Just read the bloody uniform policy!!!

@enchantedsquirrelwood I stand by the thick comment purely because they've been told repeatedly on this thread that many parents have very limited options and yet they still persist in saying stupid shit like 'you signed up to the rules' or 'send them somewhere else if you don't like it'.

I’m not sure that ‘school uniform saves time, money and stress’ tbh.

There is plenty in the news about parents struggling with the cost of uniform. This also includes girls who wear tights, which get laddered easily and need to be replaced throughout the year.

I also personally found during my own school days that having to faff with ensuring specific clothes were washed and ironed was a lot more effort than just being able to wear my own clothes, especially as a lot of parents will only buy a few of each item.

No need to call posters thick but I agree with the rest of your post.

I am not anti-uniform, I am anti uniforms that are expensive, unnecessary and take teachers' time away from teaching and other more useful activities.

It's enough to say a uniform is eg black trousers/skirt, white shirt/blouse and a navy jumper which could have the logo on, but I'd have a requirement that the school allows plain jumpers too. At my son's primary the polo shirts had the logo on but it was also acceptable to wear plain white ones. There's really no need for a uniform beyond this, other than sensible shoes and a PE uniform (which should be generic to the school, not house or team, so can be passed down/passed onto second hand market if still in good nick). Such a uniform would also be gender neutral.

No ties, no blazers, no expensive compulsory extras.

I really can't see any justification for anything fussier, other than to make it so expensive that it selects by stealth. Which isn't a justification. And making them wear full uniform in hot weather is control for control's sake. There is zero justification for that, either.

I doubt she's strutting

Which is so unfair on the boys who want to be distracted.

Measuring skirt lengths is not what professional educators should be doing with their time.

Think about the reasoning behind that one - it's to make girls the gatekeepers of male behaviour. The idea being that girls who are wearing short skirts are distracting boys.

I can't believe some of the comments here. School uniform saves time money and stress. Maybe schools should get even stricter and tell the pathetic parents who don't seem to be able to control their children what shoes and school bags the children should have. No one seems to have any sense. At school we had to get permission to remove our blazers in class we would still be wearing shirts and ties done up to the neck,no one fainted or passed out. Our shoes were the ugliest brouges ever we wore them, they measured our skirt length the width of our trousers legs we survived we wore stupid berets and school navy knickers for PE. Because that was the uniform policy and the rules.ps people had much less money and fewer choices. My mother saved up for my uniform.

It’s over 100 miles from where I live to the nearest non uniform secondary school

The uniforms are there to stop kids looking chavvy you mean

You’re not getting it. So the mummy’s little process is strutting around in her Westwoods whilst the child next to her hardly has enough to eat let alone a fancy pair of shoes. Uniforms were introduced so no child could pick on another child for their clothes.

No it doesn't get very expensive and competitive. What happens when there are no uniforms is that kids stop paying attention to clothes. They get up in the morning, shower, and pull on whatever comes to hand.

All uniforms teach is that non conformists should be shamed and excluded and that clothes are extremely important as markers of desirable qualities.

Silly rules that are arbitrarily set by new administrations riding in like the Seventh Cavalry eager to make their mark create an unnecessarily adversarial culture and teach absolutely nothing about empowerment or respectful collaboration in a working environment.

There are lots - just where you live there aren't any perhaps.

We'll have to differ in opinion.

So what do you do if every other school in the area has similar policies?

I wouldn't bother to do that search again for your DD. Just point out to the school their duty to make reasonable adjustments. I doubt very much they'll risk a disability discrimination claim in circumstances like this, the optics would be terrible and Ofsted would definitely not be impressed.

Personally I think it sets a bad example if you force your children to follow rules 'just because'. Bad rules ought to be challenged

When my son was in secondary school every parent was given a list of the uniform and the uniform policy. It said black shoes no trainers. I ran around for some decent black shoes which he actually liked. Two weeks into the term he wouldn't wear them as all his mates were wearing black trainers!! .I.was livid Basically schools should have a policy and stick to it .There will probably be kids at that girls school who's parents have scrimped to buy the basics sending a spoilt kid on designer shoes is a joke.

I don't think the parents find it hard to follow uniform policies as others have suggested, I think they just resent the schools have any authority over their children, so choose not to follow the rules as a little protest. Bad example to be setting your children and it leads to bad behaviour in the classroom and poor attainment for said children.

I agree actually, or at least relax policies. But that won't happen from a few people saying ignore the rules or running to the Daily Mail.

Reading some of the posts I realise just how lucky we was. My son had to wear insoles and his secondary school allowed him to wear walking boots or kickers boots
I was advised not to buy clarks shoes for him.

I agree about adapting rules in very hot weather . But my parents were on very low incomes and we had to buy every bit of the uniform in one special shop . Even down to hockey socks . And our skirts were measured ( state comprehensive) thank goodness that does not apply now .

I do not understand the complaints of buying £100 shoes instead of ones that meet the guidelines.
Yes there's a COL crisis so I can't imagine spending that much on shoes that will be wreaked in a week

But there does need to be a little wiggle room and thought given.
My daughter's school had insisted everyone had to wear lace up brogues...... but my daughter has cerebral palsy, wore massive splints and simply couldn't wear them or indeed lace up shoes by herself. I ended up searching everywhere to find buckle up brogue style shoes 2 sizes bigger just to get the damn splints in.

My son wears black trainers, whatever cheap pair fit his feet...... because he's likely to take them off on transport or in his SEN unit so not a mission I'm buying pricey shoes that might be thrown out a window

Omfg. How many times do people have to be told that often there's very little choice about what school your child ends up in?

Is there a pic of said child looking forlorn? Every f**king year. And the tramline hairstyle. If you don’t like the schools policy, don’t apply for that school! It’s not difficult. YANBU

Are teachers pushing to end the policing of uniforms then? It's the headmasters and such that insist on uniforms isn't it?
If teachers at schools pushed for no uniforms it'd help their workloads surely?

As a parent with two teen girls in a non-uniform school I can confidently tell you this is not the case. Mine wear jeans/leggings and t-shirts/hoodies like 90%+ of their peers. There has been absolutely no drama over what they wear nor any unreasonable demands for new clothes. And I haven't seen a single kid in their school wear anything remotely "hooker"-ish.