To not want my 4 year old to wear a school tie?

I agree it seems OTT for reception kids to wear them (as I said, mine did) but it just wasn't an issue as everyone wore them. As another poster said - there are far more things to worry about when they start school, the tie was the least of our worries!

I like a uniform - SO much easier in the morning, no hassle over what to wear - surely that is better?

Chill out - beleive you me, there will be many other things to worry about.......

I never minded them wearing a tie - I minded the Reception staff getting moany about them not being able to do up the buttons on a cotton shirt or tie the tie or sort out the velcro and suggesting that holidays should be spent practicing. They got very moany when I said but children don't tend to wear stuff with lots of buttons and laces anymore. And close to arsy when I replied that I didn't chose the uniform and suggested they raise changing the infants to polo shirts with the HT and governors if they had problems helping.

The same two women thought a four year old should also be able to carry a lunch box, a sunhat, a PE bag and a bottle of water in the class queue and parents should not, under any circumstances help becaue this meant coming inside. Rucksacks not allowed due to space restrictions! When I suggested putting the plactic boxes for the bottles, hats and lunch boxes just outside the classroom in the playground so the children (their parents) could put the stuff in the boxes to help the children and the staff I had my head bitten off "..... and who, Mrs xxxxxxxxxxxxxx, is going to pick them up and take them inside". Can you help but wonder at the lack of common sense.

I will await a sensible reason with interest-I can't think of one. They don't even look very smart at secondary when the DCs are very 'creative' in the way they wear them.

Can anyone give me a sensible reason why 4 year olds should wear ties?

Even if they are going to wear a tie to work it's not going to take them 17 years to learn how to tie one!

And why , why, why for girls?

I hate stupid school uniforms like this for small children. I am amazed that a state school has this sort of uniform, and that they should be imposing it on four year olds is beyond stupid. My personal view is that private schools have OTT uniforms so that the children act as advertising for the school to attract parents that like their child as accessory (in a 'look at me, I'm so rich that my child goes to xx school' way).

If it is a state school then there is no way they can legally enforce the uniform, so just send your child in without the tie. If you like the uniform but are worried about safety then cutting it in half, stitching the knot in place and putting velcro in the back seems like a very practical option.

Personally I avoided schools with formal uniforms when making my choices, and I am very happy now we live in a no uniform environment. My children are 11 and 10 and what they wear has stopped being an issue ever since we moved from a uniform school, like their classmates they were jeans and a t-shirt in summer plus a hoodie in winter. I am pleased to say that they are well behaved, happy and adjusted looking like themselves, and judging from my colleagues the transition into work appears to be fairly easy.

Ties from Kindergaren at my DS's school too.

If you don't like it, find another school.

And why anybody wants girls to wear them completely escapes me!

There is no need for a 4 year old to look smart

4 year olds should be covered in paint and mud

not trussed up in shirts and ties

It doesn not look smart1 And even if it did - why on earth should 4 year olds looks "smart'!

Shouldn't 4 yr olds be learning through play, getting messy with sand, water paint etc? A shirt and tie seems not very practical to me. I know they can wear aprons but I don't agree with young children worrying about keeping nice and smart and clean. I just think reception children wearing shirts and ties sends out the wrong message.

yep my two wore a tie from reception as part of the winter uniform, and proper shirts, not polo shirtds as they are not allowed in our school. They both learnt very quickly how to tie it - I saw no need to mess about with elastic ones, and safety has never been an issue. Mind you, all those buttons and ties on pe days must be a nightmare, but the schools choice, eh?!

You will get used to it, and it looks so smart!

Good luck!

You think that's bad? The (state) school round the corner from me has just introduced a policy of not only ties for all year groups but bow ties for boys. I shit you not.

ds1 wore a tie from age 5, when he was in yr 1, reception kids didnt have to. All was going well until one day i went to pick DS from school and he grabbed hold of me pleading to undo his tie! apparently another child had decided to pull him round the playgroud by his tie, and it had got tighter and tighter, he was too scared to tell anyone its was choking him, so he just waited till i arrived

'Learning to tie ties is a very useful skill.'

Possibly. !f you are a man. Not very useful for a 4 year old, though.

And it is a skill that a man can master in about 30 minutes when he reaches a time in life when he needs to wear a tie.

I repeat. putting 4 year olds in ties is stupid. and would make me wonder why the school was focussing so much on outward appearance.

I think that the whole standard uniform thing is sexist - it is besically a mans suit - how many women wear ties to work?

No accidents here either, we all wore them as kids, my nieces wear them and so will DD when she starts school. And I don't remember teachers wailing about having to do them up either. We learnt to do them ourselves, it's not brain surgery.

Learning to tie ties is a very useful skill. My dp didn't wear one at school, and doesn't need to wear one for work. Just after we met he had a job interview and wanted to look good, so I caught him trying and failing to tie one, so I stepped in and showed him how. He was very turned on impressed

Ties remind me of nooses!

DD had to wear a proper tie, i.e. not elasticated, from the age of 4. Not a private school either. I think they struggled after PE at first but by the end of the first term most kids had learned how to do it. I don't recall hearing of any accidents caused by this. Actually I would have thought elasticated could be more of a problem as they can be pulled and allowed to snap back on the wearer as a "joke".

Ironically at secondary they have to wear clip on ties, proper ties are not allowed. The reason being that with proper ties there are all kinds of non-conformist ways of tying them so they don't look smart but clip-ons don't give that option.

i am surprised the school dont prefer elasticated ties.
surely they prefer velcro shoes
same difference surely.
for independant dressing and whatnot

Not sure if this has been said, so sorry if I'm repeating.
Get the normal school tie and cut it in half at a point which will be at the back. Then sew up the ends and put a little velcro tab on each end. If you're concerned about dc losing the 2 parts of the tie then you could sew the tie knot closed so that it's actually 1 part but it velcros at the back.
This removes almost all of the health and safety danger as the velcro will undo and doing up velcro will be easier for little dc.

Of course they don't have to-would you be cruel enough to make your DC be the only one without on a case of your principles? I wouldn't.