91Èȱ¬

A pupil who was repeatedly sent home from school because of her afro hair, says she doesn't want it happen to any other young person in the UK.

Ruby Williams, who is now 18 years old, is campaigning with her family to try and make sure that other students don't experience anything similar.

She wants schools to mark World Afro Day on 15 September to help raise awareness.

Ruby says she was sent home on a number of occasions for her hair breaching the school uniform policy that said "afro style hair must be of reasonable size and length".

She said she was also told by the head teacher her hair was "too big", and that the school claimed her hair was distracting to other pupils and blocked views of the whiteboard.

Ruby said she had tried different hairstyles, including braids and extensions to try and follow the school's rules, but said they were too expensive to have done and damaged her hair, leaving her with bald patches.

Since the initial complaints from Ruby's family, the school has removed the hair policy from its website.

Ruby's family decided to take legal action against the school.

Her case was delayed so eventually Ruby and her family decided to settle the matter out of court - which means they came to an agreement without formal court proceedings.

Although the school did not accept any liability (that means it didn't accept that it was legally responsible for anything) Ruby was given £8,500.

The Urswick School's governing body says the school "recognises and celebrates diversity at every opportunity".

"The governing body is hugely distressed if any child or family feels we have discriminated against them," it told 91Èȱ¬ Radio 1's Newsbeat, adding: "We do not accept that the school has discriminated, even unintentionally, against any individual or group."

The uniform policy now says hairstyles should be "reasonable and should not impact on other students" and hair should not significantly cover the eyes as it will "affect learning".

There are now no restrictions on length, but long hair has to be tied back for PE, science and technology.

Ruby says she wants all schools to have "better guidelines on their uniform policy".

She also hopes that her story will help other young people who might be "staying quiet about a similar situation".

Ruby was studying for her GCSEs at the time, and said she felt "stressed" and "humiliated" by teachers who sent her home.

She is now studying at college and said: "I'm definitely proud of my hair. I'm proud of the progress that it's made and the journey that I've been on.

"I'm proud that my hair is 'too big'."