said that what they’ve heard is that the reason for this is that it would be a ‘display of wealth’, but they say that doesn’t really make sense to them, because, as they see it, walking around in a tailored suit or with a new iPhone are displays of wealth also. FA: I’ve always worked in girls’ schools before I came here, and there, if you wore earrings, you had to wear stud earrings. I suppose you raise a really good question about equity, there, between girls’ and boys’ schools. Certainly, I changed the whole hair issue because I felt boys having to have hair no longer than their collar was old-fashioned, and didn’t reflect where our community was, and what students wanted to be. So, in line with every girls’ school I’ve worked at, hair just needs to be tied back: neat and tidy. With facial hair, we made a change because some people, for lots of really good reasons, wanted the choice to keep their facial hair or not. Earrings are maybe something that we’ll come back to. I think we could get around the wealth issue if people actually stuck to having just a gold stud or whatever it might be. Again, when it comes to nails, girls aren’t allowed painted nails in schools, but I’m not sure why. It’s a funny little rule. I did an assembly about this recently, about questioning rules. I like to think: why do we have that rule? Does it make sense? AM: Yes, I like that! I think it’s good to keep it open. Now, I want to ask about students’ behaviour. Of course, there’s only so much involvement school can have out- side of the classroom. From my main interviewee, I was told that in terms of transphobia it’s ‘pretty good’ at the school. They felt that there are positives and negatives that come with uniform – in terms of how they’re not nec- essarily visibly trans, so they feel like they won’t be tar- geted in that sense with bullying. At the same time though they brought up the dysphoria issues, explaining that they shouldn’t feel as though they’re hiding. Overall, they said that they ‘feel safe at school’, which is a sort of bare min- imum. Personally, I think in terms of transphobia there is some ignorance at the school. Do correct me if I’m wrong but I don’t believe (and neither do the friends I’ve asked) we’ve had a trans speaker or any whole school assembly about specifically trans experience? FA: We’ve had trans people in giving talks, most certainly…
AM: I remember the author who came in – I think we had an artist come too? FA: Yes, and of course, we have transgender members of staff, and we have many transgender pupils. I think you’re right, Aristou, that sometimes people aren’t aware of them, but sometimes people really are. And my sense is that they’re treated warmly and kindly, but I might be wrong; I think people have mixed experiences. AM: Yes, definitely. I do hear examples of homophobia at times. It’s often jokes and stuff. Sometimes it’s more. A lot of it revolves around assumptions about ‘how gay people act’ and so forth, but it feels more like ignorance than anything else, just misunderstanding. And there’s Queer Soc, which is great, but I would appreciate, and I think some of the people I’ve talked to would appreci- ate, something that’s more ‘whole school’, really delving into LGBTQIA+ issues and humanizing those issues a lot more. FA: Yes, and do you think that needs to
be focused on LGBTQ? Or is it just more about a culture of kindness, and of understanding that difference is everywhere and it may be about your gender, it may be about your sexuality,
it may be about your race or eth- nicity, your so-
cio-economic background? I mean, part of being a
teenager, part of growing up is that you find something differ- ent in someone else and you ‘test’ that.
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OPINION, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES
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