Girl, 12, given detention ‘for not wearing school jumper under blazer’ during UK heatwave

A 12-year-old girl was given detention by her school for ‘not wearing a jumper’ under her blazer on one of the hottest days of the year.

Ruby Reid, who attends Rivers Academy West London, said she was told off by teachers at the school gates for not wearing her jumper, despite the 28C heat last Thursday (7 September). She later ended up in detention.

Her parents Carrie-Anne and David Vickers have been left fuming by the incident - arguing that students could have fainted due to the temperature that day, and pointing out that teachers were all wearing summer clothes. Ruby is also said to be “really upset” by what happened.

Rivers Academy has since claimed that rules were relaxed at 10am, but Ruby says that she and several other pupils still ended up missing their break time as punishment for not wearing their jumpers.

Stepdad David, 39, said: “I just couldn’t believe it. I phoned up the school when she got home and was told it’s the ‘head’s policy’ and they needed to enforce it. It would have been incredibly easy for someone to pass out in that temperature - or even lose their life if they got too dehydrated.”

He added that the next day, the school “threatened” full 90-minute detentions for not wearing a jumper, with headmaster Luke Homer at the gates “enforcing the rules himself”.

Ruby put on both her jumper and blazer, Mr Vickers said, explaining that “she’s only young” and “doesn’t have much of a voice” - so “if an adult tells her to do something, she’ll do it.”

Mr Vickers is currently in the process of lodging an official complaint. He said: “I don’t know what the reason is - I don’t know if the rule is intended to cause harm. But in severe cases, it could even have led to lives lost. There are many good things about this school, but the uniform policy isn’t one of them.”

Meanwhile, mother Carrie-Anne said: “I felt angry, shocked, and disgusted when I heard about it. The school know these children are young and vulnerable, my daughter was essentially punished just for not wanting to put her jumper on.

“It’s beyond belief, it feels draconian. It’s not an isolated incident and it’s strange nothing is being done - if we have to be that voice to speak up for change then we will be.”

The school has denied that the 90-minute threat was issued, and also claimed no pupils were told they would have to wear jumpers and blazers “all day”.

A spokesperson for Rivers Academy said in a statement: “At Rivers Academy we believe that our uniform provides a sense of belonging and self-worth, which are central to our guiding principles. Our students take pride in their appearance and we hope that by instilling these values, we are preparing them for the professional expectations of the world of work.

“We asked students to arrive in full uniform on the day in question but by 10am, in accordance with our protocol, we’d informed them that the Academy had moved to a ‘no jumper day.’ This meant that all pupils could remove jumpers and blazers in the classroom so as to be able to learn comfortably in the unseasonable heat.

“No students were told on either day by the Principal or any other member of staff that they’d have to wear jumpers and blazers all day and there is no 90-minute sanction for uniform infringements.”

On its website, Rivers Academy states that it has “the very highest expectations in terms of uniform, behaviour, attendance and punctuality”.