SIXTY-FIVE pupils were sent home from school yesterday, as a North-East comprehensive took an unprecedented stand on dress standards.

Students at Nunthorpe School, in Middlesbrough, were excluded for ignoring the strict policy about what they are expected to wear.

Last night, headteacher Debbie Clinton warned persistent offenders that they risked permanent exclusion unless they toed the line. She said pupils at the school had been disciplined for wearing tight-fitting white shirts, coloured socks and trainers.

Pupils outside the comprehensive said classmates were also suspended for wearing bobbles that did not match their hair colour and badges.

A warning was sent to all parents last October by Miss Clinton, asking them to support the school’s commitment to a high quality uniform. She sent another letter on Monday to reinforce the school’s zero tolerance policy for 11 to 16-year-olds.

Miss Clinton wrote: “We are passionate about high standards in all aspects of school life at Nunthorpe. A key feature of those high standards is our commitment to a perfect school uniform.

“The relationship between outstanding examination results, especially at GCSE, and a strong, rigidly enforced school uniform is clear and proven across the county.”

Miss Clinton said first-time offenders would be sent home to change immediately.

It was school policy to formally exclude pupils who disobeyed uniform rules because persistent disobedience would not be tolerated, she added.

“The ultimate sanction in such situations is that we will consider a permanent exclusion for persistent offenders,” she said.

A parent at the school, who did not want to be named, said he fully supported the headteacher” s stance.

“Children have to understand that rules are there for a reason,” he said.

Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education, said: “If the school is to enforce high standards then it is necessary for them to take this action to prove a point.”

Keith Cotgrave, North-East spokesman for the National Association of Headteachers said the Government was supportive of children wearing school uniforms.

“Ultimately, it is up to the school and the governing body to set their own rules about what the pupils should wear,” he said.

On its website, the Department for Children, Schools and Families states: “Where a pupil repeatedly refuses to comply with school uniform policy even if they do not otherwise display poor behaviour, we believe that exclusion could be an appropriate response, depending on the circumstances of the case.”