A mother has spoken of her anger after her daughter was excluded from classes because she dyed her hair ginger.
Shaunni Barker, 15, coloured her blonde hair dark red over the weekend and was shocked to be told by a teacher that her hair broke school rules.
She was removed from classes and told to do her work in an isolation room at Skegness Academy, Lincolnshire, until she washed the dye out.
Mother Sharon, 42, has demanded that her daughter, who she described as a ‘good and studious student’, be allowed back into class.
‘I’ve taken her home now because she will get no work done without her teacher to help her,’ she said.
‘Ginger is a natural colour really. It’s disgusting a student can be sent home or put isolation because of the colour of her hair.
‘How does the colour affect how you learn? She’s a good kid.’
She added: ‘I might be able to understand it better if she turned up to school with pink hair but ginger, or deep red, is a recognised colour.’
Shaunni was put into isolation when she turned up to the academy, which teaches 1,190 pupils aged 11-19, on Monday.
Her mother said she had dyed her hair ginger because she wanted to look like her grandmother – who is currently in poor health – when she was younger.
Yesterday the school defended the policy on hair colour.
Executive Principal Emma Hadley said: ‘Our pupils are ambassadors for the academy and we expect them to represent us in the correct manner.
‘We want our pupils to present themselves smartly as we believe that the self-discipline this requires is an important lesson to learn as pupils will find that there is often a dress code in most places of work.’
