VOTE: Parents urged to swap pyjamas for 'proper' clothes on school run

Kate Chisholm, headteacher at Skerne Park Academy, Darlington, made the appeal after she had noticed an increase in the amount of parents wearing nightwear to the school gates.

It also included wearing them to school assemblies and meetings.

In the letter she said: "I have noticed there has been an increasing tendency for parents to escort children to and from school while still wearing their pyjamas and, on occasion, even slippers.

"Could I please ask that when you are escorting your children, you take the time to dress appropriately in day wear that is suitable for the weather conditions."

She said her aim was to help set a good example for the children and said that so far she had received a positive response.

"I have had loads of support from the community and people saying it's about time something was done. I have had far more positive responses than negative.

"If I get the parents on board then we often get the children too and in order to get the best chances for the children we have to raise the bar with the parents."

Phil Naylor, a parent who has children at the school, said: "We all support the school and I hope this helps get the message across to parents.

"It's disgraceful, we should be guiding our children not giving them bad habits."

VOTE: Do you think it is acceptable for parents to wear pyjamas on the school run?Last week a headteacher in Somerset took similar actions when she wrote a letter to parents complaining of the "dirty and unkempt" state children were arriving to school in.

Judith Barrett, principal of St Michael's Academy in Yeovil, said she had noticed an increasing number of children coming to school "in a pretty shocking state".

The letter referred to it as a "pretty poor indictment of the parenting skills of some of our families" as she said many children were getting themselves to school while their parents were still in bed.