Free school sends home cropped pupil

Kai Frizzle, 11, was suspended from the West London Free School because his hair was about 3mm shorter than allowed by the school’s uniform rules.

His mother, Tania Scott, from Hammersmith in west London, said the school’s response to the haircut was disproportionate. She added: “His haircut is the same as Barack Obama’s and Lewis Hamilton’s.

“He has had the same style since he was five. I am so upset ... I am thinking of taking him out of school.”

She said her son’s hair is grade 1.5 around the sides and a grade two on top.

School rules apparently state that boys’ hair must be no shorter than a grade two cut, and no longer than collar length.

Kai was suspended from school on Monday, and taught in isolation the next day. His mother kept him at home on Wednesday. Writer and broadcaster Toby Young, who led the parents setting up the school and is now chair of governors, said: “This is a standard punishment for children that flout the rules.”