A TEENAGER was sent home from school after being told the colour of her fringe breached school rules.

The usually brunette Lydia Newberry decided to dye her fringe blonde over the summer holidays but when she returned for the new school term was told it did not meet school policy.

She says was told she either faced a day of isolation or she would be sent home from Henry Beaufort school in Winchester.

“I didn’t think my hair would be a problem,” Lydia said. “It really put a negative spin on my first day back. I just wanted to get on and start my GCSEs and I don’t want to miss any work.

“I should have the freedom to express myself.”

Henry Beaufort headmistress Sue Hearle defended the decision. She said: “We have been delighted by the excellent start that the vast majority of our students have made to the school year and the importance they have placed on their appearance.

“I do acknowledge that pupils will want to express their individuality but I have to balance that with maintaining discipline in the school and being fair to all pupils.”

However, 14-year-old Lydia’s mother, Ruth Newberry, said she thinks the way the situation was handled was “extreme”.

“I am most upset about how this has been handled. What has it got to do with their learning? All this has done is had a negative effect. She is somebody that wants to work and has been predicted As for all her grades. It’s not like she is a troublesome student.

“I don’t regard her hair as extreme. Your hair isn’t like a uniform. You can take a uniform off but your hair is something that stays with you for 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.”

The schoolgirl has been covering her blonde fringe with a brown hairspray whilst a meeting is arranged to resolve the situation. The episode comes after the Daily Echo reported how schools across Hampshire were cracking down on students who flouted uniform rules. Around 80 pupils were sent home from Hamble college for not sticking to the uniform rules, whilst pupils at Chamberlayne College of the Arts also flouted the rules with around a quarter of one year group turned away at the start of the new term for not heeding the dress code.