

The petition called for Bohunt School to amend the consequences for these minor uniform issues.

Concerns were raised that pupils in year 11, in particular, were missing valuable studying time in subjects such as English, maths and science.

The punishments received mixed reactions from parents, who voiced their opinions on Liphook’s Talkback website, ranging from support for enforcing standards to calling it a ‘waste of learning time’ for GCSE students in particular – and a ‘shock and awe’ zero-tolerance policy at the beginning of term.

Bohunt’s website advises parents and students: “We believe correct uniform is very important in encouraging self-respect, pride in the school and a sense of community. It’s also an excellent indicator of a student’s attitude, state of mind and readiness for work.”

In a statement, a Bohunt spokesman told The Herald: “Our academy has the very highest standards and these are reflected in all parts of school life, from exam results to school uniform. We make no apologies for that.

“We are very proud of our students and believe it is important they look smart and have pride in their school and their appearance.

“Our uniform policy is crystal clear and we wrote to all parents at the end of last term and again at the end of August to remind them of it.

“We are pleased the vast majority of parents and students support it, demonstrated by the fact that more than 90 per cent of our students came to school this week looking extremely well-turned out.”

Strict school uniform rules have angered parents across the country who believe their children should be allowed some flexibility when it comes to uniforms. 

The Department for Education’s guidance strongly encourages schools to have a uniform, and in its guidance it recommends governing bodies should take into account the views of parents and pupils as well as costs when making decisions.

A school can discipline pupils for not complying with the school uniform rules although they are expected to consider a reasonable request to vary the uniform policy which provides for pupils to be disciplined if they breach the school’s uniform and appearance rules.

Secretary of State Damian Hinds, who is Liphook’s MP, has statutory guidance on exclusions. It states pupils should only be excluded for breaches of the school’s behaviour policy when they have committed a serious breach of policy. 

School uniform breaches are usually considered minor disciplinary matters though in some cases of repeated and persistent failures exclusion may be justified.

A Bohunt spokesman said: “The online petition was set up so that anyone who clicked on the link to it had their name automatically added to the list of signatories and was therefore not representative.”