The first term of the new uniform regulations began after the Easter break. Rules regarding overcoats had also been tightened up, with both boys and girls wearing the school double-breasted ‘dress’ coats which just and so covered both the boy’s shorts and the girl’s skirts.
It’s safe to assume every boy felt nervous and self-conscious on their first day back at school, their short culottes hung more like a skirt and coupled with white knee socks and black t-bar sandals, they were dressed almost identical to the girls and they knew it. Some of the boys complained at how cold their legs felt, in spite of it being springtime. This gave the girls an edge over the boys, being used to wearing their skirts all through the winter, and either teased the boys for being soft or suggested they wear tights instead of their knee socks!
The strict uniform rules had an immediate positive effect on some of the boy’s work and attendance; regular truants stayed in school and the usually boisterous boys kept their heads down, Neville Hughes included. After the first 18 months, Ashford Academy achieved record pass rates and the Ofsted report put the school high in the national league tables.
The tabloid press had a short-lived field day when they got wind of the new uniform rules the school had adopted, with headlines such as ‘Boys Will Be Girls’ and ‘Bonkers Head Bans Boys Pants!’. The broadsheets however printed more rational articles and prompted serious debates about the benefits and drawbacks of the new uniform rules at Ashford Academy. The issue was also raised on Radio 4’s Any Questions and Any Answers programs.
Although many locals began to nickname Ashford Academy ‘the girl’s school’, it was well known that the school was a very good one. So much so it was becoming increasingly hard to get a place for those outside of the school’s catchment area. In two years, Ashford Academy has risen from a good school to an excellent one and as such has become a popular choice for parents… yet the last place on earth any boy in the town would choose to attend.
