Warwickshire school apologises to girl over culture day speech refusal

A school has offered “unreserved apologies” to a pupil prevented from making a speech at school about being British, while wearing a union jack dress.

The 12-year-old, who attends Bilton School in Rugby, wore the outfit for Culture Celebration Day on Friday.

Her father, Stuart Field, said: “My daughter felt like there was an issue, she felt like it was something she shouldn’t have done. That’s what is wrong about this whole situation.”

A spokesperson for the school said: “We deeply regret the distress this has caused and offer our sincere and unreserved apologies.”

Mr Field said in a Facebook post, he picked his daughter up early from school after the incident.

Discussing the reaction to the incident, Mr Field said he had had messages of support from across the globe.

“I’ve had hundreds of people reaching out to me from all over the UK, as well as Australians, I’ve had Polish, people from America all reaching out,” he said.

“And there’s a common thing – we should be able to send our kids into school to celebrate British culture and history.”

Mr Field said the school had now invited his daughter to come back in her dress and read a speech about why British culture was important to her.

But he told the BBC that she now “doesn’t want to wear the dress” as “she doesn’t feel comfortable”.

Mr Field added: “None of this would have happened had [the school] just followed their own policy of inclusivity and let everyone share a little about their culture.”

And he said: “I don’t think anyone from school really read her speech. It was more a case of ‘no, it’s not happening’.”

A since-deleted Facebook post from the school, which included a flyer for the Culture Day, said the event was dedicated to “recognising and celebrating the rich cultural diversity within our school community”.

“We encourage students to consider wearing attire that reflects their nationality or family heritage,” it said.

Any outfits that were worn had to be “appropriate for a school setting”, the post added, and had to hold cultural significance.

A statement from Bilton School said: “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 11 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.”

The school said it apologised, before the statement added: “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.”