Students at a South Auckland high school say they were sent home for “not wearing enough yellow” on a Daffodil Day non-uniform fundraiser - promoting concern the school isn’t prioritising education.

Rosehill College senior students say they were given marching orders by the deputy principal after an inspection during a morning assembly. Students were earlier told “if there is no yellow then you will be sent home”.

Year 13 student Amber Roebeck told the Herald, “We all showed up wearing a piece of yellow ranging from shoes/sandals, some of us wearing yellow [scarves], hoodies, and T-shirts.

“Unfortunately, all my friends got sent home because [the deputy principal] said they weren’t wearing enough,” Roebeck said.

Principal Davida Suasua told the Herald there were “always two sides to a story and this is not the case”, without explaining any further.

Roebeck said one boy was told to “toughen up” and take his hoodie off to show off a yellow shirt underneath: “It’s winter time and it’s cold, and he got told to toughen up.”

The boy refused to take it off: “I said I was cold. He told me if I didn’t take it off then I’d be sent home and that’s what happened. I walked out,” he said.

Suasua said, “We have spoken with the parent of the student who left school and clarified the situation.”

Roebeck, who has gone through Covid-19 and teacher strike disruptions during her schooling and has been striving to get to university, felt being sent home was further interrupting her education.

“Was that really necessary to be sent home [just] because we were not wearing yellow?

“Our education is not being prioritised. Practice exams are coming up and [it] does not seem like an issue to the teachers.

“If they really cared [about] our education they would [have] kept us on school grounds,” she said.

Roebeck’s mother, Cherie Roebeck, said: “My daughter absolutely loves school - not any more.

“She’s been through a lot [of interruptions], but they [my girls] love learning. Through Covid, my girls were at the table doing their schoolwork because they didn’t want to fall behind.

“Anyway, you can actually wear all white [for Daffofdil Day] if you like, because there are so many coloured daffodils.”

Daffodil Day is a major fundraising drive for the Cancer Society New Zealand which has been running since 1990. It also raises awareness of cancer.