Schools insistence on uniform rules are behind the times

I love uniforms, so easy the DC never have to think, they just get up and chuck it on which is super important as we leave the house very early. All uniform we've ever had was second hand too and literally cost pennies.

I like uniforms as a concept but a lot of them seem to be outdated and impractical. Wool Jumpers and skirts with a blouse and knee socks, no one dresses like that any more! Weirdly though my dds love their uniform.

My old school also used to have no blazer and I always thought it was such a good thing.
A few years back they introduced one. God knows why. Just more expensive for an unnecessary piece of clothing.

Kids wear a uniform because at school you're judged on your attitude, personality and effort, and not on the brand of clothing that your parents can or cannot afford to buy you.

That is interesting. My dds applied to an all-girls independent catholic high school here in the US and unlike most catholic schools it didn't have a uniform. Although like most of the other schools - public and independent - it did have a dress code. The headmistress who was phenomenal answered a question about school uniform by saying "we decided our girls should be conversing with their teachers about intellectual and academic topics - not clothes"

My kids have never had a uniform - only a dress code. I do think that a uniform look can be nice - used to love sports day or fun day or whatever when everyone would wear the same t-shirt (and you could offer to buy some extras for the classroom in case kids didn't have one). I think some of the problem with school uniform is almost no one really wears those clothes in adult life now whereas when they were first designed they were just formal wear for kids, same as aand quite similar to formal wear for adults.

@ReceptionTA I don’t get it when pupils are forced to wear blazers in 30c heat when the female teachers can wear summer dresses and male teachers short sleeve shirts. That is torture

DT’s went to a non uniform school - usually wore jeans and a hoodie or shorts and a T-shirt. No one was at all interested in what you were wearing. Was so much cheaper than buying impractical school uniform.

A uniform is fine, what's not fine is the schools both primary and secondary in my area , insist on uniforms from one specific shop. The shop in question is extortionate, they should be wearing balaclavas as they serve people , absolute day light robbery. The uniforms are shocking quality and clearly have been designed by someone who'd never seen a human before. You'd buy better quality branded stuff for less.

Have no sympathy for parents who don’t label their DC uniforms and coats with their names. Even a Sharpie or name stamp which you can buy for about £8.

Think seen the most popular names on name stamps in Hobbycraft on one of those rotating metal stands.

The primary school I work in has a uniform, but no one really cares if children wear trainers or grey leggings instead of trousers. The children as a whole do look a bit scruffy, but they're very happy and the school was recently rated Outstanding. The scruffiness doesn't seem to be having a negative effect on the children's learning.

There are always going to have to be some clothing for safety reasons. Hope earrings and stilettos are never going to be a good idea, but sending kids home because they've forgotten their blazer in the summer, or have the wrong hairstyle is ridiculous IMO.

I like uniform too. Children don’t need to be ‘expressing themselves’ through clothes at school. They’re there to learn.

DD’s school is flexible though because she’s in primary, they get to wear joggers or leggings in the winter which I think is great.

I prefer a school uniform, and for people who think it’s a myth that it’s a leveller, I don’t think you understand what kind of clothes I had as a child 🙄.

I wasn't poor growing up but had a mum who refused to buy me the latest brands or anything fashionable to wear to school. Having no uniform policy in secondary school made my life a misery with constant bullying about what I wore. I'm a huge advocate for school uniform.

Polo shirts, jumpers and tracksuit bottoms would be ideal for primary, polo shirts, jumpers and trousers or skirts for secondary would be ideal IMO. Ties and blazers are so dated and unnecessary.

We got told off at my school for wearing a t-shirt (even a basic white T shirt) under our uniforms. The same uniform needs to be worn from end August (schools go back last Wednesday of August here) to mid July. No consideration for the winter months.

My primary school introduced the uniform in my last year. I say it was 40:60 to those wearing the uniform in my year. Those who are the youngest sibling of their gender, only child or youngest child didn’t bother with the uniform as skirts and trousers were a different colour at high school.

Don't yours smell the clothes to get them back to the right child? That's how clothes are identified at Brownies, and they tell me they do that at school as well. That's not a thing at secondary though.

Daughter's primary school doesn't have a uniform and anyone I mention this to cannot get over it. In reality, it's brilliant. People in the UK, and particularly England, are just so institutionalised to uniforms but as pps have said other countries manage just fine.

I love that my daughter's school has no uniform - can wear hand-me-downs or cheap dresses or leggings and no faff on a Sunday making sure uniform is clean. And get this...she has never lost a single item of clothing, even temporarily. I spend far too much time at work trying to return identical, unlabelled jumpers to KS2 children who are all adamant it doesn't belong to them and far too much time talking to grumbling parents, who don't label their children's identical jumpers, about all the uniform their child is missing...

I like a uniform, both as a teacher and a parent. I'm not massively keen on the current popular style of shirts, ties and blazers. I'd rather secondary uniform was more like primary uniform with polo shirts and jumpers, preferably with comfy trousers of some sort and trainers. I work better when I'm comfortable, and I suspect teenagers would also work better if they're comfortable.

But I do need there to be some sort of uniform so my DD doesn't obsess over what to wear each day. She would want to wear what everyone else is wearing, which ends up being expensive and causes problems for families with less disposable income. It's already fairly obvious who the poor kids are, we don't need more ways for them to be marked out.

I like uniforms but not excessive formality. Ties are a bit ott, insisting on lace up shoes is difficult for SEN. There’s too much punishment for untucked shirts (it’s hard on skinny or SEN kids and dishing out detention needs to be reserved for actual wrong doing not style lapses or forgetting pens.

You lived my life did you?

Given that this argument has been going on for decades, it’s not clear what times schools are behind. I predict it will go on for many decades more.

Simple uniform is fine.

Insisting on several pieces of over priced tat from one specific shop in town is archaic.

It's not about the clothes though

Chosing a hair style, hair colour, jewellery are outward ways of expressing who we are which strict uniform rules hinder

Although, yes, clothes are also how we express ourselves. It's not a lack of imagination. It's well known. Hence subcultures like Emo, Goth, Chav, Kawaii, Lolita etc are all recognised by clothing

Kids wear a uniform because at school you're judged on your attitude, personality and effort, and not on the brand of clothing that your parents can or cannot afford to buy you.

I'd be interested to know if countries that don't wear uniform have the same culture judging those on what they wear.

Non uniform days for some kids are VERY stressful!

I went to school in a country without uniforms. Most of us wished we had them.
I’m also not sure dressing more “casual” in the workplace has been a great thing overall.