Tamatea High School students (l to r) Chonetelle Knight, Emily Greene, Junelle Moyes, Mir Te Hau and Tobi Doyle-Solly
At the end of 2017 the leaders at Tamatea High School reviewed their uniform rules – especially given there was a lot of media attention on unisex uniforms.
In consultation with the students the school decided to change the school rule to allow the girls to wear short and long pants. Without a lot of fuss, the girls have enjoyed the option to wear trousers.
Many of the girls are still wearing skirts and stockings, but some who prefer pants are wearing those instead. Yr 13 student Chontelle Knight says ‘Pants are much more comfortable to wear.’ Junelle Moyes added that she prefers long pants in the winter because they are warmer than wearing a skirt.
Dean of Year 9, Josie Burdon, says ‘It’s great that our girls have the option to choose to wear pants. They’re comfortable, allow ease of movement, they’re warm and more importantly why shouldn’t they be allowed to wear them? Which work place doesn’t allow women to wear pants?’
Principal Robin Fabish added that ‘We’ve listened to our student voice and acted on their wishes. We work very hard to have an affordable, comfortable and practical uniform that our students are happy to wear so we spend less time policing who is wearing what and more time on learning.’
