To think that switching to polo shirts makes the school uniform look low-rent?

They are small children, they are fine in polos, shirts and ties look not smart but ridiculous on them. YABVVVVVVU.

I haven’t owned or used an iron in years.

Polo shirts are pretty fancy for the golf club or Ralph Lauren loving set.

What snobbery! 😂

Polo tops in most state primary schools are normal. I don't know any in my area, who insist on shirts.

I think they’re kids and not dressing for adults opinions so should be as comfortable as possible

First world problems!

just move your children to one of those primaries you aspire to & problem solved

Polos are great, most state primaries use them - who wants to wear a shirt and tie when you’re running around the playground.
My DCs’ primary polo shirts were a mid-green and w navy logo’d sweatshirts.

Nobody actually 'has' to iron anything really. I don't iron my kids' school uniform. It gets covered in whatever immediately anyway. I would hate to have to deal with a load of whites each week just for a few school shirts so am very grateful to have dodged the hassle!

My kids are loved and cared for and I spend a lot of time making sure they have opportunity and experiences and good food... in wrinkled polo shirts often covered in mud.

@BelleEpoque27milk!

There is an incredibly expensive prep school near me, one many people will have heard of and where you put your child's name down almost at birth. It feeds into some very prestigious senior schools.

They wear polo shirts and look very comfortable.

Polo shirt collars often need ironed because a corner has turned over in the wash or the pile. Shirt collars look after themselves on the line or in the tumbler. Nobody should have to iron school uniform these days.

My kids have a school crew neck t shirt which are cheap and very basic. They don't look smart at all but they are really cheap and the kids are comfy. I couldn't care less as I throw them in the wash and don't have to iron actual shirts.

In addition, my kids are the sort that if dressed smartly they will cover themselves in mud/pen/food within 5 mins.

I’ve got my DC’s through the whole of primary and secondary by shaking out their polos and drying them hanging up -and then by tumble drying their high school shirts. Or a shake and hanging them out in summer. I have not once used an iron on their uniforms!

Well that must be the polo thr school chose them because typically polo shirts are thicker than shirts.

And I don't know why I read your initial post in Jacob Rees Mogg's voice 😂

Anyway... if schools must have a uniform, it should be comfortable, practical and affordable. It needn't be that smart. Casual doesn't equal low-rent. Children don't need to look like mini office workers or blazered golf club captains in order to go to school.

YABU. Uniforms, especially 'smart' uniforms, are a ridiculous anachronism, the survival of which is heavily driven by misplaced and misguided parental snobbery and schools' desire to pander to it. Pretty much the whole of Europe manages perfectly well without school uniform.

The hilarious irony is that it's often the 'low rent' or less good, less popular schools who feel the need to improve their marketing by adopting a smarter uniform to appeal to parents. Amazingly, some parents seem to fall for the idea that smart uniform =good kids = good school. Kids know though. When our new (over-subscribed girls' grammar) Head introduced a blazer, I heard a couple of students say "He's making us look like a chav school" .

I said not unreasonable as they look much smarter in a shirt and tie, preferably with a blazer and hat. However, it’s really up to the school and their own expert opinion.

The reality is that teachers have to handle 30 children with a low budget and usually a number of unsupportive parents. If these uniforms help the teacher move the children through the school day in such a way that more learning happens (vs changing for PE and back into uniforms) then I suppose it’s for the best.

The real issue is insufficient school funding. At this point I’m not sure it will even be possible to get back to a leadership position in terms of UK education systems. Singapore took our system and improved on it; we had the system and underfunded it to extinction. Shame on us.

"My DC are annoyed as they enjoy looking smart at school."

Sure they are 😂

It's ironic that the little Rhys Moggs go/went to a prep school where they don't wear shirts!

100% polos at all the local primaries where I am, ours and a lot of the others, have coloured ones though which are much better than white as they don’t look grotty. DD manages to make polos last more than a school year as hers are a particularly forgiving colour and the logo ones are very well made.

Nothing low rent about their uniform.

Our kids' high school is currently having a uniform consultation to see what parents prefer. Y8 already go in on PE days in their kit. I'm hoping they change it to PE kit every day, as DS has sensory issues which make the shirt / tie / blazer quite difficult for him.

Nail polish remover

I absolutely hate all school uniforms of any kind. Polos, those horrible grey dresses, scratchy black trousers, white shirts, ties. Don't even get me started on PE kit. I think it all looks awful and uncomfortable.