Row over uniform rules after pupil told to 'remove braids and put hair back to normal'

'Extreme' hair: Chyna, 14, said she was told off for having her hair in braids
Chloe Chaplain14 September 2016

Another row has erupted over school uniform policy after a girl with Afro hair was allegedly told to remove her braids and put her hair back to “normal”.

Fourteen-year-old Chyna Cowie-Sullivan returned to Fulston Manor School for the first day of term with the new hairstyle and said she was told that the 'do breached school uniform policy.

Now her mother’s petition calling on the Kent school to review its “outdated” uniform policy has had over 26,000 signatures in three days.

Fulston, in Sittingbourne, has said it is considering changes but added that Chyna was not asked to change her hair just because it was braided.

Her mum Leanne Sullivan wrote: “On the first day of term my daughter was told to remove her braid extensions and return her hair to a ‘normal’ style as the braids and extensions breached the school’s uniform policy.”

Ms Sullivan went on to say that her daughter had chosen to wear her hair in its “natural form” in braids, rather than chemically straightened, like many black or mixed race people with long Afro hair.

The school’s policy states that “extremes of hairstyles are not permitted in school” and gives examples of “inappropriate” styles as “extensions, beading, braiding and cuts shorter than no. two".

Ms Sullivan added: “The school uniform policy is out of date and conflicts directly with the school's equality and diversity policy, as my daughter's hair style reflects her cultural background as it does the other mixed-race and black students who wear braid extensions.”

Headteacher Alan Brookes confirmed that braiding was on prohibited list but explained that the policy was one that had been around for a number of years and had not been updated.

He said: “It is one of many policies we have at the school and it is a very old one. We sent a list of the uniform policies out in May, but naturally no one wrote back with any feedback, or we would have amended it then and there.

“After the incident, the pupil’s mother emailed us and made some very good points about the policy including the term ‘braids’ so we will take it to the first full governor’s meeting next week.

“A number of our black pupils now wear their hair in braids and have done so for a long time.”

He added that he believed the pupil’s hair was not considered appropriate for school because of the fact she had long extensions in, not the braids.

“Someone did not look at the pupil and think ‘she has braids in her hair so she should go home’,” he said.

“There were other possible reasons why her hair was deemed ‘extreme’. I suspect our new policy will be more general and leave it to the teacher to decide what is appropriate.”

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