Jesse Thorns, Jennifer Guthrie and Fearn Bonner in their puffer jackets.
Photo / Supplied
Jesse Thorns, Jennifer Guthrie and Fearn Bonner in their puffer jackets.
Photo / Supplied
The school principal behind a controversial ban on puffer jackets has been backed by his principals' association, who say uniform policies can't be changed "at the whim of kids' fashion".
Motueka High School pupil and Students Council member Jennifer Guthrie, 15, is campaigning against the puffer ban.
The Year 11 pupil claims that the "expensive and poorly made" uniform-sanctioned jackets do not keep students warm, and complains the classrooms are cold during the day.
But school principal Scott Haines said neither the school nor board were aware of any complaints about the puffer jacket ban.
He also said the school's uniform policy was devised only after widespread consultation with pupils and parents. The issue has sparked widespread debate on social media and public forums today.
But Denise Torrey, president of the New Zealand Principals' Federation (NZPF), said it was an issue that Motueka pupils have themselves "amped up".
"The school did what they should've done; they consulted, developed a policy, and that's that really," Ms Torrey said.
"You can't consult on every policy every year depending on fashion changes.
"We can't be at the whim of kids' fashion."
If the students feel they haven't been heard properly on the issue, they should raise it with the board of trustees, Ms Torrey said.
Mr Haines told Radio New Zealand this afternoon it was a "fashion issue" rather than one of warmth.
"We're of the view that this is more of a uniform and potentially a fashion issue than a heating issue," he said.
The school had surveyed current and prospective students, staff and parents on uniform choices in 2012, he told Radio New Zealand.
The survey received 856 responses and the preference of jackets was addressed - with only 12 per cent wanting items that the school did not offer.
He said that at the time puffer jackets was the third most popular option, coming in behind hoodies and plain jackets.
"It was a very, very minor request from a very small subset of survey respondents."
There were four jacket options currently available to students, he said. Those were a Canterbury-style jacket that was lined and waterproof, a soft shell jacket that was lined and water resistant, the school uniform jersey and a Motueka High School polar fleece top.
The school had adopted the soft shell jackets in response to student feedback.
"Back in the day it was soft shell jackets that were the in item and the Board of Trustees sought and found an appropriate item to be added to the school uniform list," Mr Haines said.
"Here we are now in 2015 and things have moved and now puffer jackets are where it's at, so that will be something else for the board to consider.
"Student feedback is really important to us. Schools exist to serve the needs of our students and to meet the needs of our community, so that's very important to us."
Meanwhile, the online petition urging the school to let its students wear puffer jackets has almost reached its target of 500 signatures.
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