A 16-YEAR-OLD said she was put in isolation at school and given detention after being told her skirt was too short.

Courtney Meredith has been told her skirt must be no higher than five centimetres above the knee at Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA).

The disagreement led to her mother Kirsty Owen and her grandmother protesting outside the school and then after Courtney returned she was kept in detention again as her skirt was still deemed too short.

Police officers attended PACA after the two women gathered with placards and started chanting outside shortly after the school day ended.

Ms Owen, 33, a full time mother, from Mile Oak, said: “My daughter’s school rules state that the skirt she wears must be five centimetres above the knee.

“There are plenty of other children at the school walking around with their skirts up higher than my daughter wears hers. "The school put her in isolation on a regular basis.

“It appears that it has just been a battle with the school and at such an important time for my daughter, during her GCSEs.

“I don’t agree that she should be missing this many lessons because of a skirt.”

Police said that no crimes were committed during the protest and that officers arrived at the school when most people were leaving.

As a result of Ms Owen’s dispute over her daughter’s treatment, she has informed PACA that none of her younger children will sign up to attend the school.

She added: “My daughter should just be able to focus on her work at such a vital stage in her education and I truly feel that teachers at the school aren’t dealing with my daughter as well as other pupils I have spoken to, in the correct way."

Katie Scott, principal at PACA, said: “It isn’t our policy to discuss any matter concerning an individual student in public.

“PACA is an inclusive, community school and all staff work hard to support all students in achieving their academic potential.

“Like any school occasionally a student makes poor choices and it is necessary to impose sanctions, which may range from detention to external exclusion if these continue.

“Throughout any process relating to a student’s behaviour, we have extensive discussions with parents and provide them with information on how they make a formal complaint if they feel that the matter has not been dealt with fairly.”

The principal said that no formal complaint has ever been made by the adults involved.

In the school’s recent Ofsted report, inspectors wrote “Pupils feel safe, are happy and make good progress”.