PARENTS whose children will be sent home if they do not conform to the “gender neutral” uniform have described the situation as “pointless and silly”.

Priory School in Lewes forced all pupils to wear trousers in 2017 after “concerns” were raised over the length of skirts and to cater for their transgender pupils.

At the time, the school said only new students would be required to wear the new uniform.

But then shortly before the summer holidays the school stated that all students, not just newcomers, will be required to wear the “gender neutral” uniform.

The school has warned parents that children still wearing the old uniform will be sent home from the first day of school this Friday.

But furious parents of year 11 pupils have said they will send their children into school wearing the old uniform anyway.

One parent of a year 11 pupil, who did not want to be named, said: “This is not about the uniforms being gender neutral.

“This is about children and parents complaining about having to buy completely new uniforms for only a few terms.

“It is not a good situation especially as it is my daughter’s final year of school and it’s really disruptive.”

There are thought to be about 20 year 11 pupils who will wear the old uniforms.

Parents say they plan to protest at the school.

The parent added: “The school made the decision to do this right at the end of term without any time left for us to sort something out – so it’s a bit like Brexit.”

Parents say they have been in discussions with the school about the possibility of a compromise.

And one parent said they were offered money towards the cost of the new uniform.

A spokesman for the Priory School said: “Our uniform is designed to be a practical uniform which encourages students to be ready to focus on their school work and activities.

“Our uniform also helps us to dilute the status placed on expensive clothes or labels and challenge the belief that we are defined by what we wear.

“There are at least 40 other schools which have a similar uniform requirement.

“Our core purpose remains the quality of teaching and learning and we aim to achieve this by maximising the time spent on planning, delivering and evaluating the quality of provision.”