Dad slams school as ‘woke' after they asked him ‘not to wear gorilla costume or horse mask to pick daughter up'
Chris Napthine dressed up to collect his seven-year-old daughter Addie on her last day of term as a "bit of fun".
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He pulled up to Hertford Vale C Of E Primary School, in North Yorks., in the gorilla costume - after previously donning a horse's head mask.
But the 47-year-old was told it posed "a serious safeguarding concern" and was asked not to wear it again via a "snotty" message.
The dad-of-two, a self-employed horse dentist and farmer, said: "It's a little village school and I live just opposite it.
"I went there, my son went there and now my little girl does.
"I was just trying to embarrass her. She's always saying, 'Dad, please don't embarrass me'.
"The other day I put a horse's head on, so on the last day of school I put on a gorilla outfit.
"Then, I got this snotty text off the school, saying it's a 'serious safeguarding issue'."
The text, shared by Chris, read: "Please do not come into school in a costume or mask.
"This is a serious safeguarding issue. It has also upset some of the children & caused concern for adults."
But Chris slammed the school for being "woke" and claimed he was "just trying to have a bit of a laugh".
He added: "How is that a safeguarding issue? Where is it going to end? Are the kids not going to be allowed to dress up?
"I really didn't like the way they worded it.
"I was just trying to have a bit of a laugh, but the school have taken it dead serious.
"I messaged them back, but they didn't reply.
"I just thought it was ridiculous. Safeguarding is about the safety of the kids.
"A dad in a gorilla outfit is not a safeguarding issue - let alone a 'serious' one.
"It's taking the p**s. I've had lots of messages of support, saying: 'What on Earth is this country coming to? A kid can identify as a cat but a dad can't dress up as a gorilla'.
"That's what dads do: embarrass their daughters. I'm always playing jokes and messing about.
"It's just a bit woke."
The school has been contacted for comment.
This comes after another dad hit out when his daughter was banned from a school's cultural diversity day — for wearing a Union Jack dress.
Heartbroken pupil Courtney Wright, 12, was told: 'You get to celebrate being British every day, this is for everybody else.'
The Year 7 pupil teamed her dress — similar to the one worn by Spice Girl Geri Halliwell in the 1990s, below — with a matching bowler hat.
She also planned to read a speech celebrating tea, Shakespeare, fish and chips and the royals.
But the grade-A student was stopped by teachers who gave her the option of wearing a second-hand uniform instead.
Courtney refused before her dad Stuart Field, 47, arrived to collect her from Bilton School in Rugby, Warwickshire.
He slammed the school for 'virtue signalling' and said he had since received a grovelling apology.
The dad of five told The Sun: 'Her head of year bizarrely said that if she had worn a suit of armour or a nurse's outfit, she probably would have been allowed. It's ridiculous.
"The irony is they were having a cultural diversity day and yet they singled out a group of people.
'She's a grade-A student and they have vilified her and punished her for being proud of being British.'
The school was later forced to close following "extremist threats".
It announced it was closing "in the interests of student and staff safety" following threats.
The school released a letter to parents on Thursday in which is said it was receiving " extremist abuse online and via our telephone systems".
Headteacher Jayne Delves and Ranjit Samra, CEO of Stowe Valley Multi-Academy Trust, both said that members of staff had been threatened.
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