Shortly after entering the school premises, Mr Williams, the head of sixth form, saw Madigan. “I was pulled over for my uniform,” she said. He took her to his office. “He said my dress code was incorrect. I said I identify as female, so this is the correct dress code for me.”

Boys at the school’s sixth form have to wear a shirt, tie, blazer, and trousers. Girls can wear a skirt or trousers.

Williams brought in Madigan’s “pastoral manager” to discuss the situation. St Simon Stock school's website says it “prides itself on the quality of its pastoral delivery”.

The conclusion of this discussion was clear: “They said I was breaking the dress code and I had to go home. At that point I was pretty panicky,” Madigan said. This anxiety began to rise; she did not feel able to respond, and anyway, she added, she doesn’t like confrontation. “I just went.”

At 14, Madigan realised who she was. “It’s always something I knew subconsciously,” she said, “but when I learned the term [transgender] it just clicked.” She eventually told her mother, over dinner, and then in January this year she told her friends at school. The reaction was really positive, she said. “They thought I was really brave for coming out, for being who I am.”

The school’s reaction to her new uniform, therefore, shocked Madigan. “It made me feel that something was wrong with me. You think maybe you’re the problem. It’s alienating. You think school is supposed to be there for you and when that happens it breaks your trust.”

Madigan didn’t go straight home – she was worried she would be in trouble with her mother, so she left the school grounds and wandered round the shops, stalling for time until the inevitable conversations had to happen. By the time she returned home, the school had already phoned her mother to invite them both in for a meeting the following day.

“I was being treated like I’d done something wrong,” she said. Clear what was expected of her, Madigan arrived at school the following day – with her mother ­– wearing the boys’ uniform. It was like going backwards, she said.