A heart-warming story in today's Telegraph about a one-boy stand against the forces of complacency in his school. Chris Whitehead, a year 8 student, took exception to a school policy which prevented boys from wearing shorts in hot weather. But he had a sharp eye for loopholes, and he wore a skirt instead as this wasn't specifically un-allowed by the school policy. The school's head is reported as saying:
''Our uniform policy had a significant consultation and ours is typical of most schools in Cambridgeshire and the consensus was we were going to go for that. ... Ultimately the boys can wear a skirt to school because it doesn't say they can't in the uniform policy and we would be discriminating against them if we did not allow it."
Dear me! Sadly, he went further:
"Chris is a very bright and articulate student and we have got a very strong student council. He is one of only two year 8 pupils on it. I know he wants to go into politics and has got strong principles - so maybe Parliament is not the best place for him."
Chris's mother, Liz, is 50 – a fact which seems so important to the Telegraph that I pass it on.
I'm sure there will be a sensible outcome here - Jake is a governor at this school.