Dear School Council,

We are writing to request a small but significant change to the school uniform policy. The change is that the APC short-sleeved shirt should be permitted to be worn year-round with the long pants.

According to the uniform policy, the school uniform should promote the student's sense of identity, raise the profile of the college, and enhance individual student safety and group security. The change we request will continue to support these ideals.

The short-sleeved shirt and pants outfit looks neat, contemporary and climate-appropriate. This choice is highly desired by many if not most students. However, unfortunately, anyone who wears this uniform is sent home immediately like I was today.

My name is Lily Hall and I am a year 12 student at Albert Park College. Today was my second day of year 12. Well, it was supposed to be but I was sent home before school even started. This is because I was wearing a short-sleeved shirt and pants. The forecast for the day was 38°. I was not given an option of borrowing something from the school, a warning or a call home. I was told I would not be allowed inside until I took the two buses home, changed shirts and took two buses back to school - a return journey takes an hour and a half.

I am not the only one this has happened to, many students are missing out on valuable learning time by being sent home because of uniform infringements due to wearing the short-sleeved shirt and pants. Not only this, teachers are forced to become uniform monitors rather than focusing on their teaching duties.

We do not want to keep missing class to change the length of our sleeves. It is unfair to burden us with the decision of choosing between feeling comfortable in what we are wearing or learning. The climate has changed and the uniform policy needs to change to reflect that.

We formally request that the uniform policy be altered to allow the short-sleeved shirt to be worn with the pants.