To not follow school uniform rules?

True, they might have a designated supplier. Mine have electricity safe soles too, needed them for my course.

DD's college is very prescriptive on footwear however. Engineering will need electricity safe soles as well as steel capped. They may well have 1 designated supplier.

I wear steel toecap trainers for work that are really comfy. Much nicer than the ankle boot option I also tried on.

The welly types are probably for a school trip

I generally go along with uniform rules, but this is stupid and feels arbitrary so it would get my back up.

You’ve delayed till the meeting which buys time. In the meeting give them the choice between her attending school in the boots, or not attending for the last 2 weeks. I’d insist on everything in writing.

If they went down the ‘fine for unauthorised absence’ route I’d let it go to court and present the evidence because it will make it clear that the only reason she wasn’t at school was because the school were trying to force you to spend unnecessary money on unnecessary uniform for a short period of time.

I still have my lace up Doc Martin steel toe cap boots from when I did an engineering course! Never got round to selling them!

@RichardOsmanTheSecond I'm a teacher in a secondary school and I think they'd ridiculous! If she has a note (and id even take the p*ss with a photo of the broken shoe!!) them given its only 2 weeks she should just be allowed to wear the walking boots as they're black and plain.

I'd email the school and say you can't afford to buy a pair of shoes just for 2 weeks and then buy another pair for September, so could you please have details of funding available to purchase them, then you will donate the shoes to the school at the end of the school year.

The meeting will probably be to establish if the shoes are genuinely broken as lots of parents lie for their kids!

You "gave your child a note to explain to her class teachers....."
This might be the reason for the face to face meeting with one of the management team.
Whatever your issues with the uniform policy, whatever your thoughts on SEN exceptions and provisions can you not see how undermining the rules like this also undermines the management person in charge of enforcing this policy? Parents issuing notes like this also potentially disrupts lessons and undermines the standards that the classroom teachers have been asked to enforce whether they agree with them or not. If other students see a "note from mum" out-trumps any rules laid down by the school this can lead to an avalanche of other students and their parents writing little notes over anything they don't agree with. Believe me I have seen this happen.

Completely off topic but just in case relevant:
You can get steel capped lace ups easily
But you can also get steel capped slip on ankle boots, steel capped Wellington boots, and steel capped trainers.
The utc possibly has very specific requirements, but it might help you to know of the options.
(DD does animal care)

We do well and got a very good Ofsted recently! No rules about nails or hair or anything. Only jewellery rules because of PE.

That’s the common sense approach and I bet the children still manage to learn the same maths in those clothes as their shirt tie and blazed peers!

I hate schools that are ridiculous about uniform (see the one local to us who insisted in blazers, tights and trousers in the recent heatwave) and I do like the school we picked for our kids where they relax things within limits - so they were allowed to ditch blazers but not replace them with hoodies or anything like that, and where they've consulted the kids and gone round the local shops to identify that black trainer type shoes are increasingly being sold as "school shoes" and allowed them into uniform with a photo guide of what is allowed and what is pushing it... likewise they limit the logo stuff to the school tie, blazer and PE top and tell us to get to the uniform sales for the rest of the stuff.

Even with PE shorts when the Nike Pro ones sunk in - they got the kids to develop clarification and suggestions about ones which were acceptable and available in local shops rather than just coming down ridiculously on it all.

They also have reasonable adjustments for kids with SEN including things like letting them wear PE kit all day on PE days if they struggle with organising belongings to get changed back into uniform etc (mind you everyone's in PE kit now cos the sports block is being rebuilt!)

It's the sort of school where a quick word with the staff would have got a "yeah they're as black shoes as we're going to insist on with two weeks left of term"

If school are aware of the differences your daughter has then tell them that you feel its a reasonable adjustment

Perhaps it is about making it more hassle for you to avoid buying the shoes than to buy them. You might find you go to enough lengths by jumping through their hoop, and they OK the boots. A bit like a game of chicken - demonstrate that you care enough about not replacing the shoes and they may back down.

You actually don't need a diagnosis to ask for reasonable adjustments. The school is obliged to offer these based on need, not diagnosis. But it may seem a stretch that having worn regulation shoes all year, she suddenly can't due to SEN. Common sense should come into play given the cost of shoes, the fact she is leaving, her willingness to take the DTs as an alternative and (if this is the case) her record of adherence to the rules. You might need to promise not to tell anyone if they do relax the rules for her.

I hope her new school is spectacular and she is happier next year.

Yes she has. She has explained that her DD would rather do the detentions than get the new shoes.

Wrong. If a person has been diagnosed with autism (so not in the op’s case atm) then the school MUST make reasonable adjustments. This could include a change of school shoe.
im sorry you went through that as did your friends- not sure how long ago that was but things have changed now and autism is recognised.

Even if a school has a uniform policy (vast majority do), they must make reasonable adjustments for SEN (whether diagnosed or suspected). The op isn't expecting them to relax the rules to accommodate completely inappropriate footwear, such as Nike Air Force. She's gone for a very reasonable and sensible compromise.

Op, I sympathise with the school shoes issue. My 8yo dd had a pair for most of the year that she was happy with and they gave up the ghost a week ago. I explained that I wasn't going to buy her expensive ones for the remainder of the year and we spent more than an hour in the shoe shop trying on every single pair. The new ones are now problematic due to seams in the wrong place rubbing her feet, the velcro straps looking messy (her words) and her being unable to make them feel 'equal'. They were fine in the shop, but that's very different to wearing them all day every day.

With respect though, I think you went into battle with the school, rather than communicated to them the problem before what happened. In your situation, I'd have explained the sensory issues and asked them if we could come to a compromise, not just assumed that my solution was ok with them. Yes, many uniform policies are unnecessarily draconian. But in my experience, most schools will support a parent/ child who is struggling - whatever the reason.

I didn’t think you were being difficult, I just couldn’t understand the situation. And that’s because the shoes in the new school aren’t school shoes at all, but specialist workwear.

I would go into her current school, properly explain the situation (ie don’t call the new footwear school shoes) and say she’ll be wearing what she’s been wearing for the last couple of days until the end of term.

What can they do? Nothing much.