It's a school shoe spot the difference thread!

Uniform rules (or rather their enforcement) can be so frustratingly arbitrary! Those shoes all look very similar to me, too, OP. It's not as though one of them is flashy or has eye-catching branding.

Who cares how flat the soles are, so long as they're comfortable for the child and aren't something silly, like platforms or high heels?

I'm glad for you and your son that they've said he's allowed to wear what he has. It's ridiculous that there would even be a question, though.

My big bugbear and pet hate is schools not allowing Velcro. Disabled kids need to wear Velcro and stand out and feel different. Plus, below year 9 I think Velcro is the better choice

The last pair are more like trainers .

My DD's last school required Oxford brogues in black (at least they were specific) or girls could wear loafers as long as no tassels. Was a specialist school so additional needs not an issue.

Absolutely baffled by this! Also that you need a doctors note to have different footwear, that you have to bloody check before you buy them and that children have to go in isolation for wearing the wrong shoes. I realise schools need a uniform policy, but it just seems to get more and more ridiculous. They need to sort out their priorities!

@ednakenneth I’m 34 and wear velcro trainers 😂

I'm sorry but I wouldn't giving any child of mine shoes with Velcro in year 7. I never did with my son. By now they should be able to do their laces up and you should be buying shoes with laces. They're not at primary school anymore. That's why kids get picked on. That's a red light for bullies.

sure - it's obviously the last pair.

Ah, primary is different, I'm secondary. Likewise, my DC's primary is similar- polos/ sweatshirts/ shorts all allowed, bit shirt /tie if you prefer. Much more chilled. Secondary should be the same IMO. My friend in Canada, her kids' secondary they wear polo's & shorts in summer , school hoodie & joggers in winter. V sensible.

I would remind them that they have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for his disability and that these were as close to the approved shoes as psooble that were comfortable and fitted well and did not cause him sensory issues due to his disability. Contact sendiass as well. send in a copy of his diagnosis letter to school .

That's ridiculous. Black, comfortable shoes. Who cares about anything else. Not like he's turning up in nikes! What's the girl policy then? No way would I be replacing the shoes that you bought.

@Puffalicious thankfully at our school the kids are comfortable! They wear polo shirts, trousers/shorts, skirts or whatever not ties. It’s a primary fgs. But then the teachers are more concerned about the learning than the fashion show!

I'd actually not buy the replacement shoes for your child until you've exhausted all other options available to you:

1. Getting a letter from your GP saying that your son must wear the pair you currently have
2. Scheduling a meeting with the Head to run through what is and isn't acceptable by way of the uniform (go through it with a fine tooth comb)

You have a third alternative - suggest that your son will wear replacement shoes but, in a cost of living crisis where every penny counts, that as there's nothing wrong (except their warped impression) with the pair he has, only when they wear out/his feet grow, you'll replace them with a more "suitable" shoe.
Also you could point out that it's not ecologically sound to have all of these pairs of "unsuitable" shoes that are unlikely to be worn as they would have been bought to be worn in school.

Urgh I hate these policies and that teachers are wasting valuable time enforcing them.

My ds just started y7 - he was really upset on the first day because his friend got pulled aside at the gate & told his black trainers were unsuitable. They’re the shoes he wore in y6 & knowing that family they won’t have money to buy new shoes when the old ones still fit. Turns out at this school AF1s are fine (ie expensive black trainers), but less expensive ones aren’t ok. It’s nonsensical and a pointless waste of everyone’s time.

The hush puppies are leather trainers

I like to think my DCs school changed their uniform after parental complaints. At least I complained, as did others, and shortly after they changed it. We complained on the basis of cost and practicality, and that ultimately due to the cost of unnecessary branded items, it was a discriminatory uniform policy. That did coincide with the government changing policy to make schools consider costs in their uniform policies, so it may not have been our complaints that were the catalyst. They can't have hurt though, and at least the school understood the strength of feeling. Keep complaining, every time there is a survey for parents, complain on those. Encourage your DCs friends parents to complain. It can't hurt, and it might help.

It would be interesting to see what they said if you sent your DS to do PE in the black shoes you've bought. Whether they'd say those are "not trainers" and "too school shoe-like".
I'd bet money they wouldn't let him do running in them.

I guessed the Hush Puppies before reading the thread. The banding or whatever you'd call it looks like a trainer. I don't see why that makes them unsuitable for school, but they are distinctly more trainer-esque than the others.

This is fecking ridiculous - you have my sympathy.

I totally understand schools banning branded trainers, but this level of nit picking is unbelievable. What the hell is happening in schools today that the style of plain, black, totally tiktok free style of footwear causes so much anxiety? It's bloody disgraceful.

I remember, many moons ago, the gut churning need to find money for cricket and rugby gear at school. Now, looking back, I really wish I hadn't totally screwed myself, over to buy them the branded kit. But I did, and my life changed immeasurably because of it.

My ' children' are now in their 30s, but I still feel the anger on behalf of parents today.

If a school said ' black trousers are skirts, blue shirts or polo shirts, black shoes, not trainers, sensible, waterproof coat and sportswear, unbranded' that should fulfill all criteria.

I want to say tell them to stuff it, but it's not that easy, is it?

We all really need to push back against this kind of shit

Put an 11 year old kid, who has no control over the matter, in isolation because a perfectly sensible shoe is deemed too trainer like (it isn't) though signed off virtually identical pairs. I'd say that isn't a suitable environment for young people to thrive tbh

Their policy might say a Drs note but legally an identified need doesn't have to be diagnosed. So they are incorrect to insist.

You emailed the head photos of schools to ask which one you should buy? Is that right!!!