School Uniforms?

I'm a secondary SEN TA of 20 years as well as a SEN parent & I've worked in schools without uniform, schools with extremely strict uniform rules & schools with less strict uniform rules & for me, non uniform schools are the way forward. I've never seen bullying about the clothes kids wear. In my all girls non uniform the majority wore joggers, leggings, jeans & hoodies from various labels, mail my primark. We had a few girls who wore anime based clothing but nothing was ever said to them. In my mixed schools it was the same. Converse with the odd designer trainer that the kids wore at weekends & holidays. Exactly what the kids at uniform schools wore on non uniform days. All my SEN students in the the non uniform schools have been a lot happier, particularly with PE as it's easier to change etc. I spend more on my DCs uniform now they're in a uniform school (catchment area) than I did when they were at non uniform schools. School shoes, school trainers, weekend/holiday shoes all add up. If uniform is required make it sensible. No ties, trainers etc.

My child wouldn't be seen dead wearing 'joggers'

I love uniform.

It's a leveller. Much much cheaper than normal outfits for 5 days a week, 38 weeks a year. Much less stress for parents and kids who just want to fit in. No time wasted with what to wear each morning.

Also like that they look smartish and there's no "inappropriate" clothes issues- whether that's bad language on the shirts, joggers under boys bums or girls flashing knickers. I bet there would be far more issues if it was just left upto the kids.

Our local 'outstanding' state secondary now has special logo'd skirts and bloody trousers!!!! £20 each!

My kids' secondary only stipulates logoed blazer and tie - rest we're told to get to supermarkets for. Likewise PE kit they ask for one logoed piece of kit and the rest can be from anywhere - just keep the logos for sportswear brands to under credit card size.

Compared to the other ridiculous uniform requirements in local schools - it's refreshing.

I teach in a school where some kids come from very economically deprived households

So you make those economically deprived parents fork out even more money on expensive uniforms!?! 🤨

I grew up in a country where there is no school uniform (Netherlands).
Levels of bullying in schools are not higher than in the UK. There is no breakdown of law and order in schools or society. Students get an education, no muss, no fuss. Uniform is a weird British fetish - the UK ascribes all kinds of magical and mythical properties to uniform.

Abolish it and it would only be a few weeks before students stopped worrying about clothes - it's only an issue on non-uniform days because they are made to seem special.

And if anyone bullies anyone - you deal with the behaviour, not with what the person is wearing.

The UK is honestly ridiculous on this.

Dd would not want to wear joggers to school. I think there should always be options so the children can choose the one their happiest wearing.

100% agree

There needs to be uniform but it should be ok for supermarket uniform. It's so expensive with the badges on everything. A blazer badge would do.

My son did intro none uniform day fir his high school. The anxiety over what he would wear was insane. He visibly relaxed when he had to wear uniform as it it didn't involve a choice or what people thought

Uniform should be black joggers, white polo and generic coloured jumper.

No logos.

Cheap and practical

A more generic uniform without the logos! Though still needs boundaries/guidance as some will push it with the labels etc In primary it got crazy with the bows on the girls socks! The primary school requested plain white knee high socks (or tights) As some parents couldn’t afford the fancy ribboned socks that some children came in.

Mufti day at school usually affects attendance - it will drop as many secondary students anxiety to look right among peers puts pressure on them. Some children still just come in uniform so not to wear the wrong clothes - same ones always say ohh I didn’t realise.

As a mother of autistic daughter the biggest meltdowns where the night before a mufti day - she really struggled - uniform meant she could just blend in.

You don't need to iron shirts that go under jumpers and then have a blazer on top of that or is that just me.
The white shirts are super cheap and dry quick and need almost no ironing even in the summer term when they are on display.

They all wear short sleeve shirts year round at their school.

My two usually have one jumper per week and two shirts. Maybe more shirts in the summer term.

