Girl treated 'like an animal' over Vivienne Westwood pumps

The 11-year-old girl was sent to isolation for wearing these shoes on her first day at school

A mum claims her daughter was treated "like an animal" on her first day of secondary school for wearing Vivienne Westwood designer shoes.

She told how the 11-year-old was put in isolation at Grace College, Gateshead, for breaching its uniform policy.

The mum said the girl and dozens of other pupils were made to sit on the hard sports hall floor for four hours.

Grace College said it reiterated "the importance of applying our rules consistently on issues like uniform".

Other parents, speaking outside the school in Low Fell, said children were pulled up or sent home for wearing other branded footwear or because they were the wrong style.

'Army camp'

"Education is more important than a pair of shoes," one grandmother told BBC Radio Newcastle.

"Everybody used to say 'send your kids here', now they will be pulling their kids out.

"It's like a proper army camp, it's ridiculous."

The mum of the 11-year-old, who the BBC is not naming, said the school had deemed the Vivienne Westwood pumps "unsafe" as they did not cover her entire foot.

She claimed her daughter was not able to get a drink while sitting in the sports hall or take her blazer off, and was forced to wait to get her lunch.

Grace College, in Low Fell, Gateshead, was formally known as Joseph Swan

"To me it just felt like all they wanted was to have the power and authority over these children and they were not treating them like human beings," she said.

"I know that there were a lot of other children that were either made to isolate in the same conditions, they were made to go home, or they were made to wear spare shoes out of a box."

She said she had bought the shoes before parents were told during the summer holidays that children could only wear a brogue-style shoe.

"I can totally understand that there is a uniform policy, I am not against that," she said.

"I have got strong feelings that that shoe is not acceptable.

"The majority of them have a heel on and I don't think a child should wear a heel for school, especially when they are walking around."

She criticised the school for how it handled the situation on her daughter's first day and said she was considering removing her.

'Pressures'

The school, previously known as Joseph Swan School, said it did not comment on individual cases.

It states on its website that all students must wear "plain, sensible black shoes" and "tags or logos are not permitted", while the top of the foot must be fully covered "for safety reasons".

"Our students and staff are enjoying a productive first week back at college and integrating into school life as we would expect," a spokesperson said.

"However, at the beginning of the new term there may be a small number of issues to address in any school.

"We reiterate the importance of applying our rules consistently on issues like uniform, not least for the vast majority of families who have sent children to school properly attired this week, and to ensure that all students feel welcome, safe and free from any pressures.

"When students need to put a uniform issue right, they are given an opportunity to do so. We have a supply of high quality new and nearly new uniform in college that we can share with students to support them to put this right.

"When it is not possible to put things right, we always contact parents to seek their support in doing so."