A mother says her children were banned from visiting the school playground because of their ‘extreme haircuts.
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28-year-old Claire Mitchell claims her two boys, 8-year-old Declan and 9-year-old Alfiee-Joe, were stopped from going to the playground at Silver End Academy because their school deemed that they had inappropriate hairstyles.
She says the school called her about Alfiee’s haircut but when she asked about her other child who also had the same style, the school prohibited him from going to the playground too.
“I got the phone call Monday at 2.30pm saying that Alfiee will be kept off the playground until his hair grows back because his hair is extreme,” she told Essex Live.
“Literally when she rang me, she said it’s nothing to do with his behaviour, we are going to have to take them off the playground.
“I said ‘what about my other son?’ and they said ‘oh we hadn’t noticed’. I kind of dropped him in it.”
The mom-of-two claims that Alfiee is now confused and anxious.
“He had a brilliant week, he was really good in class -the teacher told us how good he had been,” she continued. “We took them for a treat and then for a haircut. Then on Monday he is pulled out of the playground.
“He has social anxiety. I do not know how long it will take – it takes roughly four or six weeks to grow back.
“If they are going to keep him in that long he’s going to be scaling the walls. It’s just a bit over the top.
“Alfiee stayed up until 11.30pm last night worrying because he didn’t want to go to school. He sits and worries about things.
“My other son – he is a model student – is devastated he is now being punished for a haircut.”
Claire said that her boys had the cuts for some time and even some teachers praised their appearance. “I have had parents say their kids have the same hair style, my barber shaved a parting into it so it didn’t go in their faces.
“The policy doesn’t specify what an extreme haircut is, it says no decorative designs. They asked for designs but I said no – I don’t see the problem with a parting.
“I do not want to send them to school looking scruffy, I want them to represent the school and look smart.
“If it was going to distract other children then they are happy with them in the classroom, so they have to stay off the playground?”
Headteacher Simon Webb said: “Whenever we have new parents come into any one of our academies we take the parents through the home school agreement.
“It’s a set of statements which we believe are agreed between the home and school in terms of uniform, behaviour and general support the school can offer parents and advise parents. We are open to anyone coming in with any concerns and any worries.
“That school agreement is signed by parents before children arrive and 99 to 100% of the time we never have to refer to that. I think in this case the parents have chosen to take their boys and have their hairs cut in a way which is not appropriate to the academy and makes the boys stand out more than any normal haircut.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened. Rather than ask the children to stay off school like most secondary schools would, we take the children off the playground and sit in the library or a classroom with an adult who can supervise them. In this way they are safe and not punished.”
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