The school’s policy on wearing jewellery to school is based on Hampshire County Council’s ‘Safety in Physical Education and Sport’, which is the document which Hampshire schools use when developing their PE Policies. The Hampshire document is a long one, so this is just the relevant information.
- All jewellery and other personal effects such as watches, necklaces, body piercings etc must be removed for physical education and related activities.
- Ideally,jewellery other than watches should not be worn to school in the first place,
- Where jewellery is worn, it must be removed for physical activities
- If under exceptional circumstances it cannot be removed (eg. cultural practice or newly pierced ears), the risk of injury should be reduced where it is practicable to do so. This could be by:
- Bracelets being secured by the use of a wrist sweatband
- Studs being secured by the use of micropore tape or masking tape (not Elastoplast or Sellotape) but care must be taken to cover the spike at the back of the ear lobe effectively
Although the element of risk can be reduced by the use of tape, those actions do not make the situation safe.
Similar action may be agreed when a child or young person has had his/her ears newly pierced, but only for an agreed period of four full weeks. Current medical opinion states this time (four weeks) for the normal healing process to be completed.
Teachers and other school staff should not involve themselves in the process of earring removal or taping.
The simplest option is for children not to wear jewellery to school on P.E days. It is the parents’/guardians’ responsibility to apply micropore tape before school if it is required, and to train their children to take out and to put in earrings. Such training will support the policy of the school and enable teachers to ensure that children and young people are dressed safely for PE activity.
We encourage children to take responsibilty for their own personal effects.
