Girl, 12, sent home from Bilton School after wearing Union Jack dress

A ‘straight A’ pupil was hauled out of lessons at Bilton School and put into isolation after wearing a Union Jack dress to her school’s culture day.

Courtney Wright, 12, wanted to celebrate being British with the Spice Girl-reminiscent dress during celebrations at the school in Rugby on Friday.

But school officials told the Year 7 student her outfit was ‘unacceptable’ and she was chucked of out class until her dad came to collect her.

Her dad, Stuart Field, 47, told Metro he has received dozens of messages from parents at other schools saying they had also faced similar issues.

He described how his daughter felt after she refused to change into a second-hand uniform and instead was sent home: ‘Courtney was so embarrassed and couldn’t understand what she’d done wrong.

‘She should not be made to feel embarrassed about being British.

‘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.’

Courtney had also written a speech about history and traditions for the day, but was never allowed to deliver it.

In it, she celebrated how Britain is ‘modern, diverse and always changing’, while speaking fondly of tea, Shakespeare, fish and chips and the royals.

The school had said the day was ‘designed to promote inclusion, understanding, and appreciation of different backgrounds, traditions and heritages’ in a permission letter sent to parents.

But Stuart said the school’s actions went against this message and thatother pupils with St George’s flags and Welsh flags were also turned away.

He added: ‘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.’

The school have now ‘completely u-turned’ according to the dad.

He told Metro the school now want to do a charity run with Courtney in her Union jack dress.

The board of governors and the headteacher also personally said sorry to the 12-year-old, who he says had never been in trouble before.

While Stuart is glad her daughter has now had an apology, he is concerned that what happened to her daughter is not a one-off in the UK.

He told Metro: ‘I must have had 30 people across the UK saying this has happened to them.

‘It has woken up the people about what has been happening to their children.

‘Courtney has also received so much support – hundreds of people have messaged her from Poland, the US, Australia and beyond.’

The dad said supporters have also flooded Bilton School with complaints, claiming it has caused the school’s servers to go down.

Bilton School was rated Good in an Ofsted inspection in 2021. It had previously been rated inadequate in 2019.

A spokesman for Stowe Valley Trust said: ‘At Bilton School, we are proud of the diversity of our students and the rich heritage they bring to our community. We are committed to fostering an environment where every pupil feels respected, valued, and included.

‘On Friday 11th July, an incident occurred during our Culture Celebration Day that caused considerable upset to one of our pupils, her family, and members of the wider community.

‘We deeply regret the distress this has caused and offer our sincere and unreserved apologies.

‘We have since spoken directly with the pupil and her family to listen to their concerns and reflect on how this could have been handled better.

‘We are committed to learning from this experience and ensuring that every student feels recognised and supported when expressing pride in their heritage.

‘As a school, we are reviewing our policies and strengthening staff training to ensure our practices reflect our values of inclusion, respect, and understanding for all.’

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