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

Please tell us how to get whiteboard marker out!

I've never once heard a child say they prefer a shirt and tie

I remember this over 40 years ago. 30 Reception children getting changed for PE wearing shirts with buttons and ties. It was a nightmare. At least they can be more independent wearing polo shirts

Polo shirts and preferably joggers and a jumper are much more comfortable, and therefore sensible for young children. I don't care if my child looks 'smart', he's 7. He just needs to be comfy and warm. Yes of course hair brushed, clean, like he would to go anywhere, but he doesn't need to look like a mini estate agent. Ours have to wear ties and of course, they all get into trouble for playing with them. So pointless!

The world is much less formal than it was, they don't need to be 'prepared' to wear a suit and tie. And secondaries need to ditch the blazers/suits too, they're a ridiculous form of control over teenagers.

The change to polo shirts was made because so few parents know how to use an iron, should they even possess one.
According to posters on MN very few people even have irons.
😉😁.

Right. Only a shirt and tie kept them from going feral.

Our prep school wears polo shirts up to Y5.

I agree. Shirts look smarter.

At the Gdcs’ primary they all wear polos, in white, pale or royal blue. They look fine to me, and IMO are very practical.

I think this is an excellent policy. Polo shirts are more comfortable and practical.
Children can learn in casual clothes, most universities don’t have a lot of students wearing shirts and ties and most mass their degrees!
I view shirts and ties as a symbol of the patriarchy and have never understood why we make them uniform for both boys and girls. They don’t make it easier to learn and very few people will wear them to the office.
If I was running the country it would be polos, joggers and sweatshirts for primary and a dress code for secondary, defined colour of trousers or skirts, choice of polo, shirt etc in set colour and a choice of sweater, cardigan or sweatshirt with logo. Lets kids pick what the find comfortable and works for them in temperature etc

DC school at primary had polo shirts KS1 and under and shirts and proper ties for rest of time. Then they got to secondary where they had fake ties.

I think comfort is more important than smart TBH - I also think uniform need to go or get a huge overall after having three kids in it for bloody decades.

Nope they are brilliant. Ours are yellow with school logo. They wash amazingly well thats mine have lasted through 3 messy kids. They wear them with grey school trousers and black school shoes. Lovely red sweatshirts with school logo.

Why? What makes British teenagers different from German, Dutch, Danish ones, who don't need uniform to behave appropriately at school and grow into functional adults? Nobody seems able to answer this, so I maintain my conviction that uniform in schools is all about style over substance and snobbery.

It's more practical, and realistic. School uniform is so hideously outdated.

My DC had to wear 'business wear' to 6th form, which in this case was tailored trousers, shirt, blazer, tie. I work in corporate. Nobody wears that unless they are going on a job interview afterwards.

Polo shirts only stain if they’re white. My DC nursery had white polo’s. Some Ace bleach usually got rid of stains. But if they didn’t it didn’t really matter. It was nursery they often got dirty within the half an hour of arriving. They had a grassy hill in the outdoor play area nicknamed tellytubby hill because that’s what it looked like. My son never bothered with it when dry. But when we had a lot of rain he loved the mud and took great delight sliding down it. I would send a change of clothes in. But he often came home in spares as he got the spares I sent in dirty.

Personally I think if schools are going to have a uniform they should just pick a colour and as long as it's from the "school uniform" section of a clothes shop then it should be an individual choice of what suits them and they're most comfortable in.
If child A (or their parent) wants to wear a pair of shorts and a polo then that's just as fine as child B who wants to wear a formal shirt, skirt and blazer.

Most kids ride their bikes to school (& have to wear their blazer on the journey as they are 'representing the school' unless its the height of summer & they have been given permission to not have to wear it). Most ride between 1 - 5 miles to school every morning & then back again that day. Thats a lot of sweat from hormonal teenagers & as I said the blazer cant be washed & dried every night & most cant afford to buy more than 1 so the smell isn't pleasant!

This is insane!

At primary it should be the normal tbh. Much cheaper and more practical. Secondaries are starting a similar approach round here with 2 having no uniform and others consulting on more of a casual approach. I work in a formal environment and post pandemic now rarely wear a suit so I think there's a general culture shift that schools should respond to

I would much rather a functional, comfortable uniform than a ‘smart’ uniform. I imagine I am in a much lower tax bracket and social class than the OP though!

Our secondary school has gone the other way - from blue polos & sweatshirt to white shirts, ties & blazers and not one person is happy about it! The kids hate it as they are uncomfortable to wear, cant take their blazer off without permission, feel restricted all the time & just generally dont like it. Parents hate it as the polos were quick & easy to wash & dry & didnt need to be ironed.

It was also a lot cheaper to buy 5 polos & 5 sweatshirts so they could wear a clean one every day & just wash them altogether at the weekend. Now, with the price of the blazer, most only get 5 shirts & 1 blazer which is incredibly hard to wash & dry quickly & is made of such a material that it smells most of the time due to sweat being imbedded in it.

Most kids ride their bikes to school (& have to wear their blazer on the journey as they are 'representing the school' unless its the height of summer & they have been given permission to not have to wear it). Most ride between 1 - 5 miles to school every morning & then back again that day. Thats a lot of sweat from hormonal teenagers & as I said the blazer cant be washed & dried every night & most cant afford to buy more than 1 so the smell isn't pleasant!

There is absolutely no love at all for shirts & blazers here & the parents are hoping that it soon reverts back to the common sense uniform they had before.

Oh, belt up. What an utter bunch of snobby, ableist nonsense.

Interestingly it’s the exact opposite around here - the outstanding need-to-live-within-500m-of-the-gate-to-get-in state secondaries and half the private schools are polo shirts and jumpers, whereas the requires-improvement academies with metal detectors on the gates are all shiny polyester blazers, ties, and shoe arguments (all the primaries, state and private, have polo shirts).

So ties and blazers gives me “we run a boot camp for delinquents” vibes personally (as in, that is the school ethos, not that the kids are actually delinquent).

I would more judge a primary school who wanted to put 4 year olds in shirts.

Let kids be comfortable. It’s also more reflective of much adult working life now.

A local private secondary to me also lets kids wear chinos instead of the typical crap school trousers. Much better idea IMO.

Yeah but coppers get to top them off with those stab vest things and they're hot 😂

I don't think they look smart on anyone, TBH.

Maybe paired with chinos and boat shoes, and with a jumper draped over the shoulders 😁

My sons wear polo shirts, one is in their final year. I think they look fairly smart, certainly not scruffier than their older sibling who wears a shirt and tie.
Their polos aren’t white, they are a dark colour with school badge on, wash pretty well and withstand the football playing/grime of forest school etc
I’d personally prefer secondary schools to wear them instead of the shirt, tie and blazer, a more gender neutral option that’s fairly smart, practical and comfortable.
There aren’t many professions that wear a shirt, tie, blazer combo these days.
My son’s paediatric consultant wears chinos and a smart polo shirt as it puts children more at ease, if it’s good enough for him I don’t see it as ‘low rent’