Furious parents blast ‘crazy’ school’s new rules as pupils ‘disciplined for tapping tables and shoes which are too shiny’
Merchant’s Academy in Withywood, Bristol, imposed the bizarre new regulations on Monday
PARENTS are fuming about a set of incredibly strict new school rules that reportedly ban shoes that are too shiny and punish pupils for tapping tables and looking at the clock.
Merchant’s Academy in Withywood, Bristol, imposed the bizarre new regulations on Monday and mums and dads have already blasted them as "absolutely crazy".
Under the new "Behaviour for Learning" policy, Petula Peacock's son Oliver was excluded until Monday for allegedly telling someone to be quiet in class, tapping his pen and refusing to go into isolation.
Mrs Peacock told the : “Is it really fair? He’s missing important lessons.
“I’m a good parent and my kids are good kids.
“I’m worried about my child’s education.”
Students are made to wear lanyards saying “I have 24 hours to sort out my uniform” if they are not dressed appropriately.
However, the school says this is so staff know not to intervene as the issue is being dealt with.
There was a rumour that as many as 100 students were in isolation at one point - which the school vehemently denied.
Other rumours about the draconian policy include a pupil sent to isolation for wearing shoes, a child being called out in front of her friends for wearing a brightly-coloured headband and a student being removed for reportedly glancing at the clock.
In a statement, headteacher Nick Short said the changes were made to combat "low-level disruption", which affects pupil performance.
He added: "Merchants’ Academy introduced a new Positive Behaviour policy, designed to minimise and remove low-level disruption from lessons, allowing for higher levels of engagement and more progress to be made by all students.
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“Since the new policy was implemented, staff and students are reporting much higher levels of engagement in class, with many students making more progress as a result of significantly lower levels of disruption."
Last week boys who wore skirts to school in a mass protest after being banned from wearing shorts forced the school to change uniform policy.
Scores of schoolboys from Isca Academy in Exeter, Devon borrowed skirts from female classmates after teachers said they couldn’t wear shorts during the heatwave.
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