Help - school / hair related. Any teachers to advise?

[gremLynn]

My DS has been growing his hair since the beginning of the year, but the sides and back are shaved and he now (over the summer) mainly wears it in a headband or a 'top knot' to keep it back/tidy.
At the end of the summer term he wasn't going to school with it like this as it wasn't quite long enough to be tied up, but he did wear the headband on the odd occasion during the last week or so.
Now it's much longer, it's easier to tie up, but I'm not sure if this will be classed as an 'extreme style' at school? Personally, it looks tidier tied up, and obviously they encourage girls to tie it up. But I'm nervous about sending him in like this, and to maybe use a discreet looking headband to at least keep it back out of his face but not quite as harsh looking as it being tied back.
Any teachers able to advise if this style is frowned upon? TIA

Surely it depends on the school
My school wouldn't have an issue with it

Agreed, I was just looking for a general idea

Lots of boys at my school tie their hair back - it seems a sensible thing to do! A lot of boys had pretty long hair before the hairdressers opened up when they returned to school in March and did what your son has done if they were hot/ had PE/ were running around etc.

I think it’s absolutely fine and it’s great that he recognises it probably needs tying up for school. He should be treated the same as girls with longer hair.

It’s normally weird colours, very very short or those blade patterns they don’t like. Longer hair tied up should be ok but you won’t really know until you send him

Totally depends on the school. Some schools that would be fine and others it wouldn’t.
Some schools have insanely strict rules about this kind of thing. What does the school policy say about hair? If it lists a whole raft of unacceptable styles, specifies length and seems restrictive then they’ll probably be the kind of place where this will be a problem. If it’s very vague then they probably wouldn’t consider it “extreme”. If he had the same cut before and it was OK, I’d be surprised if tying it up was considered to make it extreme. If they had a problem with the undercut I think you’d have heard about it in the summer term.

This totally depends on the school. I would email a picture to the Head of Year and ask them.

Are there not “hair rules” on the website? Does your son know what is allowed?

Ndn has hair like this (tidy topknot) and goes to a school with pretty strict uniform rules from what I can gather. Most likely it’s fine.

I’m presuming the OP is more worried about the undercut than the topknot/ponytail. I’d assumed this was about being worried that it would draw more attention to the shaved parts of his head.

I’d wait until someone rings to tell you it’s not appropriate!

I love individual hairstyles- but, I’m one lone teacher. Believe me, they’ll call if they don’t like it 😂

Round here they have gender-free rules.
Long hair has to be tied back or restrained, specifically for certain subjects.

@MadameMinimes

I’m presuming the OP is more worried about the undercut than the topknot/ponytail. I’d assumed this was about being worried that it would draw more attention to the shaved parts of his head.

Yes this. I'm thinking with a headband in, the undercut is covered up

A lot of schools wont allow less than a grade (2? the very shaven head one) anywhere visible on head. Can he wear it down or with nape of neck ponytail if undercut is very close shave.
Most school wont accept patterns or writing in the close shaven bit. Eg nike tick.

It's not long enough to be at the nape of his neck, just top knot height.
I'll send him with a headband on his first day, then a top knot another day.
I think they'll be fine. A precious poster asked what they listed as extreme, and it really only mentions lines shaved in etc.
They're fairly relaxed

Personally I think that this is an area where schools need to mind their own business, as long as they’ve not got a swastika shaved into it. I really don’t see how a child expressing themselves through a hairstyle affects their learning. And I think it sends a really poor message about diversity and tolerance.

Can a child actually be permanently excluded from school based on one of these policies? I’d be tempted to call their bluff on it.

@SweetBabyCheeses99
Children can be sent hime until it grows out. Or more likely, in isolation until it grows out.

OP dont worry, if the school is relaxed it should be fine. Above point is mainly for academies on power trips !

@SweetBabyCheeses99 Permanent exclusion is unlikely but isolation or temporary suspensions are not uncommon in certain schools. I’m a teacher, so not remotely anti-school, but agree that schools should not be policing their students’ hair to the degree that they often are. That’s leaving aside the policies that target styles worn specifically by children with Afro-textured hair.

It depends on the school. DS1’s grammar would say no, DS2’s school wouldn’t be too bothered (and couldn’t be as his head of house desperately needs a haircut and beard trim).

My dp goes to work in a corporate environment with shaved sides and a neat slicked back top knot ! It looks so smart with a suit, nicer than the alpaca curly top style so many boys/men have !

My DS often wore a headband (the thin black elastic ones that footballers wear) while his was growing out long enough to tie back properly. School had no issue as long as it was not causing any problems for science/dt/games.