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AIBU?

Another uniform one - skirt length

13 replies

BellaTheGooseIsDead · 05/09/2013 21:15

DD has helpfully only just Hmm told me that she is infringing uniform policy according to one teacher.

Rules changed and this year every girl has to buy the regulation skirt from the uniform shop.

When she started in June it was explained that because the supermarkets are selling tight / lycra and figure-hugging belts skirts for teenagers that this would be the case and I agreed.

I bought two skirts and they are flared and pleated but the proportions were all wrong and she looked ludicrous. So I paid to have them altered so the hem sat just on her knee.

Apparently not many parents have had such foresight and the appalled girls have been rolling them up at the waist to mid-thigh the way they always did in the past Grin

DD's history teacher took it upon himself to inspect skirt length and told all the girls to unroll their skirts and then sent DD out because she was unable to pull her skirt down to just below her knee.

There is NOTHING in the rules about skirt length at all, just that it should be the school one.

AIBU to have had it altered?

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BellaTheGooseIsDead · 05/09/2013 21:25

Oh, and I used to teach so I also think the staff member is a brave chap to be the only teacher in three days to do this to the girls in the class. He isn't a form tutor or head of year and he might be better advised to leave the skirt inspections to other members of staff.

Very easy to be misunderstood these days and I'd hate to have an enthusiastic NQT put off.

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marriedinwhiteisback · 05/09/2013 21:30

If it isn't mid thigh what is the problem. Why is a male teacher asking girls to unroll skirts and carefully judging their length. Did you receive a letter?

I would make an apt to see the head of year. If you haven't had one, I'd be minded to phone tomorrow and say your dd is unable to attend because her skirt was judged too short by mr x yesterday and you have to get the right one.

If dd's happy she's right; if ahe begs you nt to and says she might have made a mistake then u know your answer.

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ameliameerkat · 05/09/2013 21:41

Surely it also depends how tall you are - the skirts can't come to below the knee on all of them, can they?!

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BellaTheGooseIsDead · 05/09/2013 21:43

I am going to phone and get them to clarify because length wasn't an issue, it was the fit of previous types of skirt.

The website and printed uniform list is quite clear. School skirt only. No mention of length.

No letter but there is an ingenious system of the pupils carrying a card around all day which can be stamped by any member of staff who spots make-up or no tie / blazer without house badge afixed / trainers instead of shoes which I am completely happy with.

Three infringements mean a detention and it escalates from there. It's a good system but I was a bit Confused at DD being sent out for breaking a rule that isn't a rule.

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soverylucky · 05/09/2013 21:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

BellaTheGooseIsDead · 05/09/2013 21:49

I don't think a hair above the knee for a pleated skirt is akin to a loincloth.

There are plenty of female staff and the HT is female. Why not say, "all pupils will wear the school skirt and it must come to below the knee" in the rules?

Would have saved me some money but fuck knows how they would have implemented that given that children all have very different shapes. Some poor kids would be wandering around tripping over ankle-length skirts!

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BellaTheGooseIsDead · 05/09/2013 21:49

I don't think a hair above the knee for a pleated skirt is akin to a loincloth.

There are plenty of female staff and the HT is female. Why not say, "all pupils will wear the school skirt and it must come to below the knee" in the rules?

Would have saved me some money but fuck knows how they would have implemented that given that children all have very different shapes. Some poor kids would be wandering around tripping over ankle-length skirts!

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BellaTheGooseIsDead · 05/09/2013 22:09

Stupid double-post Angry

I agree with you soverylucky and the skirt situation did rage out of control. When DD started in June she was Shock at how short the girls wore their skirts and how tight they were. I was pretty shocked to see belts and loincloths being worn.

But DD is wearing a pleated regulation skirt which ends just above the top of her kneecap and is in no way indecent and may get a dark mark against her leading to a detention when this teacher does his skirt inspection again when the rules do not state length.

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BellaTheGooseIsDead · 06/09/2013 00:01

Bumping for arse-kicking potential insights from the evening crowd. I'm going to have to explain this and want to do it with a good argument for it rather than, "why was Mr X the only teacher to inspect skirt lengths"

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MidniteScribbler · 06/09/2013 01:39

When I was at school the rule was that it must touch the ground when kneeling. They used to make everyone kneel in assemblies and check the skirts then everyone would just roll them up again when they walked out.

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livinginwonderland · 06/09/2013 07:04

I find skirt length threads amusing. I went to private school and our school skirt was mid-calf length. You couldn't buy them to be shorter than that and obviously they had to be school-regulation.

They looked ridiculous at mid-calf length, so we used to buy them as long as possible and undo the buttons and use elastic bands so we wore them below our hips, instead of on our waists - it was the longer the better! Mine dragged around my ankles and I remember several people including me tripping over them because we wore them so low!

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mysteryfairy · 06/09/2013 08:31

My DD's school rely on the school outfitters enforcing the correct length of skirt so perhaps your DD's school has a similar expectation.

DD is about 5ft 1 and the outfitters refused to sell us a 22 inch length skirt saying she needed a 24. It looks pretty hideous but had we got it altered I assume it would no longer fit the length criterion. They don't make anything shorter than a 22 so the smallest year 7s are wearing them very long, but not exactly ankle length.

There is no way I would get in an argument with the school over this. Do you really want to be the person who confronts the school over uniform? I would just buy more skirts and not get them altered - yes they may look bad but it's a uniform and probably not designed to be stylish.

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Floggingmolly · 06/09/2013 08:46

You adjusted your dd's skirt so that it was actually shorter than the way it was originally sold. The school probably felt it wasn't necessary to directly specify the required length, as the regulation skirt in it's unaltered state was acceptable?
I really wouldn't go down the route of asking why Mr. X was the only one to challenge skirt lengths, tbh. It's irrelevant, and sounds like you're accusing him of being inappropriate...

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