School bans three-year-old boy over haircut

A three-year-old boy has been banned from his Tyneside nursery school class for his trendy "tramlines" haircut.

The mother of Tavis Cook was told the youngster's distinctive hairdo broke the rules of Riverside primary School in North Shields.

Donna Cook has been told to keep her son away until his hair grows back.

North Tyneside Council said it was aware of the matter and was advising Ms Cook on her options. No-one at the school was available for comment.

Miss Cook took the youngster to the barber's where he chose the trendy hairstyle.

But less than an hour after dropping the youngster off for nursery class the next morning, she was telephoned and asked to return to collect him.

Miss Cook, 21, a mother of two, of Cardonnel Street, North Shields, said: "The wall of the barber's shop was covered with hundreds of pictures of different haircuts.

"Tavis marched straight up and picked out the one where the man had tramlines.

"I'd checked with the school and been told there was no uniform policy for either the nursery year or reception year, and I thought the haircut looked good.

"When I arrived he was in floods of tears. I can't believe they'd do this to a little boy like Tavis.

"He is the most placid, lovely lad, he's never in trouble."

A spokesman for North Tyneside Council said: "We are aware of this issue and are currently advising the parent on the matter."

A spokesman from Riverside Primary School said head teacher Dame Mary MacDonald was not available for comment.

School girls chance to beat ban on nail varnish

A nail varnish that "vanishes" has been developed by a group of school pupils - offering girls the chance to beat bans on makeup.

The nail colour is a vivid red outdoors - but inside it transforms to a much paler shade which can hardly be seen.

The dramatic change is caused by a chemical reaction between the varnish and the ultraviolet light in natural sunlight.

The polish was devised by pupils from Albion High School, Salford, who thought the "vanishing" colour may help them beat the school's ban on nail polish.

They came up with the idea while working on an enterprise project with Paul Haywood and Sam Ingleson from Salford University's school of art and design.

The academics were so impressed with their work that they have continued to develop it.

Mr Ingleson, a special projects officer, said: "We asked the students to think about products that would have a relevance to them and to research it.

"This led them to thinking about nail varnish - because of the high number of nail salons in the area, they thought it made good business sense.

"Part of the appeal was that the varnish would go clear indoors, so they could wear it in school. But back outside, it would react with the sun and change colour again.

"I think it's a really good idea and a good product. I'm proud of what the young people achieved."

The polish has already been manufactured in China and the two teachers say the remaining task is to find outlets to stock it.

But they hope it could be on sale within weeks, in 32 colours inspired by Salford brickwork.

The varnish was officially launched at the opening of the Salford Innovation Forum.

Vanessa Hudgens hit the Internet

Over a month after frisky nude photos of High School Musical starlet Vanessa Hudgens hit the Internet, OK! can exclusively report that Disney has made up its mind about what to do next and that the 18-year-old actress will not be asked to board the boat for the third HSM film.

“Disney finally decided that they don’t want her back,” an insider reveals to OK!. “They feel that as long as Zac Efron is in the movie, all will be fine. He’s the real star — the household name — and, most importantly, he comes without baggage.”

The source also reports that one of the Cheetah Girls — Adrienne Baillon, 23, or possibly 23-year-old Sabrina Bryan — will take Vanessa's place. “The producers think that after Dancing With the Stars, Sabrina will be more famous than Vanessa.”