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24th Jan 2022

Outrage after school refuses to let pupils wear coats

Kat O'Connor

“These kids should not have to be cold”

A school in England has stopped pupils from wearing their own coats in school.

The Cheshire school has been called out for leaving pupils freezing in their classrooms.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, windows in classrooms should be left open to help ventilate the room.

Students at Bishop Heber in Malpas can only wear branded school coats, Cheshire Live confirmed.

One mum, who has an asthmatic son, slammed the policy.

She told the publication that it is beyond unfair to presume everyone can afford the £25 jacket.

The mum’s son was put into isolation because he took his confiscated coat back because he was cold.

She shared, “They confiscated his [my son’s] coat yesterday – outside – which I thought was absolutely ludicrous. He has asthma, which he is on constant medication for, so getting cold does him no good whatsoever.”

She asked, “Why would you take a coat off a child when you know they’ve got asthma?”

The mum added that children should not get in trouble for simply trying to heat themselves up in winter.

Parents stressed that their children have a right to be warm.

Another mum said it’d be a different situation if the classroom was warm, but all the windows and doors are open.

They said, “These kids should not have to be cold.”

“These children are freezing outside, then they’re going into a classroom with the windows all open – they need to be warm. If we’ve got to have this rule, if that’s what the headteacher wants, then please can he ditch his padded coat, and can the teachers lead by example by all standing outside without their coats on? Because I think that would set a good example for the children.”

The school said: “The school is confident that students are not sitting in classrooms that are unusually cold for the time of year and students should not need to wear coats to keep warm.”

What do you think? Is the school in the wrong?