A north London private school has drawn up plans to introduce gender-neutral uniforms in response to a growing number of pupils questioning their gender identity. 
 
 Highgate school currently has an option for girls to wear a grey pleated skirt, but the school is consulting on a mix-and-match uniform policy which will not specify a different requirement for boys and girls. 
 
 Girls can currently wear grey trousers or skirts as well as the dark blue jackets and ties which make up the rest of the uniform. Boys may not wear a skirt and also have to wait until they are 16 to wear earrings. 
 
 Adam Pettitt, headmaster at the school, told the Sunday Times: "This generation is really questioning [if we are] being binary in the way we look at things." 
 
 He said some former pupils had complained about the changes. "They write in and say if you left children to their own devices they would grow up differently and you are promoting the wrong ideas," he said. 
 
 Some parents did not know that their children were questioning their gender identity, he added, forcing the school to mediate between parents and pupils. 
 
 The school already allows children to request that staff address them by a name of the opposite gender, which around half a dozen have done. One boy has also been allowed to wear a dress to school. 
 
 Other private schools have already drawn up policies to deal with children who were questioning their gender identity. 
 
 St Paul's Girls' School has a gender identity protocol that allows female pupils to be called by boys' names and wear boys' clothes. 

 Image copyright Wesley Allen Image caption Some boys from a school in East Sussex wore skirts to school in hot weather last year as a protest 
 
 Boys could be allowed to wear skirts at a north London private school if a plan for gender neutral uniforms comes in. 
 
 Highgate School is considering mix-and-match outfits for pupils after head teachers said that growing numbers of children were questioning their gender. 
 
 The school, which charges up to £6,790 a term, has also been encouraged to allow unisex toilets and open all sports to all pupils. 
 
 Girls at the school can wear grey trousers, dark blue jackets and ties. 
 
 But boys are not currently allowed to wear grey pleated skirts, although they would be under the new proposed dress code. 
 
 "We are asking them, should it be called uniform number one and uniform number two?," said head Adam Pettitt. 
 
 He said the issue of a gender neutral uniform had come up during question and answer sessions with his A-Level students. 
 
 This generation of young people was really questioning the binary way people look at things, he said. 
 
 "We're therefore exploring how our uniform policy could evolve to cater for those who do want to match clothing to gender, as well as those who don't." 
 
 'Wrong ideas?' 
 
 He added: "In common with all other schools and youth organisations, yes, we are seeing greater numbers of pupils questioning gender identity than in the past. 
 
 "Having said that, in years gone by, absolutely no young people were raising it at all and it seems inconceivable that these sorts of questions simply didn't exist. 
 
 "The fact that there is significantly greater support and information available, both in schools and elsewhere, means that young people need no longer feel afraid to ask questions or speak out about their feelings. 
 
 "If they feel happier and more secure in who they are, it must be a good thing," he said. 
 
 Mr Pettitt said parents would be consulted before changes were introduced, but acknowledged that some former pupils had written to complain the school was "promoting the wrong ideas". 
 
 Co-educational independent boarding school Brighton College, where Mr Pettitt is a governor, has introduced a similarly gender neutral uniform. 
 
 Student equality groups have called for teachers to observe gender neutral speech codes and for a ban on phrases such as "man up". 
 
 And figures show a sharp rise in the number of young people seeking help to change gender. 
 
 Loophole 
 
 Highgate School is holding a conference next month called The Developing Teenager which will examine how teachers should approach issues raised by transgender and gender neutral students. 
 
 In 2011, 12-year-old boy Chris Whitehead wore a skirt to school because he was angered by rules at Impington Village College, near Cambridge, that did not allow boys to wear shorts in hot weather. 
 
 The Year 8 pupil said he researched the policy, found a loophole in the rules and turned up to school in a skirt. 
 
 The school pledged to review the policy. 
 
 And last summer a group of teenage boys wore skirts to Longhill High School in Rottingdean, East Sussex after being disciplined for wearing shorts on a very hot summer's day.
– Last year, a group of boys in the UK made headlines when they wore skirts to school after they were disciplined for wearing shorts on a very hot day. Now the private Highgate School in north London is considering a plan that would allow boys to do just that, reports the BBC, by transitioning its current uniform policy to a gender-neutral, mix-and-match approach. Boys currently have more limited options, as girls are permitted to wear gray pleated skirts or pants, as well as dark blue jackets and ties. "We are asking them, should it be called uniform number one and uniform number two?" says school head Adam Pettitt. The plan is taking some heat from former students, notes the BBC, who Pettitt says are complaining about "promoting the wrong ideas." The school says the issue has come up because more and more students are questioning their identities, as well as the traditionally binary view of gender. Pettitt says that "absolutely no young people" were raising the issue in years past, and it "seems inconceivable that these sorts of questions simply didn't exist." He adds that "it must be a good thing" if they "feel happier and more secure in who they are." The school currently requires boys to be at least 16 to wear earrings, reports the Telegraph, but it does allow one boy to wear a dress to school as well as all students to request to be addressed by a name of the opposite gender. Meanwhile, Brighton College has replaced its 170-year-old uniform with a gender-neutral one. (There's a transgender doll now, too.)