A FATHER says his daughter was threatened with exclusion after she wore a mask to school.

David Branch sent his nine-year-old daughter Honey to school yesterday wearing a mask and disposable gloves, as she had been off school with a virus earlier in the week.

The 57-year-old, of Derek Avenue, Hove, said: “I was worried for her as she and I have both been ill this week, coughing and sneezing.

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“We’ve been washing our hands.

“But my concern is that coronavirus can be airborne as well.

“I thought it was the right thing to do as a parent, to protect the other pupils, just in case.”

Mr Branch said Honey, who attends Hove Junior School in Holland Road, was told “straight away” to remove the mask.

He said: “My daughter got upset as she wanted to keep it on.

“She’s not disobedient and she’s not disrespectful, but she was worried.

“When she put it back on they threatened her with ‘time out’, which is when they send you out into another room by yourself.

“Then she was told if she put the mask on again she could be excluded.

“She wasn’t excluded but it was going that way.

“I was really upset when I picked her up and she told me.”

Mr Branch said he did not intend to “scare anyone” by sending Honey to school in a mask, and he was surprised by the school’s reaction to it.

He said: “I thought they would have understood and taken my concern about it a bit more seriously.

“I was not doing it to dress her up.

“It would be terrible if there was an outbreak at the school in a few weeks time.

“I’m not saying there will be, but anything is possible.

“This is a real problem, and I was just taking a precaution.”

The Argus contacted Hove Junior School but they did not respond to comment.