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A FRIMLEY school has apologised for "any concern caused" after a group of Year 8 girls had to lift their shirts to staff to prove they were not smuggling mobile phones in their bras.

Tomlinscote School, which has a strict policy against mobiles, made the youngsters show they were not carrying them in an incident which one parent said left her daughter "embarrassed and violated".

The girls, aged 12 and 13, were approached by staff at the school and told to surrender mobile phones, which led to some handing theirs in.

A ‘wand’ metal detector was used to scan the girls and a group of "about six" Year 8 pupils were taken to a PE changing area because they triggered it.

They had to lift their shirts to two female staff members to prove they were not hiding phones. The incident caused a stir online with parents complaining on Facebook.

One father, who asked not to be named, said he "fully supported" the school’s phones policy but felt the search went too far.

“My daughter felt embarrassed and violated for having to expose herself in front of other girls and teachers,” he said.

The school subsequently wrote to parents defending its actions.

The letter, from head of school Zoe Johnson-Walker, stressed it was a "screening" process rather than a "search", because it involved no physical contact, and she added it was done without male staff present and "with the aim of being considerate to the individual".

“After a number of incidents involving mobile phones in examinations and conversations reported to staff that girls were now carrying phones inside their bras, it was necessary to reinforce with Year 8 the importance of this issue,” the letter stated.

The letter added there were "long term health issues" raised by carrying phones in underwear and added pupils faced a three-year ban from exams if they were found to be carrying them during a test.

It also mentioned Department of Education guidance that said pupils could be searched for any item banned under school rules.

Mrs Johnson-Walker’s letter continued: “Some students in Year 11 have also experienced this screening, following public examinations. With such advanced technologies readily available to young people we, as a school, need to ensure that students understand the risks they are taking.

“I apologise for any concern this action may have caused as I take the views of parents on these issues seriously – but equally we must aim to address the challenges that technology presents us with.”

Ian Hylan, the school’s executive principal, said the chief inspector of Ofsted was strongly in favour of an aggressive stance on stopping mobile phones getting into schools.

“We were just enforcing the rules,” he said.

When asked what was setting off the ‘wand’ detector, Mr Hylan said it may have been wiring in the pupils’ underwear.

“Underwired bras were the probable cause,” he added.