To wonder how a school could get this so wrong

[Hingeandbracket]

And not admit it.
www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/newsbeat-45521094
I am not quick to shout racist but this seems pretty clear cut.

Not only does the school not seem to have handled this well in the first place, the payout came direct from the diocese of London meaning the school and staff haven't actually accepted any liability and still don't admit being discriminatory.

No, they didn't apply to everyone. It applied specifically to those with afro hair. Hence the discrimination hmm.

So what about the daft pineapple styles that some girls without Afro hair, did the school allow those and not allow natural Afro hair - in which case, yes it's racial discrimination.

I can't understand why schools seem to so often fail spectacularly at applying common sense to uniform policy etc.
They should just stick to teaching the curriculum.

Absolutely discriminatory. At my school, hair is not policed beyond pupils putting their hair in a ponytail for PE, Science and ADT lessons. There is no evidence to suggest pupils learn better with their hair styled a certain way.

Schools get things spectacularly wrong all the time. You only have to read the SEN boards to know how discriminatory some schools are.

Is it racist? bearing in mind most schools have strict rules on hair styles anyway?

Of course it’s racist. She was repeatedly sent home because her hair was “too big”, like she could change the texture of her hair. The only way to make it less “big” would be to cut it short. Would the school say a white girl’s hair was “too long” and needed to be cut?

My daughter has lovely bum length blonde hair

at your daughter’s superior blonde loveliness being mentioned in a thread like this

@bettybattenburg, the key words in your post are 'style' and 'natural'. One is a choice, the other is not.

The only way to make it less “big” would be to cut it short

Why would she need to cut it?

Tie it back. Put it in a protective style, which would also save time in the morning. Seems like she doesn't know how to care for her afro hair.

Are tall boys told off for preventing others seeing the board? Not unusual for the tallest and shortest people in the class to be over a foot in height difference. What about overweight kids? Girls with buns or high ponytails on top of their head?

The school were obviously being racist when they specified Afro hair rather than hair in general and should have apologized to the girl who was constantly being hassled by what nature deemed her hair should be like. Nobody should have to spend hours and £££££ straightening, relaxing, braiding etc This girl will be under pressure to do that once in the work place.

I agree OP. It’s also part of a wider culture of oppressive practices in some ‘high achieving’ academies, when you give unreasonable power and control over young people you will inevitably cause all kinds of misogyny and racism to flourish.

I feel sorry for the school

Really?! I feel sorry for a child whose school deemed that her right to an education was less than her peers because of the shape of her natural hair?! Christ.

In this day and age. You would think you were reading something from the Windrush era reading that.

I think this whole obsession that schools in england have with childrens' hair is bizarre full stop.

Why does an establishment that a child spends less than 20% of their week in get to dictate how that child looks for the other 80%?

I'm ambivalent about uniform but if there is a uniform that should be worn during the school part of the day fair enough. Health and safety applies to hair, should be tied back during appropriate lessons (PE/Science experiments/cooking etc.

How would you feel if school told you how DC have to look in the evenings or weekends or what PJs they should wear? You'd tell then to get stuffed wouldn't you? So why are parents allowing school to tell them how long or short a child's hair should be? Or what colour it is or whether they can grow a beard for that matter.

Why didn’t they just move her if she was blocking the view of others ?

There's nothing racist in adhering to uniform policy.

There is if it's a racist policy. Which this one is.

I have never understood schools that take extreme stands on hair; no cornrows, dyed hair etc, as long as kids are clean and tidy leave them be.

If her hair is obstructing a pupils view and disrupting their learning then of course she should tie it back.

Why would it be obstructing people's view any more than the backs and shoulders of tall kids? Should they be made to sit on the floor?

Tall kids/kids with bigger hair etc just change the seating arrangements surely the school could have done that ?

I assume tall boys are banned from attending?

I can’t believe some people are actually saying she should follow rules from some random school in Nigeria, I’m amazed at how openly racist some people are.

There not allowed to move them because that's racist too!

Nonsense. As usual, people who cry racism never seem to have a clue what is or is not racist. And for some reason they tend to be unable to spell, either.

That should have referred to people who support racism, not those who cry racism.

Her hair was "distracting" other people, just by being there sitting on her head.

Well, those kids are going to function brilliantly later in the real world, if they drop tools and crash their cars whenever someone with an afro walks by.

Except it's racist bullshit.

Any Competent and fair teacher would have recognised some kids couldn’t see past another pupil whether it was heigh it hair or some other physical attribute that can’t be altered and just made a different seating plan without mentioning reasons just moving things around

Why would she need to cut it?

Tie it back. Put it in a protective style, which would also save time in the morning

Why does she need to tie it back? Apart from, possibly, lessons like science or technology when some adjustments have to be made for safety, how does it affect teaching and learning in any way? (Please don't come up with the school's pathetic excuse in answer to that one).

She managed to have it tied up nice and tidy for TV this morning.

I think her hair is fabulous in it’s natural state and there’s no way she should be forced to do anything with it which takes hours and could damage it. Just sit tall students (who aren’t being discriminated against for blocking other students’ views) behind her!