Parent calls for policy change over haircut

Emma said she tried to call the school on Friday to explain why her son’s hair was so short

A mum is calling for the school uniform policy in Guernsey to be changed after her son was disciplined for having his hair shaved off.

Mum-of-five Emma said the haircut followed a mishap with some clippers which left her son Lewis with a bald patch that had to be "evened out".

All state-run schools in the island have a uniform policy which includes a rule that hair must be no shorter than grade two or 1/4in (6mm) in length.

Emma said she was upset Les Varendes High School did not call to listen to her explanation before taking Lewis out of classes on Friday.

"If the child's in school does it matter - they are there to learn it’s not a fashion show,” she said.

The mother said the short haircut had happened after Lewis decided to cut his own hair using clippers but the "grader snapped and came off".

She said they then made the decision to shave it all.

Lewis said the clippers broke off as he tried to give himself a trim

Emma said she tried to call Les Varendes High School before 08:30 BST on the Friday to explain why her son’s hair was so short but initially had no reply.

She said she then got a message from Lewis to say he had been removed from his classes and put in isolation.

Emma said she was angry her son was missing out on normal lessons and told him to come home for the day.

"I spoke to the isolation teacher but got nowhere, he just kept saying it was the head teacher's decision," she said.

"I wanted to let her know it wasn't Lewis's fault - it was an accident."

A spokesman from the States of Guernsey Education Department said behaviour and uniform policies were published on school websites and included a rule that hair cuts must be grade two length minimum.

He said: "The student was not excluded, their parents decided to remove them from school... all students must be treated the same."