Should pupils be allowed to wear nail extensions at school?

A school near Newcastle has made headlines for its ban on nail extensions following a dispute with a pupil and her mother. 

15-year old Gracie Fish’s mother threatened to remove her from Burnside College in Wallsend permanently before completing her GCSEs, because the student was asked to remove her green acrylic extensions before a college placement. 

Fish was due to attend a college placement week on a beauty course and was asked to remove the nails beforehand on health and safety grounds. 

When her mother refused to have the nails removed, Fish wasn’t allowed to attend the placement and instead spent the week in isolation at school. 

Chronicle Live reported that Fish was one of around eight pupils that were asked to remove their nail extensions to be allowed to attend the beauty placement.  

Burnside College head teacher Daniel Jamieson told Chronicle Live: “Fake nails can cause injuries if they are ripped off and they can also hinder a student’s ability to participate fully in lessons which has a detrimental effect on their learning.

“The school would be failing in its duty if we allowed them to be worn. They are unsuitable for the classroom and for the vast majority of workplaces as well.”

Disruption to learning

The school sent a letter to parents and carers earlier in the year to inform them that it was revising its uniform policy because of the number of students wearing nail enhancements. 

In the letter, the school said that in some extreme cases students couldn’t even pick up a pen to write because of the length of their nail extensions. 

In July, another case was reported in the press that involved a pupil in Lancashire who was placed into isolation for her pale pink acrylic extensions. 

Her mother, a beauty therapist, said she asked the school’s permission before allowing her daughter to have the extensions applied for a wedding. 

Despite receiving assurances the nails wouldn’t be a problem, her daughter was placed into isolation at school the following week. 

Do you agree with school policies that ban nail extensions? What about in the case of students on beauty therapy placements or college courses? Let us know in the comments. 

Pressure from social media could be behind the increase in schoolgirls wearing nail enhancements.