Boy put in isolation for wearing trainers when school shoes split

A mum has been left ‘absolutely disgusted’ after her son was placed in isolation for wearing trainers to school after his shoes split.

Claire Dodds, from Skegness, Lincolnshire, says her boy Oscar Webb had arrived home from King Edward Academy on Friday with a huge hole in his school shoes.

She doesn’t drive and all of the shops near her either don’t sell shoes or have been ordered to close under England’s national lockdown.

Claire ordered a new pair for Oscar online, which were due to arrive yesterday afternoon, but she received a call from the school in Spilsby that morning and told her son had been placed in isolation.

She said: ‘I didn’t want Oscar to miss school and thought if the school understood the situation, he wouldn’t get in trouble.

‘I thought I’d done the right thing as a parent, so I was shocked when they called me to say they had placed Oscar straight into isolation.’

Claire says she couldn’t believe the school had been ‘so unreasonable’ given the circumstances.

She added: ‘They refused to let him into class. He was placed into the behavioural support unit.

‘I even asked if they could send some school work home for him, as I didn’t want him in isolation, and they refused. I’m absolutely disgusted.’

A spokesperson for the academy said: ‘We have very clear expectations on what uniform students should be wearing to school every day and we work very closely with parents at all times, especially if they have any difficulties.

‘If a pupil does not come into school in the right uniform we take them to one side to make contact with home and resolve the issue, ideally before the start of the school day.

‘In a case such as inappropriate footwear or ripped trousers, we would provide alternatives and recently, with the challenges that Covid has brought, there have been several occasions where we have purchased uniform for students so that they can continue to meet our high expectations, without disrupting their education.’