Headmaster bans MIRRORS from faculty as a result of college students have been arriving late to class after spending an excessive amount of time them

A school in Lincolnshire has banned mirrors in toilets because pupils were spending too much time looking at them.

Grant Edgar, headmaster of William Farr Church of England Comprehensive School in Welton, has made the changes after pupils were turning up late to lessons and gathering in groups in the lavatories.

Mr Edgar said the groups of pupils congregating had also caused other students to feel uncomfortable.

He said the mirrors encourage pupils to spend ‘too much time in the toilets’.

The school had faced ‘punctuality’ issues from transition times between lessons.

‘This can make it uncomfortable for some pupils to use the toilets,’ he told BBC News.

Pupils who need a mirror for medical purposes are allowed to ask for one at reception, Mr Edgar said.

The move has not been popular with parents, who described the ban as ‘strange’ and ‘a bit extreme’.

Mirrors have been removed from bathrooms at a Lincolnshire school over concerns about pupils congregating 

Headteacher Grant Edgar said the mirrors were causing students to spend too much time in the toilets

One parent named Kelly told The Telegraph that she was concerned about the changes.

She said her daughter wears contact lenses and said she would need a mirror if she needed to take them out.

Another parent, also named Kelly, labelled the removal ‘silly’ and ‘a bit extreme’.

Meanwhile one mother named Karen supported the change, suggesting her daughter could get to class on time instead of checking that her eyelashes ‘hadn’t fallen off’.

Psychologist Emma Kenny called for the pupils to be part of decisions which affect their lives.

She said: ‘You don’t know what’s going on in that kid’s life. That hub in the bathroom where they are checking make-up and covering spots can be powerfully important to them.’

Ms Kenny suggested that questioning why pupils were spending so much time in the toilets may be a bigger problem.

In 2023, Christopher Whitehead Language College in Worcester replaced mirrors in girls toilets with posters describing make-up as a ‘harmful drug’ that makes women ‘feel ugly’. 

Parents criticised the decision, with some pointing out their children may need to use the mirrors

In a bizarre move, the doors to the toilets were also removed to allow teachers to view the washing areas. 

The ‘motivational’ messages about inner beauty were plastered on the walls of the bathrooms at the school.

One read: ‘If all girls started wearing no make-up and comfortable clothes, guys would have no choice but to fall for girls because of natural beauty.’

Another said: ‘Dear girls, Make-up is a harmful drug. Once you start using it, you’ll feel ugly without it.’

In response, a parent said: ‘Is the school really telling girls that putting lipstick on is as bad as injecting heroin or taking crack cocaine?

‘Yes, girls need to be taught about inner beauty, but this approach is plain wrong.’

Headmaster Neil Morris was forced to admit that his decision was a mistake as he tried to quell the protests from parents and students.   

Dubbed Britain’s strictest headteacher, Katharine Birbalsingh, head teacher of Michaela Community School in Wembley, North London made national headlines earlier this year following her banning of prayer rituals during school hours.

Ms. Birbalsingh banned payer rituals in her school and has called on the UK government to ban smartphones in schools across Britain

She has also called for smartphones to be banned in schools across the UK. 

To date, 11 per cent of secondary schools in Britain have adopted some form of smartphone restrictions.

Notably, in June of this year, Eton College announced a new policy in which its Year 9 students would be provided with basic ‘brick’ phones which can only send and receive texts and calls.

The Berkshire boarding school only allows these phones to be used outside of the school day and is also providing pupils with an iPad to support academic study.

This was followed by news that Ormiston Academies Trust (OAT), a managing group of schools with over 35,000 pupils attending across the UK, would be banning phones in the classroom due to ‘overwhelming’ relationship between excessive smartphone usage and poor mental health amongst the young.