A £34,050-a-year Kent private school that makes children wear yellow badges if they are exempt from wearing masks has been slammed for the ‘inappropriate’ similarity to yellow stars Nazis forced condemned Jews to display.
Farringtons School, Chislehurst required students to wear face masks in corridors and classrooms because of rising Covid-19 incidences.
David Jackson, Headmaster of the school sent a note to parents explaining his decision. He said that exempt students should have a yellow badge and that other students should cover their faces ‘until further notice’.
The school has been criticised for being ‘deeply inappropriate’ and accused of ignoring the ‘historic connotations’ of yellow badges which condemned Jews were forced to display in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Farringtons School (pictured) in Kent has been widely criticised for telling exempt pupils to don a mask and put on an identification badge
The £34,050-a-year school has been criticised for being ‘deeply inappropriate’ and accused of ignoring the ‘historic connotations’ of yellow badges. In Nazi-occupied Europe, Jews had to wear yellow Stars of David identification badges.
Although the school’s policy was heavily criticised, Molly Kingsley (co-founder of UsForThem), stated that it wasn’t an isolated case. The Telegraph reported.
“Assisting children with exemption markers has been common in schools, and unbelievably the specific instance of asking them for a yellow badge isn’t in isolation.
She stated that the historical connotations of yellow buttons’shouldn’t need to be explained’ and claimed it was inappropriate to request children who are not exempt from wearing them to do so.
Ms Kingsley cautioned that students who are exempt from wearing face covers could be’stigmatized’ by asking them to identify themselves.
Informing parents of the decision in a letter, Mr Jackson wrote: ‘In light of the increase in the number of cases, we have also decided to re-introduce the compulsory wearing of face masks in classrooms and other confined areas within the senior school, such as corridors… until further notice.
“Those students who were exempted from wearing masks during the academic year last will again be exempted and should display a yellow badge to show this.
Schools across the nation were advised earlier this month to reinstate mandatory face masks indoors. They also received staggered breaks to stop an increase in coronavirus infections.
These plans include asking secondary schools to mandate the wearing of masks in communal areas. They also plan on requiring routine, onsite rapid testing of pupils.
According to the Telegraph, a school spokesperson said that the decision was made to reinstate masks following advice from Public Health England in the wake of an increase in the number of cases in October after half-term holidays.
“All our actions were taken to keep the school community safe during the pandemic.”
A spokesperson said that the reason for creating a badge to exempt students from wearing masks is to make sure they don’t get repeatedly asked about it.
A teacher will see immediately that a student does not need a mask when they walk down the corridor. This is why a badge was designed to assist those who do require a badge.
After reviewing the advice from government officials about exempting face-covering badges, I chose this badge.
“This is a yellow circle, so we decided to make a yellow badge instead of creating a custom-designed one. It was not intended to offend and it is a shame that such a parallel could be made.