Brian Lightman: Judgment that undermines a head's authority
A school's decision to ban a pupil who refused to change his cornrow hairstyle was discriminatory and unlawful, the High Court ruled yesterday
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The definition of ethnicity has become so nebulous, it is making it much more difficult for schools to make straightforward decisions about dress code. In this sense it is undermining heads' ability to uphold standards of consistency and behaviour.
The ability to set and maintain an ethos which demands high standards of behaviour is at the heart of every successful school.
It would be disastrous if this judgment opened the door to challenges to the authority of head teachers and teachers at a time when the Government has strongly supported the maintenance of high standards of discipline and schools have been working really hard to achieve that.
Schools should always make sure their uniform policies comply with equality legislation and everybody is mindful of that. But the danger is that if we move to a culture of litigation where we are in front of the courts for making a decision in good faith, then I think that's very worrying.
The author is general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments