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Pupil 'segregated' over new hair style

A MOTHER is threatening to move her son to another school after he was separated from classmates because of his hair cut.

The head teacher of Gravesend's Riverview Junior School took the disciplinary action after Sally Wisdom allowed her nine-year-old son, Jack, to have a Nike logo shaved into his hair.

When Jack arrived at the Cimba Wood school with his new look last Wednesday head Rosemary Dymond removed him from class and excluded him from school the next day. He was allowed back on Friday, but remains apart from his friends.

Mrs Wisdom, of Franklin Road, Gravesend, said: "For a nine-year-old to be treated in this way and segregated is wrong. He wanted the hair cut. I agreed as I can't see anything wrong with it. The hair cut does not affect his learning ability. The head teacher said it was disrupting children and wanted me to shave his head. I'm not prepared to do that."

Mrs Wisdom, who claims she has the backing of other parents, said her son had asked her if he could be moved to another school. She said: "I'm looking for a new school in Medway."

Head teacher Rosemary Dymond defended her actions and stressed the importance of pupils' appearance to the school's image.

She said: "All pupils are ambassadors of the school and they carry the reputation of the school in their presentation and manners.

"The school sets high standards and places an emphasis on the smart appearance of both pupils and teachers." She added: "The school has not excluded this pupil, but has given him the opportunity to rectify his hairstyle or to take his lessons in a separate classroom away from his peers until his hair grows back."

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