To hate uniforms on 4 year olds?

No uniforms here in France....it's a chance for DSs to be creative with their dress sense, and they love it,( previously went to London pre-prep with very elaborate uniform....they got very nippy at changing their socks and shoes )

Love ds1 being in a 'uniform', as does he (he likes being part of the gang) and it clearly tells him which days are school days so he knows what he's up to and is prepared for it in his head. 2 sweathirts cost £15 which I don't consider too much for 5 terms wear. The rest is M&S outstanding value range. He looks really cute too. Also since all his clothes are off ebay or hand-me-downs I don't think they'd be up to the beating his school clothes take and would start looking scruffy very quickly.

LOL - have we had the "uniforms stop the children being indivudals" yet?!

Oh, if only it did! The school I last taught at - failing, poor pupil behaviour being one of the main factors - had a strict uniform code. Yes, it really stopped that "significiant minority" of pupils from being individuals

I buy most of my dd's uniform from Bhs - summer dresses included - since she's quite fussy about the design of them. She prefers zips to buttons on her dresses and they seem to last a daily washing . She was in a stage show last Nov playing a schoolgirl (imaginative casting, hey) so this year I'm going to recycle the tunic she wore in that since it was bought from the M & S uniform section. I think I'll refrain from making her wear the tie or the blouse that'll need ironing though. The only things are a pain to get are the logo'ed sweaters/cardigans which have to be ordered through the school - the local uniform shop doesn't stock them for some reason. Uniform makes our life much easier in the mornings - I don't 'do' mornings but my dd does. So it's one less hassle for us.

I had uniform at primary school in the 70's, and I don't know anyone who didn't have it at secondary. My mother disliked our primary uniform so much that she used a loop hole to send us to school in our own clothes. It was awful.

I think that the current trend for set polo shirts/sweatshirts with logos and then more freedom as to where the rest of the stuff comes from is a very sensible one - I remember at secondary school hating the school skirts because they fit so badly, and getting really peeved for being told I looked scruffy. Oh, and I think that if schools have shirt and tie sorts of uniforms the teachers should have to wear the same sort of thing.

Sorry. Too deep. I will quit now.

lol... yes, you may say that if you wish.

Sorry, comment retracted. I too was very individual. Prior to my teens. Prob not at 5 though. But I apprreciate that some children are. Most children just want to fit in though. They just want acceptance. Is that more fair ?

I had minorly similar brandine. I know that uniform plays a large part, but I think they already knew which school I went to, regardless of uniform. Am I making sense ?

oh sorry, i meant the post before where you asked what 5 yo wants to be an individual. i did. i was. and i was lucky enough not to be bullied for it at all.

(apart from Bozza, ta, I will stick to M&S (and the pork pies))

has this thread descended into over-analysis and hand-wringing yet?

oh

it has

bye!

olive I don't think Asda is the best. It is ok for pe because that doesn't get worn much and washed less (every half term in our case). But for trousers/shorts I don't think they wear very well - rub up quite a bit. I assume skirts/pinafores would be the same.

I have had success with Adams (buy one, get one half price) but other mumsnetters have slated them. I find two pairs of trousers is enough for DS because he has a tall friend so we get the handmedowns to use as spares.

Had I not been wearing a uniform I wouldn't have been called 'a snob' and various derogatory comments pertaining to my perceived 'snobbery' and 'poshness'. That was due to the fact that my school was a decent one (but still a state comprehensive), and my uniform told everyone where I went. I did not wear it with pride on that bus in London, instead my skin prickled with fear as we got to the bus stop where the other kids used to board because I knew what was coming.

Sorry tanquil ? what do you mean, speak for yourself ?

speak for yourself, oblomov!

That is sad brandine. It is possible that that would have happened irrespective of the uniform though. Because you went to a different school ?

I'm not saying that they lose all individuality by wearing a uniform, but it is one way in which we force people to conform. I hate uniformity in any way, shape or form. It can be as segregating as it can be unifying. I can remember being targetted by kids from a rival school as I travelled home on the bus, and that was pretty terrifying.

Who wants to be an individaul at aged 5. Noone. They want to be one of the crowd.

In my area of England in the 1970s most primary schools and all secondary schools had uniforms. I think it's about the same now, to be honest, no big change.

yeah, they aren't individuals at all in uniforms are they? they just turn into little mini robot all of a sudden - God, do me a favour

I wore a uniform in 1972 !!
I totally agree - individuality is far more important, I am just putting forward an observation !
I reckon just whatever suits the individual eh ?

ach, they look cute and theres only so many gazillion name tags you have to sew/iron/stick/glue on to stuff.

thankfully, ds1&2's uniforms' are stripey. a narrowly averted PR disaster there i thought. (or itd have been aligator suit arguments every day)

never worn a uniform myself...find the concapt a touch baffling tbh, but cant say it bothers me more than, say, the old-man-y way Gordon Browns mouth moves for a second after he stops speaking.

I can understand that, alfie. But perhaps this is something of our own creation because we have conspired to make everyone have to 'fit in' or risk being singled out for not conforming to a standard.

In England in the 1970's hardly any schools had uniforms. When did it all change? And isn't that a contributory factor?

I love school uniform. They look lovely and smart in it and it's not that expensive imo.