To,

The Headmaster at Ashford School,

The Head of the Sixth Form,

The School Bursar,

Please find a petition against the introduction of a new sixth form uniform. The petition has been instigated due to the last-minute availability of this new uniform.

Introducing a new uniform, that has yet to be seen by parents or pupils in the new year 12 and unavailable to purchase until a week before school commences, is wholly unreasonable, unacceptable, and unrealistic.

Many parents, since the initial communication by the school regarding the introduction of the new sixth form uniform, have individually expressed their dissatisfaction directly to the school but amending the availability date twice is not encouraging the buy-in of parents.

Even recent attempts to contact relevant staff in the last few days have proved very difficult and unproductive.

With the new uniform only being available to purchase from 30th August 2023, we believe the school is inflicting unnecessary pressure and difficulty on parents and pupils, who will need to purchase additional clothing such as shirts to complement the uniform before the start of term on 5th September.

There are also many questions that are being asked, including how will the suit fit me? will the trouser length be long enough? Will the trousers come in different fits? To date, none of the answers seem to have been addressed, available, or forthcoming from the school. All we have seen recently are a few amateur photographs which do not provide all the items or any specific detail whatsoever.

We do believe the school has the interests of our young people in mind but as a collective group, we propose that the roll-out of the new sixth form uniform be deferred by a full school year until it can be available through the usual Schoolcoloursdirect route. This would be the most pragmatic and preferred approach.

This deferment would allow parents and pupils the time to purchase the uniform in an organised and timely manner and provide the pupils a suit they will be proud to wear.