We’re pretty relaxed as long as it doesn’t affect learning or safety. A lot of the children have pierced ears but not much else. Boys and girls can wear studs but we don’t allow hoops. I think that if all it takes to get a child through adolescence is a little ironmongery, let’s go for it. Not long ago our oldest child dyed his hair purple. When we told him it looked sweet he got quite cross - he grew it out quickly.

Jim Jack, head, Richmond school, Richmond, N Yorks

It’s a very topical problem for us and we’re just working on a policy. We have had about 12 kids (out of 1,200) - more boys than girls - arrive with some sort of body piercing. Our prospectus says students can wear one stud in each ear but recently we’ve seen tongue, chin and nose piercing and bolts through eyebrows. Developing the policy has produced some interesting discussions and we’ve had to be clear about why it matters and why we care. We want to find a reasonable position that the students can understand even if they disagree with it. When some of these things start off it’s often some sort of statement about a way of life. In the Eighties it was white socks! Once everyone starts to have them it ceases to be a statement at all.

“With 110 teachers we need to develop a consistent approach. We do care about how others see us and make judgments on first impressions but we are also genuinely concerned about health and safety issues. This is particularly pertinent in practical subjects so we think that any bars and rings that might catch and tear skin must be removed. In other subjects they must be covered with a plaster which the kids must provide themselves. We are going to ask parents not to allow tongue piercing because it affects oral work.”

Ingrid Gallagher, head, Perry Beeches school, Great Barr, Birmingham

We’re a multi-cultural school and for many of our students wearing jewellery has cultural significance. We want our pupils to be smart and stylish but not fashion-driven. Our dress code states specifically that pupils can wear one plain ring; one watch; one pair of ear studs or sleepers; one discreet nose stud and one plain necklace. We believe that more is dangerous and distracting. So if anyone comes in with eyebrow or lip piercing I phone the parents and discuss it with them.

We ask the pupil to cover the hole with a plaster until it’s healed enough to take the ring out. Parents have so far been very co-operative and I’ve never had to send anyone home. With body tattooing once its done there’s not much we can do about it. But they usually have them in a place we can’t see it so like tummy piercing, it’s not a problem for us unless it’s either a safety issue or distracting from learning. A small number of pupils have mehndi (henna designs painted on hands to celebrate festivals) which usually wears off in a couple of days.

David Pearman, head, Kenton school, Newcastle

The only jewellery we allow is small stud earrings. We don’t have an issue with body piercing or tattooing here but we do have a small but significant number of girls who get their hair braided. In the beginning it was only the Afro-Caribbean pupils who did this for cultural and religious reasons but now it’s become very fashionable and it’s just as likely to be white girls. We don’t make an issue about it but we do stop them having too many beads which could swing round and hurt people. They can take these out during the day without affecting the braids.