SCHOOL will be less of a fashion parade at Ilkley Grammar in future with the introduction of a new

uniform.

From September the dress code will be tighter and navy will be ditched as the predominant colour in favour of black and grey.

Black blazers bearing the school crest will become compulsory for girls and boys, as will a tie. And girls will be required to wear either a wrap-around, partly pleated, grey skirt, or specially designed, tailored grey trousers.

The new image will be launched as the school itself changes, under re-organisation, to admit pupils from the age of 11.

Leader of the uniform re-design, deputy head Maureen Shackleton, believes it will reduce pressure on parents and staff and allow pupils who might be pre-occupied with their appearance to concentrate better on their studies.

She told the Gazette: "I'm the mum of a son and a daughter. The son wasn't a problem in terms of his uniform. But girls are always in competition and the struggle to get teenage girls into appropriate school uniform is something I wanted to take away from the parents, the staff and the children themselves."

She added: "Parents do get bullied into buying what pupils want. But in future there will be no question as to whether someone is in uniform or not. We can then put our energies into them as individuals and they can put their energies into their academic and creative work."

Details of the changes are contained in the current school prospectus and consultation with pupils, parents, governors and staff has gone on over the past 18 months.

Some rules were tightened at the start of this academic year when trainers were banned and girls were required to wear skirts no shorter than six centimetres above the knee.

This remains the case with the new uniform which will also see girls and boys wearing plain white blouses or shirts with collars and plain V-neck pullovers with optional school badge. Boys will wear tailored, dark grey trousers.

The PE kit and 6th-form dress code remain unchanged and pupils in Year 11 will be able to wear the old uniform until they leave. There is no rule for bags, although rucksacks are preferred.

One of the few unresolved details is the design of ties.

Mrs Shackleton is keen to see the colour of a year group's tie remain constant as that group moves up the school, to maintain its identity.

Existing uniform stockist Dobson and Robinson, in Ilkley, will supply the full new uniform along with - Skool Clothing - a shop due to open in The Moors centre shortly. David Hanney, of Ilkley, supplies pullovers.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.