A MOTHER has accused a school of being uncharitable after her daughter and four other pupils were sent home from school after dressing as St Trinian's girls to raise money for Children in Need -- on a non school uniform day. Julie Cockburn, of Ouseburn Road, Ewood, said daughter Samantha, 15, and her friends had dressed in their usual Darwen Vale High School uniform teamed with St Trinian's trademark ripped tights and hair bunches to help raise cash for the charity.

But Julie was stunned to discover Samantha and her pals had been dismissed from lessons and sent home shortly after arriving at school.

She said: "Samantha said the school had sent them home because they were dressed inappropriately.

"It's ridiculous as the girls had on their normal school uniforms, but had put on ripped tights to create the St Trinians' look.

"They didn't look much different from normal and certainly didn't look provocative."

She added: "The school was having a non-uniform day anyway, so I can't really understand what the teachers were thinking.

"My daughter and her friends lost a day's education and all their hard work planned to raise money for Children in Need was wasted." Samantha's fellow pupils, 15-year-olds Becky Carysforth, Hayley Maxwell and Pam Young, were featured in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's Children in Need picture round-up on Saturday after they decided to head into Blackburn town centre to collect donations - and raised £35 for the cause. Julie met with the school yesterday to find out why the girls had been sent home and was told the girls had been told by their form teacher to go and change their clothes as they were "inappropriately dressed." She said: "One of the other mums was contacted to say her daughter had been sent home to change, but was not told she was supposed to go back that day."

A spokesman for Children in Need said: "Obviously the girls must have been disappointed to be sent home when they wanted to raise money for charity, but the school must have rules on what is or isn't an appropriate way to dress.

"We are grateful to the girls who did raise cash and to the school itself for helping Children in Need."

Lynn Dunning, headteacher at Darwen Vale, said: "The pupils were invited to participate in a non-uniform day to raise money for Children in Need.

"We issued guidance to all the pupils that they should appear in smart casual dress and not have outlandish hair or make-up.

"The other 1,000 pupils all observed this, but five pupils came to school dressed inappropriately and were told by their form tutor to go home and get changed and return to school as quickly as possible.

"Three of the pupils returned to school appropriately dressed later in the day."