Girl sent home from school because her hair was too distracting

A ten-year-old girl has been ‘excluded’ from school after her teachers said her hair, inspired by her favourite singer, was ‘distracting’ to other pupils.

Evie Smith split-dyed half of her brown hair to blonde to match her favourite singer Melanie Martinez ahead of her concert in Manchester later this month.

The American singer-songwriter is famous for her blonde and black split-dye hairstyle, which was inspired by Cruella de Vil from the hit film 101 Dalmatians.

But when Evie returned to Kincraig Primary School in Blackpool, Lancashire, her mum said she was excluded by teachers who say she needs to dye it back before she can return.

However, her mum April Smith, 35, said she won’t be changing her hairstyle until she’d seen her hero in concert.

Evie, who is in year six, said: ‘It makes me feel really disappointed in the school. They’ve singled me out because of my hair. It wasn’t distracting, it was in a ponytail and nobody was touching it. All my friends think it’s really cool, but they don’t think it’s distracting.’

She added: ‘I like my hair because it means I can express myself freely. I love her songs and what she means in them lyrically because she tries to turn bullying words into compliments. I’m over the roof excited for it and all of the songs are my favourite.’

The school have told Evie’s mum April she can return back to school if she dyes her hair back to normal, but April doesn’t want to dye her daughter’s hair back until she’s been to the gig, so Evie is currently being homeschooled.

Mum April said: ‘They’ve said I have to dye it back. But they don’t want me to dye her hair in the first place, but want me to dye it back to brown.

‘They said it needs to be done so she can come back to school, as they’ve said it’s off-putting to other children. They then said she won’t be allowed until it’s back brown and I’ve said she will be coming back after the concert.’

April suffers from fibromyalgia and arthritis and Evie helps her mum cook tea when she’s unable to and helps look after her little sister Trinity, three.

April says she has ‘never had any complaints about Evie’ from the school and she’s always ‘hitting all her targets’.

She said: ‘She’s a smart girl, she’s hitting all of her targets, gets good school reports and is never late and never has any time off. We’ve never had any complaints about Evie, all of her friends love her.

‘Being a child in this day and age, I think it’s really important for them to express themselves. Evie is so quiet so it was a big thing for her to have her hair dyed.

‘I thought it was great and I’m proud of her for not being different and for not following the child.’

School headteacher Karen Appleby said: ‘Kincraig Primary School, like all schools in the country, has a clear uniform policy that we expect our pupils to follow.

‘On occasion, pupils do arrive at school with hairstyles or uniform that don’t meet our policy. When this happens, parents are contacted and we ask them to make the necessary alterations.

‘In regards to this case, it is important to clarify that Evie has not been suspended. Our priority is to have our pupils learning in class with their friends.

‘We will continue to work with Evie’s mother to ensure this happens as soon as possible.’

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