Sydney’s Waverly College threatens to cut the hair of students with mullets

A private school cracks down on mullets, threatening to cut students’ hair on the spot if they show up with the fashionable haircut.

Waverley College, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, said last week that students with mullets would be charged $20 and sent to an on-campus hairdresser from the first day of semester two.

The new policy also applies to all students attending private boys’ school who wear mohawks, dreadlocks, buns and braids.

Students attending the $22,555-a-year college who failed to meet the requirements would be sent home.

Deputy principal Gabby Smith told parents that any student who breaks the rules “will either be sent home on his first day, or we will have a hairdresser on site where he can get a haircut for $20, at his expense.” school fees account’.

“Your son will be given a choice on this day and a note will be made in his file. There won’t be any calls home,’ she said.

The drastic new rules also include undercuts, dramatic layering, tracks (shaping the hair), overuse of product, dyeing and coloring.

In 2021, the school attracted attention when then-Deputy Principal Patrick Brennan announced a ban on students wearing the trendy mullet haircut.

In the same year, schools across New South Wales including Wyong Christian Community School, Snowy Mountains Grammar School and Bathurst’s Scots All Saints College also imposed restrictions.

Waverly’s current deputy director told the The Sydney Morning Herald the school rules were clear and that the parents supported the school’s position.

“Part of maturing in life is understanding that rules, guidelines, and expectations are necessary for growth — even if they may not match our personal preferences,” she said.

“Waverley College’s uniform policy includes standards of presentation such as appropriate hairstyles and just as many workplaces have expectations of presentation, we expect our students to adhere to a dress code that includes neat hair.”

The mullet haircut became popular in the 1980s, with famous people from hip-hop group the Beastie Boys to Australian icon John Farnham rocking the look.

In 2018, the headmaster of Melbourne’s exclusive Trinity Grammar private school resigned after controversy erupted when a deputy headmaster was sacked after cutting a student’s hair for a school photo.