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Nine year-old Danny Purdy saved up £7 of his own pocket money to get a style like that of his favourite Gunner.

But his mum Sarah said he came back from school in tears after a telling off from his teachers at Brooklands Middle School in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire.

She says she was told Danny would have to stay in isolation until his hair is 'rectified'.

Mrs Purdy, 33, a trainee nurse said: 'My son came home from school in tears saying the school told him he was not allowed in.

'I spoke to them and they told me he could, but he would be put in an exclusion room away from all other children until his hair is sorted.

'All he wanted was a little confidence, and it was amazing how something as simple as a haircut did that for him, Brooklands school have taken that away from him.'

Danny has been off school since last Friday after his mum took him in and was told he would be placed immediately into isolation.

She has now asked the school for materials so she can tutor Danny from home until the row is resolved.

Mrs Purdy said: 'We genuinely didn't think a haircut like Danny's was breaking the rules.

'As long as children wear their school uniforms correctly and work hard at school, I really don't see what the problem is.

'I most certainly won't stand by and watch them make my son feel like an outcast and exclude him from lessons.

'I always thought we think with our brains and not our hair, but clearly not.'

But headteacher Steven Harrington-Williams has defended the school's stance and said they had held an assembly on uniform policy prior to the cut.

He said: 'What happened was he came into school with a large portion of his hair shaved almost to the scalp while the rest was long.

'We don't expect that sort of haircut in the school. We would have placed him in the reflection area where he would have done something.

'The other thing that's distressing is that on the morning back from holidays, I gave a message to the whole school in what was acceptable in terms of appearance.

'We have a school policy on haircuts and unfortunately, I, as headteacher of the school, have to abide by those standards.'

It is not the first time Brooklands School have been accused of being too strict in regards to its uniform policy.

In October, one parent was left 'disgusted' with staff after his eight-year-old grandson was isolated in a reflection room for having one tramline shaved in his hair.

He said: 'The head teacher made an example of him and put him in a reflection room to do his work by himself and one teacher for the whole day.

'They told his mum he had to shave his whole head or wait for the bit to grow back before he returned to school.

'His mum is disgusted and so am I, How can he be treated like that?'

Mrs Purdy, who is also mum to five-year-old Maisie, said she has been told by the school to shave all of her son's hair off.

She added that the uniform policy only bans 'extreme haircuts' but she does not think Danny's fell into that category.

The single mum said: 'I don't see this as being extreme. What I have said to the head is that what some people see as acceptable others see as inappropriate.

'I suggested to him he needs to put a picture in the uniform policy of what is acceptable because how should we know.

'A lot of kids have their hair cut like that and they haven't been taken out of class.

'The school told me over the phone that it would be offensive to poorer children who couldn't afford to have their hair cut like that.

'They want me to shave it off. It would make him look like a thug and it is punishing him for doing nothing wrong. It is so detrimental to his educational needs.

'He is a major football fan and this is a way of expressing himself. Children should be encouraged to be individual not punished.'

French international Giroud has become a fans favourite since joining the Gunners in 2012 and was on the score sheet as they beat Manchester City 2-0 on Sunday.

Arsenal FC declined to comment.

Credit: Dailymail.co.uk