School ditches sandal ban after protests

Plans to ban sandals at an Auckland high school have been scrapped after a Facebook protest by students and supporters.

An online campaign was started last August after frustrated Takapuna Grammar School principal Simon Lamb said students had exhausted all warnings for wearing their sandals "incorrectly".

He said the college had talked with students for many years about "the need to wear the sandals well" - saying a possible ban had been threatened previously for continued non-compliance.

Outraged pupils launched a Save our Sandals Facebook page and urged parents to withhold their 2013 donations in protest.

More than 700 people joined the page and the school backed down, saying it would include the issue of sandals in a full uniform survey. An overwhelming 89 per cent of the 1600 parents, staff and students responding to the survey disagreed with the proposed ban.

Campaign leader student Abraham Trask-Coombs said pupils were buoyed by the development.

"There is so much that happens behind the scenes that most students often feel disaffected and disengaged," he said.

"This has been a great opportunity to show that students really do have a voice and can rally together when they believe in something."

- © Fairfax NZ News