Just read the bloody uniform policy!!!

I looked it up when reading the news article earlier as I noticed some quotes from parents saying "well it was never in the policy" which I thought was weird!

I can recognise that getting the piercing so late was poor planning and at the same time believe that the policy banning them is unnecessary.

Lots of parent feel the need to push uniform boundaries. I really don't blame schools for not bending or they'll be stuck in bargaining territory for weeks.

The logo on those Westwood pumps is so blatant! As were the big old Nike ticks!

How hard is it to find plain, black shoes?!

It’s really disappointing that this has to be ‘a thing’ to stop bullying. I went to 3 different schools and no kid gave a single flying fuck about what shoes anyone else was wearing. I often found school shoes would take the skin of my heels, so I mostly wore ankle boots for comfort.

Genuine question as I only have a 2 year old - apart from shoes like those air force ones i’ve heard about, is it really true that branding means more expensive? I’m asking this as my son currently wears addidas from Schuh, and they are half the price of the stuff in Clarks.

You and I might want that, but our political masters and those who shill for them don't. They want a population full of controllable robots who don't question things and don't challenge power structures.

Her reason being that her 14 year old DD had her nose pierced a couple of weeks ago and can't take the stud out yet

I don't know much about these things but isn't that correct? Bad timing of course not to have done it at the start of the holiday.

Nose piercings are standard where I live, as are all sorts of hairstyles and colours, facial hair, etc. The students whose noses are pierced, with the blue hair and the nail polish and even the odd tattoo are also welcome in Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. Funny that.

It’s the same every year, some chavvy or ‘cool’ or artsy MC parent whining about their child having to ‘conform’, Daily Fail loves these no- stories as they really divide opinion.

There's nothing unjust about having a rule of no nose piercing. That is standard almost everywhere.

What it teaches is that children and parents don't have to take responsibility. They don't have to plan appropriately, or think ahead. That girl had been in high school for a couple of years, she MUST HAVE known nose piercings are not acceptable. Getting a nose piercing two weeks before school starts shows a profound lack of planning.

Fair enough, I didn’t google the actual school. Other schools do allow ballet pumps but not trainers which would be more practical.

The issue is that many parents either

1. Can't face standing up to their kids and saying no. They therefore buy the Nikes when they know they are not allowed.
2. Don't bother to read the information or go to the new starters evenings. They are then shocked when they don't know something.

as I was bullied in year 7-9 after a video of me having sec went around

If "sec" was meant to be "sex", you had bigger problems than trousers and shoes, like being the victim of statutory rape aged no more than 11 and the subject of child pornography. Every child who distributed that video committed a criminal offence, as did the man or boy who raped you and should have been jailed. Every child who bullied you should hang their head in shame for bullying a rape victim.

I am very sorry that that happened to you and furious that your parents' didn't support you to report it to the school and the police and, if necessary, move you to another school.

I think it would all be fine if there was actual choice in any element of this- but there isn’t.

Most academies have copy cat pointlessly strict uniform policies. It is rare to find a non-uniform school today, especially at secondary.

Most parents don’t really have a choice of school- and uniform preference isn’t recognised as a valid criteria if you do manage to get an older sibling into an out of catchment school.

Many shoe- and clothes- shopping experiences these days boil down to ‘here is what we have in stock in/close to your size.’ When it’s take it or leave it, you are likely to bend on the football-embossed Velcro strap or the diamanté detail on the toe of the shoe even if you feel a bit uncertain that it’s ‘plain black.’

Even non-uniform schools often don’t allow boots, which is puzzling when they are a sensible choice for winter and for ankle support. ‘School shoe’ retailers seem to be incapable of manufacturing or stocking supportive, weatherproof shoes for girls.

So it’s basically all a stitch up in multiple directions. Definitely none of it is a good reason to withhold a child’s education.

...are we basically teaching our adolescents that it's absolutely ok to ignore any rule about anything and that it's fine to just do your own thing? To me, it's not so much about the school's policies but rather the inference that it's fine to do just do your own thing. These teens are going to struggle in the working world if that's the case.

Do you honestly believe that students who are used to expressing themselves freely through clothing and piercings and hairstyle and colour all through their school years are unable to cope with the workplace when that time comes?

How do you imagine young people fresh out of university manage in the US, Canada, and most of continental Europe?

It's heartening that 80% in your village support the woman's petition. I hope the daughter with the pierced nose goes on to achieve great things despite the refusal of the school she's enrolled in to allow her the educational opportunity she is entitled to. Having a pierced nose and a sensible parent isn't a reason to doubt she has a solid future ahead of her.

