Castleview Primary School in Edinburgh has taken on an initiative to disband gender stereotypes and give pupils freedom to express themselves. The idea rose to prominence in Spain last year after a boy was expelled for wearing a skirt – November 4 has since been dubbed “wear a skirt to school day” in some Spanish institutions.

       The move has been criticised by some parents and many have urged teachers to take a back step.

       One mother called Meghan tweeted: “My son is five and just got this from the school! Let kids be kids.”

       Nicola tweeted: ”If a boy wants to wear a skirt to school, he should be allowed, but why put pressure on people to ask their son to wear a skirt or be seen as some sort of bigot?”

       Al Thornton tweeted: “You're a primary school, let them be children and stop forcing this toxic agenda on them.

       Teachers were also encouraged to get involved and wear a skirt.

       Students in P6 – equivalent to Year 6 – came up with the plan after being inspired by the story in Bilbao in October 2020.

       After the Spanish boy was suspended, two male teachers came in the next day wearing a skirt to show their solidarity.

       In a message to parents, Castleview Primary said: “We’re keen to spread the message that clothes don’t have a gender and that we should all be free to express ourselves as we choose.”

       DON'T MISS

       French admit UK 'holds all the cards' in Brexit fishing row [INSIGHT]

       Royal Family LIVE: Meghan uses Sussex title AGAIN in political move [LIVE]

       UK weather: Heavy rain and strong winds to hit next week [FORECAST]

       It added: "We want our school to be inclusive and promote equality.”

       City of Edinburgh Council, which runs schools in the area, also praised the move and said it is “fully committed to promoting equality and diversity”.

       A spokesperson said: "As Scotland's capital city we are fully committed to promoting equality and diversity, and are keen to increase respect, tolerance and understanding especially in our schools.

       "We want to ensure all our schools are inclusive and Castleview are carrying out a lot of positive work to promote equality across all their year groups.

       "As part of this work their P6s came across the 'Clothes Have No Gender' campaign which started in Spain last year after a pupil was expelled from school for wearing a skirt.

       "They asked if the school could do something similar to the show of support in Spain and raise awareness of what they have been learning in class.

       "The school has had positive feedback from parents however pupils don't have to take part if they don't want to."