Just read the bloody uniform policy!!!

And longer hours of unpaid work, endless administration and being expected to be an enforcer of outdated and pointless rules that get in the way of the role they trained and perhaps even felt called to do.

Personally I have loads of respect for teachers, though virtually none for school "CEO"s and ego-centric heads and their vanity projects.

They know what's allowed. They just hope the child will get away with it and then throw a tantrum when they don't and they'll have to rebuy shoes

Our school in Europe has no uniform. All the kids are just wearing leggings/joggers with comfy tops/jumpers/dresses. They have specifically said in emails to us parents that they value children being individuals with their clothes and hair, but nobody is wearing anything crazy, even the teenagers.

They do insist that younger children arrive in clothing that is suitable for the weather. If you tried to send your child in something that would leave them unacceptably cold or wet there would be words I'm sure. I think with the teenagers they let them get on with it and wear a t-shirt in the snow if they want to be stupid, but it's much colder than the UK here so there's a limit to how silly you can be.

You may need to take off those rose-tinted glasses. If any child at your DS's school wants to be a bully, they will not be deterred in the least by the fact that they can't pick on someone not wearing logos. Bullies don't actually need reasons at all, but if they want to pick on some perceived deficiency in another child they can and will do so very easily.

And if you notice, that wasn't really my argument or point.

My point was when you send your child to a school (whether you had a choice or not), you agree to follow the rules of said school.

More Fool you then.

Do you never say No?

I'm afraid that sort of reaction is exactly why the tabloids print these clickbait stories every bloody year, and it's a real pity that their readers fall for it. The reality is that some report got hold of some harassed mother and said "Ooh, I bet you're absolutely fuming, aren't you? I bet you'd like to pull your daughter out of that school wouldn't you?" and the unfortunate woman (who was actually only mildly pissed-off and had zero intention of taking her kid out of school) says "yes" to get rid of him, or to be polite, or because he's wound her up. Job done, lots of frothing at the mouth self-righteous Mail readers guaranteed in the BTL comments section.

Thank goodness for Scotland where they cannot refuse to educate you based on what you wear. My dc go to a school where they are asked to wear dark colours if they can that’s it. They wear hoodies and joggers. And they all manage to learn just fine, comfortable, warm in winter and cool in summer. Having shoes that are a different colour doesn’t stop them learning. Ridiculous to have uniform at all.

I feel sorry for teachers they were respected and paid well. Now they are bringing up feckless parents children and are shown no respect from the parents or children. Teachers are leaving because of what they have to put up with.

God, I could not agree more!! I don’t give a shit what colour wee Jimmy’s shoes are , why does it matter? Blazers? Fucking pointless - I’m in Glasgow where it’s chucking it down 85% of the bloody year. Shirt and tie? Just… why?

Unless they feel pressured to do so because all of the cool and popular kids are.

Oh I hear you here!

Apparently my kids school were teaching them to be well rounded individuals with a clear sense of right and wrong, capable of independent thinking.

Then they had to ask permission to remove a jumper......

So independent thinkers that can't work out if they're too hot alone? Ok.

OK, but if you are going to have a uniform, which most schools in the UK do, then it doesn't make sense to allow logos and expensive branding.

Whether or not we should have uniform is a separate debate, but as I pointed out above, a YouGov survey from last year showed that 65% of British people are in favour of uniform in secondary schools.

But then the girls who want to carry on playing playground games are unlikely to turn up in ballet flats anyway.

Any uniform policy in a state school is absolutely ridiculous and should only be followed by parents if they so desire. The state has AN OBLIGATION to educate children. They can't get away with refusing to do so just because they don't happen to like the pupil's clothing. This is not 1960. Schools are there to teach, not to judge.

Honestly I wish my son's school would do something similar but the have a picture of Nike Air Force 1's under their acceptable school list. So there the exact shoes my ASD teen wanted and because he had them his little brother wanted them too. Just spent over £200 on pairs of school shoes! 😭

And try buying for kids with sensory issues....

I didn't wear a uniform until I was 14yo. Our uniform was mix and match - grey, navy or black with white top with collar (ergonpolo shirt).

It was perfect. None go their knickers in a twist or try to avoid uniform, it was cheap and we looked smart enough.

I recall my DD needing a uniform when my DH was very poorly so I'd given up work. The school paid, it was £150. They were as shocked as hell and I bought just 1 skirt, 1 pants and 2 shirts plus 1 lot of sports wear and cheap black shoes After my hubby died and I went back to work I bought her more, but I think schools have no idea just how expensive uniform is....

But it does mean that the argument "Obey the rules or send your child to a different school" just doesn't work.

That wasn’t the case in my seventies school days, boys would be in detention if they didn’t get their hair cut. No teachers with long hair at all.

Yes, ideally they should, but the prospect of legal action is understandably daunting to many parents - and if they have a disabled child, the chances are they already have more than enough on their plates.

The answer to the problem is surely not to bother with school uniform.

Yes, the Nikes will probably last longer. But Nike shoes don't start at £100. You can get them for less than half that.

It's the parents rebelling not the children every year the same conversation. Follow the rules and get on with it it's not hard.

The parents should be fined £100 if the shoes they turn up in are new and branded

A uniform policy is fine. For example 'black shoes'. Not this ridiculous nit picking crap that schools do. They they even send out pictures of said acceptable black shoes 🙄.

The "leveller" argument just doesn't stand up to any sort of scrutiny. As people have pointed out, schoolchildren know perfectly well which of their mates have money and which don't. They only have to look at each others' phones, or how shabby their blazers get when parents can't afford to replace them.

In schools that don't have uniform, in practice virtually every child ends up turning up in jeans and track-suit tops, T-shirts in the summer. That's at least as much levelling as any polyester blazer and tie can achieve.