Courtney Wright, 12, wore a Spice Girls-esque dress and wrote a piece about history and traditions as part of the diversity day celebrations at Bilton School in Rugby last Friday
Parents at a school where a girl was turned away from a diversity day celebration for wearing a union flag dress are outraged over her treatment and have called on the headmistress to apologise publicly.
Straight A student Courtney Wright, 12, arrived at Bilton School in Rugby excited to show pals her Spice Girls-style dress, which features a union flag made out of red and blue sequins.
However, on arrival, she was isolated away from the rest of her class, removed from her lesson and forced to wait at the school reception until her fuming dad could pick her up after work. The youngster had also spent days preparing a speech about history and traditions, which she was barred from giving.
Now, parents of the girl’s schoolmates have spoken out, branding the episode “disgusting”, while others noted the school had only specified that football strips would not be allowed.
“What kind of message does this send out to the local community?” one father asked.
“Cancelling a child because she’s proud of her British heritage is outrageous. It’s the head mistress who needs cancelling and who needs to stop hiding behind the school trust and make a public apology.”
One dad, 44, whose 12-year-old daughter is in the same year as Courtney, told the MailOnline: “I couldn’t believe it when I saw it on social media. It’s disgusting if you think this was supposed to be about celebrating diversity. My daughter wore a tie made of the family tartan because we are Scottish and nothing was said about that.
“It’s a medium multi-ethnic school and there were other pupils who wore traditional Asian dress and headwear which was acceptable, so why not allow a union flag dress?”
The school’s Trust has since apologised for the incident – but some say it’s too little too late.
One mum said that the majority of parents are backing Courtney’s dad in the row, adding that her daughter had heard the 12-year-old was removed because the school celebrates British culture on a daily basis.
In a statement yesterday, it appeared as though the Prime Minister is backing Courtney and her dad too.
A spokesperson for Number 10 said: “I think the school has put out a statement on this so I’m not going to comment further, but the Prime Minister has always been clear that being British is something to be celebrated.”
Dad Stuart said the school’s actions went against its message and other pupils with St George’s flags and Welsh flags were also turned away from the school gates. He said: “Courtney was so embarrassed and couldn’t understand what she’d done wrong. It’s the school who have made it political and it went against everything the event was being held for. She chose the dress and wrote the piece off her own back.
“They day was to celebrate everyone’s cultures and Courtney chose this Union Flag dress so she could celebrate hers. She also wrote this speech to go with it and was very proud of what she’d done. The next thing I get a call at work at around 9am to say she’s not allowed in school dressed like that and that it was unacceptable.
“I wasn’t able to get away from work until about midday. They made her sit in reception all morning in front of the receptionists and kept her in isolation. She should not be made to feel embarrassed about being British. And she shouldn’t be punished for celebrating being British – nobody else I’ve spoken to can quite get their heads around it.
“Somebody at the school has politicised a Union Jack dress even though that was clearly not Courtney’s intent. Courtney didn’t do anything to be political. It’s about being British, the Spice Girls and even the freedom at being able to wear a dress. This is just what being British means to her.”