Son's Hair

[whatsgoingon1]

I am a bit confused. My son came back today from school saying his teaching assistant told him he cannot join the games unless we cut his hair. This is not the first time his teachers comment about it. Can they make us cut his hair legally? It is not that long by the way, he looks like Ben from "Outnumbered"...

Private or State school? What does the Uniform code say? Is it an Army dominated school?

Its a regular State school. His hair is too short to be pulled back.

I am not sure what the code says, but my son hates haircuts, he had one last year, and it really traumatised him, he was crying for days and wanted to wear a hat all the time. It is his choice, not ours.

All long hair has to be tied back for PE ( health and safety!) whether worn by a girl or a boy.Perhaps this was what was meant. Some schools also do have rules on appearance, ie no tram lines in hair, no colours etc but there may also be some which have rules on length.

The op says it's too short to pull back. I would ask the Head about the uniform policy.If it's too short to pull back it should be fine.

So they can stop my son from attending the state school because I refuse to cut his hair? I am sorry, I am from a different European country, and still trying to get used to the system.

If it is long enough to tie it back, then do so, if not, it is not a problem and the teaching assistant doesn't have any authority anyway.

School policys on boys hair differ, at ds's school (current and secondary in September) it should be no longer then shoulder length, at his old school the head liked boys hair to be short.

I would go and talk to the class teacher and then the head. A teaching assistant may just be exceeding her authority.

Discuss the compromise they can come to.

Do girls with hair the same length have to have their hair back? How do they go about it? Do the girls have to wear a headband instead? If so, then I am afraid the same rules would have to apply. However, if the girls with the same length hair allowed to do games without is tied back the school is being unreasonable and I would be having a word.

Thanks for your replies, I will have a word with them tomorrow

"teaching assistant doesn't have any authority anyway. "

Can I take issue with this though? The TA has as much authority as any other teaching staff in the school to adhere to school policies and it is part of ther job to follow these up. TAs are there to be listened too just as much as teachers.

Now obviously if the TA is just making it up and has her own agenda then that is not on. Just the same as if a class teacher was making up new rules on appearance.

But if it is part of school policy then the teacher AND the TA is right to mention it and in that sense does have the authority.

When I was in primary the rules were that no hair should touch the collar and longer hair should be tied up or french plaited.

I have heard of schools telling children that both boys and girls need their hair plaited if they want it longer. I've not heard such rules from my DC's schools though, only that hair should be 'in a neat style'.

Sorry Hulababy, I assumed they would not have any authority and were there to assist the teacher in whatever capacity the teacher required. I would expect a TA to broach the subject with the teacher but not pass comment themselves, otherwise it may undermine the teacher if it goes unchecked.

I agree with Hulababy. Why should a TA need to "broach the subject with the teacher but not pass comment themselves, otherwise it may undermine the teacher if it goes unchecked".

I absolutely trust the TAs in my school to know and understand school policy, and therefore, support and carry it out with all children. After all, they have received the same training as me (teacher). As fellow professsionals, the TAs in my school would be likely to mention it to the teacher after the conversation, but there is no reason why they should have to subjugate themselves to the class teacher.

I thought that was the point of TA's sorry. I have misunderstood their role.

That's ok .

It's definitely worth checking with your ds's school what the policy is about hair length etc. I know that at my dd's school, any hair which is on the collar has to be tied up, plus hair has to be back off the face. This applies to boys and girls.

My son's school had a policy on how SHORT hair could be - nothing more than a "number 3"!!

Sorry but "After all, they have received the same training as me (teacher)."
How long was your training? Are you saying all your TAs have received at least a years training? A lot of TAs I know have received a week to 6 weeks. Some work with no training, and maybe not even having done the school induction (similarly for Cover Supervisors).

Some TAs may have worked in a different setting and assume the rules from there apply to the new place. So I'd check with the teacher, and find out exactly what the rules are and why. I agree with pony tails etc. for boys on safety grounds, btw.

Policies on hair length? Utterly ridiculous. Never heard of it here (London - state system, anyway).

Mummytime - I meant, training in school, on the school policies.

In fact, I think think all the TAs in my school (except one) have done their level 3 training as well. It's a challenging school, so appropriate training is considered vital.

In the school I work out all the classes have Level 3 qualified TAs plus we have some level 1s. And there at least 5 who are actually qualified teachers, myself included.

Some TAs - although obviously not all - are well qualified.

IME TAs do have this kind of authority and do not have to pass everything through the class teacher. I do speak to the teacher after a conversation, but not always before - esp for something happening here and now. Likewise the teacher will share such cnversations with me.

i would speak to the teacher

my son has longish hair and it has never been a problem
the school uniform code merely states that long hair must be tied up. as my son's is not long enough to be tied up i have presumed that means it is short enough! so i haven't done anything and it has been fine

afaik they cannot legally make you cut his hair, or exclude him from any lessons