Earrings and Jewellery: FAQ

Students are permitted to wear one small stud in each ear lobe.  Students are not allowed to wear bracelets or other jewellery in school.

There are a range of reasons for this such as:

• reducing the pressure on young people to look/dress a certain way at school
• the fact that jewellery can be expensive and easily lost in a large, busy school environment; the school cannot take responsibility for students’ personal property
• the fact that removing jewellery can cost significant learning time in practical subjects; collecting and then returning numerous items of jewellery from 20-30 students is a time-consuming process

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are the rules on earrings in PE lessons?

Students must remove their earrings for PE or Dance lessons for health and safety reasons.  This also applies to extra-curricular activities, competitive fixtures or other practical activities as directed by the member of staff overseeing the activity. 

The British Association of Advisers and Lecturers in Physical Education (BAALPE) and The Association of Physical Education (AfPE) guidance suggest that taping earrings ‘creates a perception of safety and is not recommended’ and there have been incidents where children’s ears have been injured from earrings being pulled out from under tape. The guidelines state: All jewellery should be removed prior to a physical education lesson due to the increased risk of it becoming caught or causing injury to the wearer or fellow learner. The wearing of any jewellery increases the risk of injury significantly.  As such, all earrings should be removed when students are changing for PE and placed with their general belongings in the changing room.

If a student is unable to remove a piercing, they must provide their PE teacher and Head of Year with evidence of when the piercing took place and provide an estimate as to when they can remove the piercing and take part fully in PE.

What happens if my child wears jewellery to school?

You child’s jewellery may be confiscated by any member of staff.  Ordinarily, it will passed to your child’s Year Team for collection at the end of the day. 

If your child persistently fails to follow the uniform code, they may be sanctioned and/or placed on uniform report.  Sanctions will escalate if non-compliance continues.  This may also be considered as defiance and sanctioned accordingly.

My child has multiple ear piercings – what should I do?

Clear plastic studs should be worn, if necessary, at school.

My child wants their ears pierced – what should I do?

Please ensure that this takes place at the start of a long school holiday, giving as much time as possible for healing.  This will prevent them from not being able to participate in PE / Dance lessons.