We get sent, at the end of summer term and twice in the school hols, reminders about uniform in particular shoes. They send pictures of unsuitable shoes. There is no excuse. Fortunately most girls (and indeed boys) wear either docs or kickers.
But indeed there is always someone kicking off about shoes. The ones they bought cost the same or more than shoes that are allowed.

Surely the people signing the petition are teaching the adolescents that if you think a rule is unreasonable, it's reasonable to campaign to get it changed. This is a good thing to teach. We want children and adolescents to grow up into people who feel able and willing to organise politically and socially for and against unjust or unreasonable policies.

Buying school shoes is an absolute headache. So many shoes sold as school shoes aren't permissible in many schools ie stupidly clumpy heels, or flats which offer no protection, or daft 'Alice' shoes which again offer no protection from the elements, or stupid bits of decoration. The boys shoes are nearly all trainer types, and many have logos. Our local Asda store had some school acceptable ones, but they fell apart by half term.
It's ridiculous, plenty of teachers must have school age kids and have the same issues...at least I would have thought they do!

Out of 4 DC, 3 wore the correct uniform with minimum fuss.
I agree, read the uniform policy and stick to it, but it is hard sometimes.
DS2, fought everything, every term.
Those awful days standing in clarks while he refused to try anything on and insisted Nike trainers or Timberlands would pass as school shoes, costing me a fortune when the school wouldn't accept them. Then promising he wouldn't get his hair cut too short and pretending his barber had misunderstood, coming home with the totally shaved sides, meant he spent so much time in isolation instead of in class it was ridiculous. I was so glad when he started college and I didn't have the total stress of it all, and he could buy his own clothes. 😅

I think there should be some flex on styles like a plain black trainer I don't see the issue with personally- but I agree that branded items shouldn't be appropriate because it puts undue pressure on children and their parents. I'm probably bias as I spent school being called 'povvo' as I didn't have the latest bag or watch, let alone the pressure teens especially are under these days with social media. For everyone who moans about the rules plenty I'm sure are thankful.

Maybe so, and I’m not minimising their experience, nor am I against making anything more inclusive and so making the lives of disabled people easier, I just don’t think it will be easy to do, given the very attitude you describe. And if I may, the schools who think their policies trump the law should be challenged and made to comply with their legal obligation for reasonable adjustment. As with so much of disability legislation, if it’s not enforced it’s pointless. It’s up to parents to advocate for their children - even more so if they’re disabled because the EA is there to ensure their disability doesn’t put them at a disadvantage.

Someone in my village posted on FB yesterday that she has started up a petition to ban jewellery and hairstyle restrictions at our local school.

Her reason being that her 14 year old DD had her nose pierced a couple of weeks ago and can't take the stud out yet - first day of term and she was put into isolation as a result. Her Mum is outraged that her DD's right to express her individuality and personality is being stunted.

The amazing thing about this was the sheer number of people who have apparently signed this petition, or intend to. The ratio of those agreeing with her/not agreeing was about 80/40 in favour of the former. It beggars belief - are we basically teaching our adolescents that it's absolutely ok to ignore any rule about anything and that it's fine to just do your own thing? To me, it's not so much about the school's policies but rather the inference that it's fine to do just do your own thing. These teens are going to struggle in the working world if that's the case.

I know - I'm a pearl-clutching, dried-up miserable old hag who wants to spoil everyone's fun.......

I don’t think it’s a reasonable uniform rule given the lack of choice over such things that most families have (i.e. there is frequently a lack of diversity in local schools around these kinds of issues, so it’s not as though most parents can chose a school that wouldn’t insist on pointless shoe details). So, as with all unreasonable rules, while I wouldn’t necessarily flout it myself I don’t think badly of those who do.

I live disabled. So believe me when I tell you that disabled people face a double burden: the disability itself, and the constant asking for reasonable adjustments, many of which wouldn't have to be asked for if stuff was designed inclusive in the first place. School uniforms are an example of something that could be designed inclusive in the first place. And it affects Black children and religious minority children as well as disabled ones. How recently was it that DfE had to write to schools reminding them that hair policies shouldn't be racist?

No you wouldn’t! Kids still need enough of their own clothes to get them through the holidays. You also need to buy a whole set of new clothes when they change school even if the old ones fit them just fine.

These academies are trying to be like private schools...

But most private schools wouldn't treat paying parents and their kids like this, because they are being paid to teach, not to take children out of lessons. Academies should have the same attitude towards tax-paying parents.