At the moment, girls at Pates who want to wear something other than long, black, hot trousers have to wear the school standard skirt. This skirt is light grey, and embarrassment at the least is a constant worry for girls as light coloured skirts are certainly not forgiving when it comes to period blood. Not only this, but the skirt is a stiff, unforgiving material with no pleats - therefore giving girls absolutely zero freedom to run around on the school field, play sports at break, or even sit cross-legged without their pants on display to everyone around.

The school needs to realise that light grey pencil skirts are not at all suitable for young teenage girls who just want to be comfortable in what they’re wearing five days a week. We would like to at least see the option to wear a black pleated skirt or pair of culottes - although if this petition were to become successful, maybe we could even see an official re-think of the skirt, perhaps incorporating the signature red of the the old Pates girls school before the boys grammar school joined on. These are only ideas, of course, but any positive change to the skirts would certainly benefit us all.