DD14 school rules+uniform changes?

Sounds absolutely brilliant.

My son is going to a specialist provision which is like this and I’m so so happy. Rather than the Michaela-emulating prison camps that have cropped up everywhere.

PE three times a week sounds like a punishment to me.

Our local school has gone from this to the way yours was before.

School sweatshirts out, blazers in. Really rigid rules starting in September.

No parent or child wants this - it's going to be horrific. It was great the way it was but the new academy wants to be seen to tough on everything & it's awful.

I was just thinking this would be much better for my ND daughter. She is changing schools as she's not coped with shouting, constant punishment for being ADHD etc

I used to work in a school where a similar approach happened.

After 15 years or gradual improvement to the point where it was approaching 'outstanding' the new head has just been releaved of his position following one of the worst ofstead reports I've ever read.

Good Luck.

In an ideal world it sounds great but surely it would depend on the cohort. I'd be interested to see how the teachers react to it because it's them that would take the brunt of it all if it goes tits up! Hope it works though.

A lot of changes to get used to in a short space of time. No problem with making changes but things should be done gradually. Who would be happy if a new boss came in and made this amount of changes straight away? Give kids time to adjust.
Are the staff on board?

Sounds interesting to me (note I have no school aged kids yet and was nievely suprised by the vaping!) I hope it goes well, you'll have to keep us updated OP.

My DS goes to a private school with similar ethos. There is no uniform at all, teachers are called by their first name and there is a real effort to promote mutual respect between the students and teachers. Everyone is equal and has a say in how the school is run.

It works really well.

Sounds interesting so I'm also following for your update in Sept. My daughters school is really strict on uniform/toilets/detention and I do wonder if a more relaxed approach would work better.

What a refreshing read - I expect the pupils and teachers will find it is a much better place to learn and work. The head deserves a lot of praise for taking a different approach to the current 'norm'! If I had a school like this near me I wouldn't be dreading DS1 having to go to secondary school! Sadly our local secondary is going in the opposite direction.

What's the name of the other school, in the north, that has implemented the same system?

Equality is a bad excuse. Equality shouldn’t be less choice.
Goodness girls have been rolling up skirts forever, other schools seem to manage it. And seems like the cctv sorted out whatever the allegations were.
So no skirts but can’t do detentions? 🙈

My school (teacher) is basically like like. I’d be horrified if staff were routinely shouting at students - I think Ive shouted maybe three times in 12 years. Our students are fantastically well behaved because those are the expectations. We deal with behaviour that interrupts learning, occasionally have individual detentions but not a full timetables system as they’d be empty most of the time

That’s what I thought. We should let kids have more options.
Let them have some pe type shorts or something.

I'm interested.

If you look at Not Fine In School we can see how the ultra strict schools are causing so many problems for many students

This could work.

And really interesting to hear others perspectives from outside that are unimpressed by the super strict schools!

The trend seems to be going the other way into Michaela esque schools.

It sounds like a big improvement. My experience is that behaviour and wellbeing seem to decline with the draconian regimes. I’d be more likely to send my dc to this school than one where they’re treated like prisoners.

Sounds refreshingly sensible. The trend of schools treating kids as if they are all inherently awful and must be crushed from day 1 has to stop. It's like parenting: authoritative is good, authoritarian is bad.

I think this all sounds great. My DD was at a super strict school and we had to move her out. She was a well behaved child , never once in trouble before starting at this school.

The school gave very harsh punishments for things like not having a particular piece of equipment , trousers being deemed to be too tight or too short. Random searches , whole class punishments. Behaviour in class was awful and bullying was rife. It was like the teachers were at war with the pupils and the pupils at war with each other.

Toilets were a problem especially for DD who unbeknown to us at the time had IBD and was having to ask more and more to use the loo during lesson time. They wanted to give her a detention for spending too long on the loo and also wanted to put her on report. Even after we got a diagnosis she was continually told off for using the disabled toilet despite having permission.

DD became a nervous wreck , constantly in fear of unwittingly breaking a rule or being called out to have a pinch test done to check her trousers had the required amount of give. Not great for the girls who were changing shape through puberty.

New school was so much more relaxed and she thrived.

I really really hope the new regime in OP'a school is a success. The new head sounds awesome.

Our secondary school has not long had a new head and this seems to be the path they are going down.
Seems like a great idea not putting kids in detentions because their pen leaked (true story)

Sounds great to me, as though someone is actually up to date with educational best practice and research. The 1950s super strict approach doesn't work long term. Nothing wrong with a troubled school having a reset but it has to be done with humanity and respect not a cosh.

I'm in Scotland and the old school rules are baffling me. Locked toilets?! Why would you think shouting is ok at school but not home? Schools need to build trusting relationships not impose authoritarian rules that no-one would be expected to comply with anywhere outwith a school.

Sounds very positive, interested to see how it works out.
Rather similar to schools where I live (not in the UK) except we have no uniforms at all. We do have detentions but they aren't the first resort, and there's use of other consequences like cleaning up your mess or paying for repairs if you vandalise something and homework club if you don't do your homework, plus meetings with parents and in more serious or repeated cases, with other professionals as well (social workers or school psychologist).

The uniform change sounds like they are trying to get rid of those micro mini skirts that look awful on everyone, and make it all very comfy and relaxed.
If it's been successful up north and the teachers and pupils were happy with it, it's worth a try.
I look forward to the update.