Pupil 'in isolation' due to hair style.

[OrmRenewed]

DD of colleague is just about to do her GCSEs. She has her hair dyed blonde and black. It is a bit odd but not extreme in any sense of the word. It is against school dress code but it's been that way since last April. Now, out of the blue, she is in isolation and not being taught at a really important time academically.

Colleague is spitting feathers. What is the best thing to do? She can't 'undye' her hair. Can they exclude her for this?

Hmm, has she been told off about this before? Has, perchance, the information that she's been warned about it not been filtered through to the parent? Had she maybe told the head that she would get rid of the dying next time she had a haircut and then not followed through on the promise? (Can you tell I used to teach that age group?)

Teenagers, especially the bolshie ones, have a stunning capacity for keeping things from parents. I once had parent who could not understand why his son's attendance record was so bad. It turned out he dropped his son at the gates every morning. The son waved him off then wandered off to the local cinema for the day, returning only in time to intercept the leters about his attendance. It came as quite a shock to him when it was brought up at the parents meeting.

Other reasons for the sudden application of the rules: OFSTED inspections, new parent tours, other students seeing her get away with it and trying it on themselves, a governor seeing the hair and kicking up a stick etc.

slug - "Hmm, has she been told off about this before? Has, perchance, the information that she's been warned about it not been filtered through to the parent? Had she maybe told the head that she would get rid of the dying next time she had a haircut and then not followed through on the promise"

yes to all of that I suspect

But I still don't think it's more important than her GCSEs. However a compromise has been reached with the parents involved this time to police it.

There was a long running court case saga on hair in a school in Northern Ireland, and I can't remember the outcome...or if it went as far as European courts. If your colleague googles Ballyclare school hair it might give some leads on the UK situation. I am in the republic of Ireland where there is an annual hairstyle saga on the radio talk shows every year at exam time!