A mum has said her daughter is being unjustly "punished" by her school for having a nose piercing.
11-year-old Macie pleaded with her mum, Karen Lunn, to get the "tiny" stud as her birthday present last month.
The mum eventually gave in and the youngster got her nose pierced on a family trip to Skegness.
Ms Lunn however was not aware that New College, a secondary school in Leicester which Masie started attending earlier this month, prohibited nose piercings.
So when a teacher at the school spotted it, Macie was sent to sit in what the school calls a "reflection class".
The mum told LeicestershireLive: "She is being made to sit in a separate class — called a reflection class — where she doesn't get to do the normal work. She just gets to read for a few hours.”
She added that her daughter is also being kept from PE classes and is not being allowed out during break times.
According to the school uniform policy, which is made available to parents and prospective parents, New College allows studded ear-piercings, Ms Lunn said.
She believes her daughter's nose stud is "no different" and is calling for the nose piercing rule to be relaxed.
After taking her concerns up with the school, she said she was told that Macie would have to remove the piercing before being allowed back into normal classes.
The school agreed her daughter was a good student, she said.
However, Ms Lunn said the piercing should not be removed during its healing process as it could become infected.
She said: "She wears all the correct uniform and has all the right equipment — she has always been described as a willing and caring person. She has never had any problems."
She accused the school of denying a good student her education and claimed Macie has since returned home from school in distress about her predicament.
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She has told her mum she has noticed older pupils and even teachers at the school do not adhere to the uniform policy.
Her mum added: "In Macie's old school, the pupils were treated as equals and the staff wouldn't wear something the children couldn't.
"It seems like the older children can get away with what they want but they think they need to come down hard on the younger ones.
"They should be setting an example if they want to set such a high standard."
Jane Brown, the school's principal said: "We have a very well-established uniform policy and this is communicated clearly with all parents and prospective parents.
"There is no current intention to change this policy or to reduce our high expectations."
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