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James Cullen does not believe his son, Jacob, would have been treated the same way by teachers if he was a girl. The 12-year-old boy returned to St Andrew’s Catholic School in Leatherhead, Surrey, with the new trim, which included blond highlights and some of his hair shaved down to grade one.

But teachers said the hairstyle was unacceptable and put Jacob in isolation away from other students.

The youngster remained separated from his classmates during free periods and breaks for the rest of the week, Surrey Live reports.

His dad Mr Cullen believes the punishment Jacob received was unreasonable, because he has seen girls at the school with similar highlights.

Mr Cullen said: “In the meeting I had with the school, his head of year suggested that he shave his head.

“I don’t believe for a minute if he was a female pupil that they would have said that.”

The school, which caters for more than 800 pupils, said no such suggestion was made during the meeting.

Despite Mr Cullen’s protests, the isolation continued up until Monday, at which point the father threatened to keep Jacob at home if it continued. The school replied saying that the isolation would end from Tuesday, as they felt the need to draw a line under the matter.

“I don’t want to draw a line under it, I’ve just started,” said Mr Cullen.

“What we need is consistency, the rules need to apply across the board. I’ve dropped Jacob off at school every morning for the past seven months, and I’ve seen lots of female students with bleached blonde hair.”

The school’s uniform policy, as stated on its website, says: “Extremes of fashion in clothing, footwear and hairstyle are not permitted. Hair colour and style must be appropriate for school. Dyed hair is not acceptable. Number 2 is the shortest cut allowed.”

The school, rated as Outstanding by Ofsted after its last inspection, denied that the rules are applied differently for male and female pupils.

Headteacher Alan Mitchell said the school’s rules are explained clearly to parents in the months before their child is admitted.

“Parents would expect me to apply the rules fairly and consistently,” he said.

“We made the rules crystal clear, and we know that’s what is best for the kids.”

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