[WillowTheWhisp]

I may be wrong as I don't know the school in question (although I have a feeling that Busman does) but if it's like most schools then the uniform already caters for the muslim standard of body coverage. They are not supposed after a certain age to show bare legs or arms. Well the arms are covered by the blouses and jumpers. In many cases muslim and non-muslim girls wear trousers rather than skirts. This has been the case for quite a few years. Girls have a choice of skirt or trousers and a lot opt for trousers especially in the winter because they are warmer. My daughters wear trousers not due to religious beliefs but because they are more comfortable in them. They are school uniform so there's no problem. So are we simply talking about the headscarf? At some schools the headscarf is accepted and at others it isn't and like you say the family would have been aware of the school's policy on this when they made their choice of school. If they weren't then it was up to them to ask if it mattered so much to them. Hundreds of muslim schoolgirls don't wear the headscarf and don't regard it as an affront to their religion not to do so.

There's got to be some give and take here and I think it's about time those of us who wish to celebrate Christmas and Easter stood up for ourselves and insist that we be treated as equals. The stupid thing is that it isn't muslims or anyone of other religious persuasions who object - it's the narrow minded PC brigade with their "do-gooders" hats on again and they are too blind to see that they are doing more harm than good because they are offending far more people by banning these things than they imagine they would do by permitting them.