In a significant win for monkey bar acrobatics and schoolyard democracy, seven-year-old Kayleigh Dryden has successfully petitioned her school for the right to ditch her pinafore uniform in favour of shorts during the summer months.
Kayleigh who goes to Dunedin's St Francis Xavier Catholic School, wrote to the principal and board outlining her frustrations with the pinafore's limitations, and detailing her case for shorts.
"The current pinafores we wear are too heavy, flappy and difficult, and are not ideal in the heat," she wrote.
"Here are some reasons why I would like the option to wear shorts. It's easier to play outside and hang upside down on the monkey bars, and to play games.
"It's easier and faster to get into PE uniforms, cooler, less itchy, and less likely to get caught on things."
Kayleigh told Checkpoint's Lisa Owen it was unfair that boys could wear shorts while girls could not.
School principal Carmel Jolly says they were "absolutely delighted" to get Kayleigh's letter.
"Part of our vision is to develop students who are confident problem-solvers, and Kayleigh is certainly that.
"She had stated her reasons so perfectly clearly that it just made sense to us, we didn't know why it hadn't happened before."
Kayleigh said now she has enjoyed the change to shorts.
"I can hang upside down, I can be free… It's fun and good on the monkey bars.
"I can get up on the very top, and I can swing down the pole that holds it up."
