A headteacher has come under fire from parents and pupils after banning two 16-year-olds from school for being ‘too blonde’.
Raegan Booth, 16, and Aby Western, 15, say they were threatened with expulsion by David Alexander unless they dyed their hair brown.
The girls claim they are being forced to adhere to the strict dress code of Rednock School in Dursley, Gloucestershire, in order to sit GCSE exams.
But Raegan remains adamant that her hair is a natural shade of blonde.
Furious: Reagan Booth, 16, left, and Aby Western, 15, refuse to darken their hair
She said:’The school rules clearly state that there are to be no “unnatural” hair colours on students.
‘Unnatural hair colours are blue, purple, green and bright red. Blonde is considered a natural hair colour and there are many different shades.
‘The head claims that he must follow the rules. To me this suggests that certain students are being made to look a way which is against their will.
‘I believe this is wrong and no amount of hair dye affects a person’s ability in school.’
The teenager, who is refusing to dye her hair a darker shade, added: ‘As we are in the middle of our GCSE year, we should not be excluded over something so petty.
‘This is a crucial time for us and we should be focusing solely on our grades as opposed to our level of appearance.’
Martin Booth, Raegan’s father said: ‘Raegan is a model pupil and is working very hard towards her exams.
‘She is always well turned out, her hair looks a very natural blonde.
‘This is their final year, they are under enough pressure with GCSEs, they do not need to be worrying about their hair.’
Blonde ban: Rednock School in Gloucestershire
Mr Alexander, who is due to meet with Raegan, denies the claims.
He said that the girls were sent home only to dye their hair, and that they would still have been allowed to sit their GCSE exams.
He said: ‘We would not stop any student from sitting their GCSEs, it is in our interests that every student sits their GCSEs at the school.
‘We are just trying to be consistent and apply the rules across the board. This code of conduct has been in place for a long time.
‘However I am going to be meeting with parents to talk about looking again at the code and making it more clear.
‘I think the problem is how you interpret the rules and we need to make it clearer for the students and parents.
‘I accept this is a stressful time for the GCSE students, but we have to be consistent with our rules and must apply it to all year groups, otherwise it would be unfair.’
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this is so stupid. When i was going to henbury school we were allowed what every ouler hair we wanted . even if we wanted to die it all bright purple we would have been allowed. this one girl was in year 9 and she had about 4 diffrent hair coulers in her hair. this is rediculas and the headmaster of the 2 girls is perfetic i think . is a hair couler . i could understand if they got banned for having lods of piercing(witch they havebt)they are in the middle of their GCSE’s .