Boy booted out of classes for wearing ‘wrong’ shoes
TEEN MISSED FOUR HOURS BUT HEAD DEFENDS POLICY
THESE shoes led to a lad of 14 having to spend four hours out of class in a uniform crackdown branded “totally wrong”.
Teachers at Walbottle Campus, on the outskirts of Newcastle, have launched a tougher uniform inspection regime after the half term holiday – but it hasn’t gone down well with some parents.
Mum Carol Close said her son was banned from his Year 10 class over a pair of black shoes, which one teacher deemed not up to code. Carol said: “There’s nothing wrong with his behaviour – it was just the shoes that were the issue.
“He told the teacher ‘I wore these last year’ and he just said ‘this isn’t last year.’ He said the shoes were trainers and he sent him to the hall for four hours.”
Parents said students deemed to have violated the dress code were divided into separate year groups and given work to do outside of normal class.
Parents claim they were given minimal breaks and not allowed to talk. Headteacher Kerry Lord said the strict rules were part of a “culture of high standards” which improved students’ results.
Carol said her son used his 15-minute break to find another teacher, who said the shoes in question were fine. The school has since said it was wrong to put him in isolation and the shoes were OK.
She said: “I think it’s absolutely terrible. They need better teacher training if they’re going to do this, because you’ve got some teachers passing them and some not – I understand if they think there needs to be a line drawn over uniform but it’s got to be consistent.
“I’d understand if he were turning up in Adidas or Nike, but not a pair of school shoes from M&S.
“It was upsetting for him. He’s never had a detention in his life, he’s never handed in homework late, he does things by the book, and he’s never had an issue with these shoes before.”
According to the school website, shoes must be “smart school shoes that are all black, polishable and have no visible branding” made of black leather. Representatives of the 1,600 pupil Walbottle Campus, motto Inspired to Succeed, did not confirm the exact number of students punished for uniform violations, but said the number was going down. Parents claim more than 100 children were said to have broken the rules – and it isn’t just Carol who is unhappy about how the crackdown has been carried out. One parent, who contacted The Chronicle wishing to remain anonymous, said: “They are running the school like a military academy.
“On Monday morning they were stopping them at the door and, if their footwear wasn’t right, putting them into isolation. “They’re there to learn – footwear isn’t going to stop them learning. It’s just totally wrong. Yes, they should be put in isolation if they don’t do their work – but for a pair of black shoes that aren’t quite right?”
Mrs Lord said: “We have clearly set out our uniform expectations to parents/carers and students via several letters home (including visual examples), telephone calls, assemblies in school and through our school website.
“Academic excellence is at the heart of every decision we make. We believe that our culture of high standards and high aspirations leads to high outcomes for students.
“Our school uniform promotes our core values of respect, ambition and determination and it is our expectation that all students arrive at school appropriately dressed, ready to learn and take pride in their appearance, helping to prepare students for life after school.
“After careful consideration, we advised students and parents/carers that we would take action after the half term break to ensure our high standards were met.
“Students who are not in the correct school uniform are being educated separately in year groups by our senior leadership team and are reintegrated into the whole school community as soon as they adhere to the rules.”