It's all way easier to wash than their own clothes

I agree with uniform but I think logos on everything is ridiculous and very expensive. Generic trousers/skirts/shirts in the right colours and style should be enough. DS2s Grammar school has logo blazer, tie, PE top, reversible rugby top, football socks, shorts, joggers and waterproof outer PE top. The latter item is £38! On top of this he must have shin pads, gum shield, trainers, astro boots and studded boots, oh and a particular water bottle (no colours). Shoes have to be formal, no branding and pencil case a certain size and style. I daren't add up the total but I'd estimate £400 in total. Absolutely ridiculous.

I have to agree that I don’t think most people complaining about uniform costs would be sending their kids to school in George at Asda and Primark…

Bog standard secondary school here - for one kids we have two skirts , a blazer, two jumpers and 8 shirts. The uniform shop delivers for £2. No tumble drier - but I get it all clean over the weekend and it's decent quality so washes well. Shirts hang and don't need ironing. I would absolutely hate to deal with my daughter at secondary with all the fashions/brands etc. There is a good secondhand uniform shop too and people pass stuff on. Primary you could have non-branded and it was all stuff you could get in supermarkets dead cheap or again there was a secondhand shop.

I loathe having to buy school uniform and would be happy to have it abolished. I think it causes more problems than it solves.

However most of the I see people moaning about the cost of the high school uniform have kids who are kitted out head to toe in Nike, Montirex, Hoodrich etc which costs way more than uniform.

I do think schools probably can't win though, a local school has ditched its logo blazers and instead have a badge that can be sewn on any blazer and FB is full of parents moaning that they can't sew!

I do think uniform is a good idea for levelling everyone but I think it should be more basic than it is e.g. in primary a polo shirt, trousers/joggers/leggings/skirts and jumper/cardi in a
school colour. No logos required. Ours have a tie and proper shirts, kirts/trousers etc, never gave it much thought but now that I have a sensory averse DC it is a battle and causes them discomfort and anxiety and I do think what's the point of all the stiff restrictive clothing.

Seniors again plain trousers/skirt, plain polo tops, plain jumpers cardigans. Ditch ther ties and blazers, they serve no purpose.

Our school the uniform is black trousers any kind, white top, royal blue Cardi or jumper and comfortable shoes with a closed toe and back so they can wear trainers or whatever as long as it's sensible.

Nothing is branded everything we bought cheap at supermarket

I still feel traumatised from my secondary schools years where there was no uniform policy. And a mum who wouldn't buy anything branded. Walking in to registration was like a fashion show with all eyes waiting to judge. I was ridiculed and tormented on a daily basis. Scotland has quite a relaxed approach to uniform in general which I dislike as it just adds to anxiety for the kids.

Uniforms should definitely be more flexible, but my school life would have been miserable without uniforms. There was an obsession with expensive branded shoes, trainers, bags, clothes etc. Whenever you could wear your own clothes it was awful. I don’t know if kids are as obsessed with designer brands these days. That was 20+ years ago! I suspect you would still get certain kids being bullied for not being able to afford the latest clothes. I think teenage boys actually become more expensive than teenage girls on that front.

Personally I think school uniform is a good thing, especially for secondary school as it takes a lot (not all) of the fashion drama out of the equation. I wouldn't care if it was just joggers and sweatshirt though instead of formal wear, although the blazers are great for carrying stuff, wash and wear well and both my kids only had 2 throughout their 5 years at secondary.

There's definitely an argument for less/cheaper logo uniform though.

No doubt we'll have the usual shoe dramas from parents in a couple of weeks because they've bought shoes that aren't within the school's uniform policy. Some will be in the daily mail with sad faces saying their child is in isolation and moaning about it.

Our primary is such a weird green colour, not the green you see in the supermarkets and you can only buy it from the school uniform shop, it irritates me so much. I also don't know why you cant buy supermarket uniforms and then separately add logos when schools insist on logo uniforms. It would be so much cheaper and would satisfy the school policies. Wouldn't help our weird green colour though. The local highschool has specific blazers, skirts and trousers from a uniform stockists, skirts have to have a logo. Cant wait for that expense!

Money wise it would be much easier non uniform for me. My primary children I clothe for around 60.00 a year from a vinted bundle.

Teen dd is around 100 a year for her clothing via vinted for a year .