One of the country’s toughest schools is facing a backlash from furious parents after banning a popular haircut dubbed the ‘meet me at McDonald’s’.
The Charter Academy in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, has sent a letter out threatening male students with isolation or suspension if they sport one of six types of hairstyle.
But families have hit back at the ‘ridiculous’ rules from headteacher Barry Smith – who previously hit headlines with his stringent guidelines on pupils’ bedtimes.
The Charter Academy in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, has sent a letter out threatening male students with isolation or suspension if they sport the popular haircut dubbed the ‘meet me at McDonald’s’ (file photo)
The hard-hitting letter warns that boys who do not change their hair in line with school uniform demands by Monday (February 26) will be sent straight home or ordered into isolation
Headteacher Barry Smith has implemented stringent guidelines at the school
The academy, which has 1,000 students aged 11-16, has written to parents setting out its no-nonsense policy targeting variations of the tousled style which features short sides and floppy fringe, labelling them ‘unacceptable’.
The hard-hitting letter warns that boys who do not change their hair in line with school uniform demands by Monday (February 26) will be sent straight home or ordered into isolation.
The school has put up examples of unacceptable haircuts on display boards around the building and says it is happy to provide families with a PowerPoint of styles to avoid.
Posting the letter on social media, furious mother Karen Leeder said it was ‘absolutely ridiculous’.
Rachael Havens added: ‘You can’t take time off sick as it affects your education…but they will happily send you home because they don’t like your hairstyle.’
Sophia Soares said: ‘I think it is all getting silly now, a hairstyle does not affect a child’s learning.’
The school has put up examples of unacceptable haircuts on display boards around the building and says it is happy to provide families with a PowerPoint of styles to avoid
Celebrities to have sported a similar hairstyle include Paris Saint-Germain forward Neymar (left) and Olly Alexander, the lead singer of the synthpop band Years & Years (right)
Posting the letter on social media, furious mother Karen Leeder said it was ‘absolutely ridiculous’ – and it sparked a furious debate among parents
The school says that banned hairstyles for boys include:
- Noticeably longer tops that are not layered in and combined with sharply contrasting sides and back.
- Variations of the style often known as ‘Meet me at McDonald’s’
- Overgrown, heavy fringes brushed forward onto the face
- High top styles of excessive height
- Hair that is teased to give excessive height
- Any type of Mohican hairstyle.
Girls’ hair is said to be ‘generally not a problem at Charter’.
The letter stresses children have been reminded about hairstyles since before Christmas.
Pop star Justin Timberlake (left) and Neymar (right) have sported hairstyles similar to those now banned at the school
Mr Smith was drafted in after the school got some of the worst GCSE results in England and Wales last summer, with just 30 per cent of students achieving a pass in English and maths
Setting out his rules for the school, Headteacher Barry Smith said youngsters faced losing their mobiles for weeks, warned them to walk in single file in corridors and said teachers were the ‘unquestioned authority’
OTHER SCHOOLS PUNISHING PUPILS FOR HAIRSTYLES
Khai Okojie
The Charter Academy is not the first to garner attention for banning hairstyles.
In December 2017, Khai Okojie, 8, was not allowed to ‘represent’ Ellenbrook Community Primary in Salford, Greater Manchester, in a carol concert after he got an ‘extreme’ haircut.
Joshua Crossman
In July 2016, Joshua Crossman was put in isolation at Budehaven Community School, in Bute, after his mother shaved his head.
Chikayzea Flanders
In September 2017, Fulham Boys School in London told Chikayzea Flanders to cut his dreadlocks.
The 12-year-old Rastafarian was placed in isolation as his mother vowed to fight the ruling.
Joey Essex sporting the pompadour
And in 2013, Billericay School in Essex warned pupils against ‘extreme pompadour haircuts’ inspired by The Only Way is Essex star Joey Essex who sported shaved sides with longer hair slicked back on top.
The origin of the ‘Meet Me at McDonald’s’ look remains unclear and the school did not elaborate on the term – but it is thought to have come from a social media trend.
Great Yarmouth High School became a Charter Academy last August after being taken over by the Inspiration Trust.
Mr Smith was drafted in after the school got some of the worst GCSE results in England and Wales last summer.
Just 30 per cent of students achieving a pass in English and maths.
Mr Smith is co-founder and former deputy principal, at the strict Michaela Community School in Wembley Park, north-west London.
He had barely set foot at the Academy in Great Yarmouth before he fired off a stinging letter to parents pulling no punches.
He said youngsters faced losing their mobiles for weeks, warned them to walk in single file in corridors and said teachers were the ‘unquestioned authority’.
Students were also told they would be given buckets to vomit in if they felt sick in class.
At the start of the academic year in 2017, some 23 students were pulled out of the school by their parents incensed by the new rules.
These included students being told they must track a teacher with their eyes whenever the teacher is talking.
They were also banned from going to the toilet during class time or between lessons – leading to some wetting themselves.
Incensed families set up a Facebook group called Yarmouth High Worried Parents as they vowed to battle the new no-holds-barred crusade.
The Inspiration Trust declined to comment on the hairstyle rules.