Hampshire School "suspects pupil is adult"…..

This is a headline which has recently been brought to my attention, and one which certainly merits a mention within the ST’s ‘Bizarre’ section. BBC Hampshire have recently reported a pupil’s dismissal from the Petersfield School after suspicions he is in fact much older than the required age of fourteen.

Prince was told he looked too old to attend the Petersfield School.

Prince Summerfield, originally from Malawi, has been forced to stay at home until he can provide adequate proof of age. His mother, Ennettie Summerfield, is said to be ‘devastated’, after already having had to produce DNA evidence before her son was allowed into the UK. Similarly, the school maintained she looked too young to be Prince’s mother, yet his suspension occurred even before she was able to prove herself.

Having perused the Petersfield School website, an establishment which prides itself on ‘the ethos which pervades the school’ because ‘it is a very happy place and students like coming here’, I have to admit I’m dubious. Such a stable institution of equality and security that students must radiate a particular genre of teen vibes in order to attend, and will be isolated and victimised if they are anything other than this expected image!

If this is to become the norm in Hampshire, we may as well wave goodbye to the entire concept of a mature student here at Southampton University…..you don’t look 21 or over, therefore we forbid you from enrolling on this degree programme as a mature student. No, we don’t want to see your birth certificate. Appearance will suffice. And it’s not acceptable.

This is paranoia to live ‘by the book’ taken to the extreme. Though, saying that, I did spot a number of questionable-looking individuals leaving the ‘Early Years Centre’ on campus the other day….definitely too young to even be within the parameters of a university. I better inform the Vice-Chancellor immediately.