NSW private school girls want uniform rules changed to include pants

Girls at an exclusive Sydney private school have started an online petition to overturn strict rules dating back more than 100 years.

Schoolgirls at the elite Presbyterian Ladies’ College are chafing at not being ­allowed to wear pants and want strict rules dating back more than 100 years upturned.

Public school girls are guaranteed the option of trousers and shorts under rule changes by the State Government in 2018, but many of their private school sisters are still bound by ­tradition.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she understood their plight.

“Private schools obviously have their policies in place and I was a schoolgirl and one of those schools and I would argue that young girls should be able to express their views,” she told 2GB.

“More strength to them, speaking up on what you feel strongly about is how you make change.”

A new petition by students at the exclusive Presbyterian Ladies’ College (PLC) at Croydon, where girls must wear a knee length Blackwatch tartan Scottish skirt or dress, calls for the ­opportunity to wear pants.

Prestigious PLC in Croydon, in Sydney’s inner west. Picture: Craig Wilson

Published at change.org, the girls ask for the pants to be an addition to the skirt “thus meaning they choose to wear whichever bottoms they want”.

Some of the arguments put forward in favour of pants for students argue girls have been held back from participating in sport and outdoor play because of the restrictive nature of dresses and skirts.

Under NSW Education guidelines for public schools “all students should have the opportunity to access the full range of school activities, ­including physical activities, while wearing a school ­uniform”.

A spokeswoman for PLC said the matter would be discussed at assembly and in a newsletter by principal Dr Paul Burgis.

“We are aware of the petition and Dr Burgis is in discussions about how this can be put through a formal process,” she said.

NSW Parents Council president Rose Cantali.

Barker College, Hornsby, principal Phillip Heath.

Skye Turner, 13, Nix Pryse Lloyd, 15, and Misha Sedelaar, 15, at Barker College, Hornsby where pants, shorts and skirts are all options on Thursday. Picture: Justin Lloyd

NSW Parents Council president Dr Rose Cantali said parents choose independent schools for a variety of reasons, including tradition and uniforms can be a part of representing that, along with discipline and values.

“I think parents are amenable to changes within reason and pants for girls, but it has to be looked at within each school and their community and the student body,” she said.

Barker College at Hornsby, established in 1890, has moved to coeducational by introducing girls, so the choice of a new uniform for them was crucial. Principal Phillip Heath said they ­decided to give the female pupils a choice of pants and shorts on top of a skirt. and the girls had “loved it”. Top designer Jonathan Ward was asked to come up with “more contemporary uniform of the classic Barker feel”.

“We also got the students to come and test drive the uniforms — make sure the pockets were in the right place, and that they could sit down on the floor without being embarrassed and stand-up without it being awkward. The kids are quite conservative,” he said.

“They did not want to radicalise the uniform. They cherished the long heritage the uniform has.”