School nail extension ban sparks industry debate

A dispute between staff at a school near Newcastle and a pupil’s mother over nail extensions has made headlines.

15-year old Gracie Fish’s mother threatened to remove her from Burnside College in Wallsend permanently before completing her GCSEs because the student was asked to remove her green acrylic extensions before a college placement.

Fish was due to attend a placement week on a beauty therapy course and was asked to remove the nails beforehand on health and safety grounds.

When her mother refused to have the nails removed, Fish wasn’t allowed to attend the placement and instead spent the week in isolation at school. Burnside College head teacher Daniel Jamieson told Chronicle Live:

“Fake nails can cause injuries if they are ripped off and they can also hinder a student’s ability to participate fully in lessons, which has a detrimental effect on their learning.”

In a letter to parents and carers earlier in the year, the school said that in some extreme cases students couldn’t even pick up a pen to write because of the length of their nail extensions.

The story caused debate among salon professionals. Turn to page 29 for just a few of the opinions shared on Professional Beauty’s social media pages.