Just read the bloody uniform policy!!!

@Missingpop Yes, there are entitled parents who might want to take their kids out of a school which doesn't let them wear clothes or shoes with flashy logos.

But there are also parents, like me, who don't mind reasonable rules but who would take their kids out of a school which enforces silly rules draconiananly and with totally unreasonable punishments. Send the kid home if she's not wearing the right shoes. But giving her small shoes which then give her blisters? The whole day in detention? * that, that is totally unreasonable, unwarranted and counter-productive. If you disagree, I'd love to hear why.

It is fine to have rules, but it is always a red flag when a school spends so much time inspecting the details of each uniform daily. And dental retainers? Why on earth would they be banned?????

Makes me laugh when I see people posting questions on Facebook groups asking about uniform policy for a certain school, just check with the bloody school and if you aren't going to adhere to the policy why bother asking.

Aw come on @ZadocPDederick link me to the overshoes you have in mind .

And your suggestion that the sort of parents who are Daily Mail sadfacing about Buttercup not being allowed to wear her designer shoes to school would be happy to provide a second pair for science/tech is laughable.

On that basis, they should insist on every pupil wearing goggles all the time. Because it makes sense to insist on pupils wearing the relevant safety wear full time for lessons that only take up a small proportion of the school week, doesn't it?

People working in industry who need safety wear on their feet aren't made to come into work wearing it, or to continue wearing it when they're not working in potentially dangerous areas. If you want to know about safety overshoes, google is your friend.

They may not have spent 100 on them there are plenty of cheap fakes out there for sale, samenwith the nikes most likely. I'm a bit at odds both ways with this. Some parents do seem intent on not following the rules and then declaring they have done nothing wrong. On the other hand the rules secondary schools have on uniforms and using the bathroom seem ridiculous to me. It really seems.like power play and I can't see how it prepares anyone for the workplace.

some are just not that bright, believe me, loads get reported snd tracked down.

Yes and they do this by specifying in their uniform policy that children must wear shoes which have a covered top.

I'm still interested to know what sort of overshoes you think the school should be providing that would make a ballet flat safe. Putees?

Why should the school provide goggles? If they are undertaking a potentially dangerous activity, it's up to them to manage the safety aspects.

I really think schools should aspire to rather more than having pupils who make it to the end of a lesson without passing out.

Why should your poor mother have had to save up to buy hideous shoes, pointless ties and blazers, and stupid hats and knickers? "Because those were the rules" is hardly an adequate answer. Once upon a time people were hanged for stealing because those were the rules, women weren't allowed to vote because those were the rules. No-one thinks that "the rules" an adequate justification for such practices.

My daughter has exceptionally narrow and quite flat feet plus very slim ankles, and finding "regulation" shoes to fit her was extremely difficult, even at Clark's where a few styles are available in an E fitting (really she was more like a D).

Black leather Converse come up slim and can be tied tightly more tightly than many styles across the top of the foot - these worked well for her to begin with but then they were banned along with all other trainer-type shoes and we had a complete nightmare trying to find an alternative which would stay on.

What made me mad was after all that, the school then didn't really enforce their "strict" new uniform regulations so everyone else was in the kind of shoes which would have worked so much better for my daughter while I'd spent over £100 on posh continental shoes and custom insoles which she didn't even like.

What sort of overshoes had you in mind? And why should the school provide them?

Easily dealt with - have some overshoes on hand for those lessons, in the same way as they keep goggles.

In many ways this sounds like a sensible compromise.

But the flip side is that we would then be telling our children they must all spend their school days wearing virtually the same as every other child in the country, and what they are wearing is mostly a depressing range of grey and black, or maybe navy blue if we're lucky. All around the country every child would look alike and be like regiments of camp inmates. It would seem like sending them all off for compulsory conscription.

There would be a lot of respect for schools if they would sometimes row back on rules which aren't serving the purpose of keeping children safe or improving their education, rather than maintaining their entrenched position without justification.

