Teachers at a school in Oxfordshire "stayed in their offices" as students protested against the gender-neutral school uniform proposal last Friday.

The Warriner School near Banbury, in Bloxham, has faced a testing few days after parents and pupils strongly condemned the school’s proposal to make it compulsory for all to wear “black tailored trousers” from September 2023.

Since the protest, executive headteacher Annabel Kay issued an apology for not consulting properly after the school was forced to call the police to shut down the mass protest organised by students.

Ms Kay has confirmed the proposed gender-neutral uniform change will instead be put to a “structured consultation with the whole community”.

READ MORE: Banbury headteacher U-turns over gender neutral uniform

However, the Oxford Mail has found that teachers decided to stay in their offices until the police arrived, rather than engage with the protesting students.

Police response officers were called to the scene of the protest and no arrests were made.

A parent of one of the year 11 pupils, Miriam Ager, told the Oxford Mail: “My daughter is in year 11 so will not be affected by these measures.

“However, she was shocked when we read the email on that Thursday evening and informed me that year 10 pupils had organised a protest on the Friday morning.

“As the protest wore on, she informed me that staff had made no attempt to engage with those who were leading it and had retired to their offices and called the police to shut it down.”

The Oxford Mail has reached out numerous times to The Warriner School to ask for a response to these allegations. 

Ms Ager said the letter which was sent out to parents on Thursday evening had a “real female shaming agenda” and was “contrary to the guise of being inclusive and respectful to all pupils”.

Oxford Mail: The Warriner School The Warriner School (Image: Newsquest)

She added: “I think the proposals were a thinly veiled attempt to pass draconian measures to limit access to choice and individuality, under the guise of ‘woke’ measures which purported to aim for a gender neutral approach."

The Oxford Mail has reported that two of the students involved in the protest were suspended and one of the students may still be expelled.

One of the students, who wishes to remain anonymous, said they missed their French mock exam because of their suspension and were not entirely sure what they had been suspended for.

They said: “Today, I returned to school expecting to have a conversation about my actions at the protest, which then did happen.

“I had told my head of year everything that I did and told them it was not me who threw the object.

“I then received a call from my dad telling me that the school has suspended me for the day and to go home.

“I’ve missed my French mock exam today which is not fair and this was just dismissed.

“I’m not sure as to what I was suspended for.”

The other student said they believed their punishment was a deliberate attempt to “get rid of all the instigators” of the protest.

Parents have called for the headteacher to resign over social media, after Ms Kay admitted the school “underestimated the strength of feeling on this issue” and recognised they had not “properly engaged or consulted with all parents and staff”.

A Thames Valley Police spokeswoman said: “We received a report of a disturbance at The Warriner School in Bloxham at around 9.10am on Friday, February 24.

“Neighbourhood and response officers attended to ensure the safety of students and staff.

"No arrests have been made.”