There has been a MASSIVE hoo-ha down south at a school where a headmaster sent kids home because they were not wearing the correct uniform.

Shouty parents have filmed each other yelling at the gates, tearful children have been photographed pointing woefully at the offending shoes/trousers/skirts and the head teacher has been giving interviews in newspapers, on telly, on the radio – no matter how many times you ask him, he is sticking defiantly to his position.

I reckon it’s a bit of a storm in a teacup, but I have form in this matter. In my sixth year at high school, I wrote to the local newspaper when a bunch of my classmates were pulled up publicly for looking a bit of a state at school.

I wasn’t defending them, far from it. I agreed with the teachers, in fact, and in a slightly snotty and definitely irritating few paragraphs told my fellow students to man up, take pride in their school and get over themselves. (I’m paraphrasing. I wasn’t that brave).

The point is, wearing uniform isn’t that big a deal, is it?Apart from the really obvious benefit – that it gives a school an identity, something pupils can aspire to belong to, and what on earth is wrong with that? - it also removes the pressure surrounding what to wear to school. In our 21st century world, where image matters so much, a school uniform creates a level playing field.

I don’t think the headmaster at Hartsdown Academy in Kent is being too harsh – after all, he did tell parents before the summer holidays what was going to happen if kids turned up in uniform that didn’t meet the rules. They had a couple of months to get the right stuff if they didn’t have it already.

It’s also a little bit crazy that the police were called and parents started protesting outside the gates. Since becoming a mother of school-age children, I know how hysterical some parents can become about the most minor of issues, but what was happening at Hartsdown was ridiculous.

After all, much was made of how much education the kids were missing because they were refused entry to the school. Maybe those parents who stood shouting themselves hoarse at the gates for two hours, could just have popped home, got the kids’ changed and headed back to school instead.

Just saying - there are probably more important things to get wound up about...