So any misbehaving child with any sense takes the relevant piece of clothing off.

PS This is also the school that doesn't allow dental retainers, not even clean ones. It's on their policy I had linked above

I assume the OP was referring to this case? https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12491353/Pupil-15-left-blisters-told-wear-school-shoes-small-black-ballet-style-footwear-deemed-unsuitable.html

The school policy clearly states no ballet type shoes, no logos. https://www.gracecollege.org.uk/student-and-parent-hub/academy-uniform/year-7-11-day-wear-uniform/

This rule was clear and easy to follow.

HOWEVER what I object to is how the rule was enforced. If the story is to be believed (and tabloids aren't often reliable, to put it mildly), one kid was given the choice of wearing smaller shoes, which then gave her blisters, and another kid was kept the whole day in isolation.

Yes, yes, respecting rules is important, but the punishment must also be proportionate. Send the kid home. Give them a 30-minute detention. But blisters and a whole day of detention? That's like giving 20 years in prison to someone who speeds at 24mph in a 20mph zone.

Let's also remember that the Sutton trust has long held that No robust evidence that introducing a school uniform will improve academic performance
https://www.suttontrust.com/news-opinion/all-news-opinion/smaller-classes-uniforms-primary-homework-among-least-effective-ways-boosting-school-performance/

I am strongly in favour of reasonable dress codes; e.g. black or gray trousers or skirts, white shirts, etc. I object to rules forcing parents to buy clothes with logos from a specific supplier (many schools don't allow patches with the school logo) and I sure as hell object to those schools which dedicate so much time to inspecting the right shade of grey or the right number of mm in a skirt or heel.

And I certainly object to inappropriate clothes when it's hot; if a job forced you to come to the office wearing a tie with 30C, and to only take it off when the Supreme Boss, from his infinite wisdom, tells you are allowed to do so, how would you react?

Rules are important but it's also important to guard against the risk of mentally unstable and repressed teachers and headteachers getting off exercising their authority by inspecting the right shade of grey

@DisquietintheRanks I think a school can reasonably say no mini skirts, but actually measuring skirt length is humiliating and oppressive. If I was teaching, I'd refuse to have anything to do with that.

My son has to wear horrible formal school shoes I would much rather he wear a pair of comfortable black trainers. I have purchased him the softest nicest leather shoes I could find but still, I find it petty that teenage boys can’t wear black trainers for school. This subject really seems to get the rule followers in that place they love the most, the high horse. Where logic and reality and actual brains don’t exist.

School uniform is just a way of controlling our children….do as I say or else!
As for ‘unsuitable’ hair styles….what the feck is that about?
once left school many will enter careers where their hair, clothes, make up is controlled…for gods sake let the kids have a few years of free rein in their bloody haircut.
Schools are closing due to inadequate funding, over worked teachers are leaving in their drives- and people are losing their rag over a hairstyle!
Let them learn in a happy environment….and don’t get me started on tat bloody woman who put the school meal kids in isolation for being behind with paying!

I don't understand why the government can't fund an online shop that sells basic, practical, well designed uniform to meet most needs (eg, black shoes that are safe but comfortable and not hideous to look at, clothes without itchy seams and printed labels so children with additional needs can wear them etc), sell it at cost to parents and give it free to those that would be entitled to school uniform grant and be done with it!

They could sell a minimal range of colour options and tell all schools they can only dictate a school uniform code from the government school uniform selection. So much simpler all round.

The badge is there so if the misbehave outside of school you know where the came from.

Wearing your skirt as short as some girls like to wear them is "distracting" to anybody. We do not live in a society where you get to display your crotch or your arse to people and expect them not to notice. I imagine if a boy showed that much of himself it would be (rightly) be described indecent exposure , not distraction.

What you wear on your foot has an impact on your safety. No one should be doing chemistry or tech subjects that require tool use in an open top shoe. Nor should girls safety or ability to participate in the curriculum be compromised because "fashion ".