We have an OTT boys slightly dyed hair rumpus.

[GabbyLoggon]

These school squabbles turn up with a degree of regularity in the press.

This one is over a boy with slightly dyed front bit of hair.

the school an academy, said we will teach him seperately.

And added "we are very strict on uniform etc"

I suspect all the academy schools are strict on appearance. Is that right in your area?

God no!Am in Brighton though and your average school kid looks like kurt kobain but dirtier!

I would agree with that stewie. But I suppose some new schools think if we get o0bedience over small things it transfers to the larger issues. But perhaps a teacher can tell us.

Introduction of uniform (and adherence to uniform rules) is pretty high on the list when a team is sent in to turn around a failing school. May seem a fairly small matter to get tough on what students wear but sloppy attitudes to appearance tend to be indicative of sloppy attitudes elsewhere...

I worked at an enormous Birmingham school in a fairly tough area. The rules on uniform (and everything else) were really strict - a kid whose parents refused to stop him dyeing his hair was invited to conform or find a new school - but the students were significantly better behaved and the results were much better than the other local comp. I think you have to have zero tolerance on the minute details in order to have overall control, particularly in a big school

The only academy I know anything of is very strict on uniform. For the reasons you suggest, Gabby. It's very strict on lots of things. I have friends with dc there who love it, but in all honesty, whilst I admired some of what they were achieving, I found it a bit overwhelming.

They were incredibly, incredibly strict with us parents when we went to look around. And the school was silent. Really. I told a teacher friend that, and she said "Of course. All schools are quiet during lessons." But I visited a lot of schools, and none achieved this level of quiet.

The above is a bit sparse on details (!) but don't want to give away the school, and I suspect more elucidation might.

But the other thing to say is that it has achieved dramatic results, and my friends' children are happy, and find it a secure school, where they have been inspired ... .

It's pretty much SOP when you need to fix behaviour in a school - not just academies, although (IMhighlybiasedO they tend to bang on about it as a highly visible policy that doesn't require them to do anything to improve the education provision.

I've had several mates on FB seething this week about their kids being disciplined for disallowed hair colour, & as a teacher I've spent all week nagging kids...

IMO it's an obvious 'We are setting the rules & boundaries here, & being arsey will not be tolerated, whether it's students or parents' statement - it's coming from the same place as seating plans, say.

Personally I'd be inclined to comply with it; if you look at it in isolation, OK, it's petty. The bigger picture, though, is that schools which take a somewhat 'zero tolerance' line do tend to have better behaviour & better student outcomes.

Have now googled story. I have to say, that would get you sent home at my ds' (non-academy) school.

schools having rules on hair is nothing new - 15 years ago a kid i taught was sent home for a week till his hair gre back - he had what we then termed a tarantual on his head, now I know it was a Fimbles hairdo!

<a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=www.pkjmusicftp.com/pkjmusic/images/fimbles-3.jpg&imgrefurl=www.pkjmusicftp.com/pkjmusic/fimbles.htm&usg=__3RoDShwS-GtXk8TUSQuTg00zoU0=&h=426&w=500&sz=36&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=28hm2L2JRAtFkM:&tbnh=148&tbnw=167&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfimbles%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4DKUK_en-GBGB276GB276%26biw%3D1003%26bih%3D478%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=129&vpy=112&dur=2235&hovh=207&hovw=243&tx=108&ty=72&ei=ESGOTOvqJdSRjAeM1smjBg&oei=ESGOTOvqJdSRjAeM1smjBg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> here

oops! excuse typos!

Dd's school is quite relaxed on uniform. Local academy is very strict. Local academy has had riots. Dd's school are praised by Ofsted for their well behaved children. Ime you can look at a secondary round here and gauge instantly from the level of uniform how much trouble they expect from their students.