School who banned girl’s Union Flag dress forced to shut early after threats

The father of a girl sent home for wearing a Union Jack dress has said he is ‘disgusted’ that ‘threats’ have forced the school to close.

Bilton School in Rugby, Warwickshire, said ‘extremist abuse’ meant they were shutting early, before the last day of school on Friday.

Teachers had put Courtney Wright, 12, into isolation last Friday after she chose to celebrate being British with a Union Jack dress

The decision prompted a wave of backlash after dad Stuart Field posted about what happened on Facebook.

Stuart received dozens of messages of support and won the support of the Prime Minister, MPs, and also Tommy Robinson.

The board of governors and the headteacher also personally said sorry to the 12-year-old.

But a string of threatening messages has forced the school to close before the last day of term on Friday.

In a letter sent to parents, Bilton school said the decision was ‘in the interests of student and staff safety’ after they experienced ‘extremist abuse online and via our telephone systems’.

Staff had also been threatened, explained Ranjit Samra, CEO of Stowe Valley Multi-Academy Trust and headteacher Jayne Delves.

The letter continued: ‘The nature and tone of this abuse has escalated in recent days.

‘While we have been working closely with our multi-agency partners to address the situation, our primary responsibility remains the safety and wellbeing of every child and member of staff.

‘This is not a decision we have taken lightly. We understand the disruption this may cause to your families and your child’s education, but the safety of our school community must come first.’

Courtney’s dad Stuart had told Metro that he and his daughter were horrified at how events had unfolded.

He said: ‘We don’t agree with any threats of violence or protests at that school. I am very disgusted by anybody threatening violence at anybody over this whole this.

‘We never asked anybody to send out threats of violence.’

The school pupil, who has received hundreds of messages of support from across the world, is also upset that the last day was cancelled.

Stuart added: ‘She is sad to miss the last day. These protests have a negative effect on Courtney as well.

‘This is not anything that we wanted. We wanted to make people aware about what had happened at the school.’

The row broke out after Bilton School held a ‘Culture Day’ in which they’encouraged students to consider wearing attire that reflects their nationality or family heritage.’

Dad Stuart said the school’s actions went against this message when Courtney was not allowed to wear the dress, which was similar to the one worn by Spice Girl Geri Halliwell at the Brits in 1997.

She had also written a speech about history and traditions for the day, but was never allowed to deliver it.

A spokesman for Stowe Valley Trust apologised at the time, saying: ”We deeply regret the distress this has caused and offer our sincere and unreserved apologies.

‘We have since spoken directly with the pupil and her family to listen to their concerns and reflect on how this could have been handled better.

‘We are committed to learning from this experience and ensuring that every student feels recognised and supported when expressing pride in their heritage.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.