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

Why do you want them to look more affluent? They're children, not a status symbol.

I agree, it was never a thing when we were young
it looks scruffy

@JustSawJohnny do you think the millions of employees required to wear a polo are chavvy? also standard police uniform now.

i was with you because in france we dont have them. But my kids have been schooled in the english system and wear them.
now i am convinced because oh my it makes the mornings so much easier. They moan about it but i couldnt care less and there are no arguments - from
my side anyway 😝 any breach and it is their problem only even if detention. I buy what they need and if they CHOOSE not to wear them, they pay their time.

i just wish uniforms were design with comfort in mind and breathable fabrics

@Byetoshirts how many children do you have to have 25+ shirts??

I had terrible trouble with my youngest ND as he was fine with a shirt but hated polo shirts, the school catered for him for a year but then it was ‘tough’. ☹️

100% agree!

I think they look so chavvy.

I hated this element of DS's school uniform.

Not as bad as the sweatshirts though. They're so bad. I refused to buy one and put DS in a school colours jumper over winter instead. Most parents did, to be fair.

Oh God, the PE fleece as well! Shudder.

My DC wore polo shirts for school uniform back in the 90s. It's much more practical for primary age children.
And it hasn't affected their abilities to dress appropriately in their chosen workplaces, which are all varied with very different dress codes.

Me too. Cost far too much and wastes so much energy on having the right shoes or coat to ‘comply’. All the arguments for uniform are about behaviour and belonging which is nonsense. In company’s that have dress codes it is about professionalism and branding. We don’t need that for kids. We need them to be comfortable.
People claim its bad for poorer kids, but give it a couple of months and all the kids will end up wearing jeans and a hoody because they’ll be bored of trying and it wont be cool to dress up for school.

Our school are all polo shirts - you always know what school kids come from when they're in the parks after school. The secondary thankfully started a relaxed uniform policy a couple years ago - black leggings/ joggers, black or white t-shirt, school hoodie or plain black one (and they all get a free hoodie on day 1 of high school)

We live in a very mixed catchment so I'm sure cost was a driver, but it's lovely that the primary kids can play outside at any time, they have a huge focus on outside learning and the kids are always warm / cool and comfortable throughout the day.

I grew up in a country without school uniform so instinctively didn't like the idea when my kids started school but I'm a total convert now! So easy in the mornings and incredibly easy to do the back to school shopping in the summer - 5 sets of joggers / leggings / tops and some shoes and you're done. I remember the endless, endless arguing and conversations and faff around school clothes growing up.

Gosh my DC’s infant school doesn’t even have a uniform (thank goodness) so good to know we’re considered even worse than “low rent” 😂 DC1’s school must be slightly higher class as they wear polo shirts.

This country has a weird obsession with school uniform. I didn’t wear one for the whole of primary but still coped with a shirt, blazer and tie at secondary, despite the impracticality of them. The only time I’ve ever worn a suit in corporate life has been for a job interview.

@Byetoshirts
i disagree. I wish all kids would wear something comfortable and 100% cotton.

why do the girls learn better in skirst - private schools?

why do they wear pollycotton shirts? The sweating is worst in them and they incomfortable.

why do they need a tie and a blazer for for some a hat? Again private schools!

my husband work in finance and he hasnt worn a tie for 20+ yrs.
i dress very smartly when on clients meetings then i have my sites outfits - comfy warm and hard wearing and boots.

i still learn and i am pretty good at what i do.

children need to learn when to be comfy and when to dress smartly.
but for primary schools, you want them run and play.
they ll learn much better than in those stuffy old school uniforms

Why would you bin them?
Surely you'd donate them to a uniform exchange?

It does sound snobby to be fair.

I loved my blazer at secondary, loads of hidden pockets to stash stuff in

If I had my way I would abolish school uniforms. Most countries don't have them and I don't understand why we continue to do so.

Even if people in the workplace still wore shirt and tie, why would actual children need to be 'prepared' for it as if wearing clothes would be a major life change 😂

Polo shirts are generally cheaper, easier to wash, cope with not being ironed, and more practical for outdoor activities, playtime etc.

I work in a professional role. I’m currently wearing checked cotton trousers, a stretchy top, and a sparkly cardigan. There is literally no reason to dress children up as tiny bankers. It’s impractical, expensive and creates a very odd, frankly elitist, impression of what the working world is like.

Shirts and ties are utterly ridiculous in this day and age. I’m 59 and can’t think of a single benefit afforded to me by having worn a shirt and tie at school. I hated it and never wore anything remotely similar once I left school, as I’m sure is the same for most women. And men too. I remember men wearing ties in the office in the eighties/nineties, but that’s no longer the case. So how does it prepare anyone for anything? I’m sure if I’d been able to wear a polo shirt for school, then found I needed a tie for work, I would have coped without all the years of ‘practice’🤣

Find the idea that shirts and ties are preparing you for the workplace odd - I work in a fairly oldfashioned and stuffy industry and I haven't seen a shirt and tie in the workplace for anything other than a client meeting in years. Men are in polo shirts (!) or t-shirts, etc.

Another point, do you have girls or boys? I found tgat year 6 girls who are starting puberty and wearing a bra found the thin white shirts that you like very revealing of a bra. My niece asked if she could wear dresses because the patterned material made it less obvious. I have also seen a number of threads on here of parents of senior school girls finding thin shirts very uncomfortable. The local girls gramnar changed to summer shirts in a striped material with rever neck so the girls felt more comfortable in summer and it had a really positive impact on pupil attention levels in summer. The girls felt smart and cool at the same time.

It sounds like there's a kind of snobbery in the OP, with the assumption that 'affluent areas' = smarter uniform and so switching to polos makes the school seem like 'low rent'.

Where we live it seems to be the opposite - including at secondary level. The schools serving the wealthier areas seem to be the ones that have the confidence to stop fussing about uniform and focus on practicality. The top performing private school has a 'low rent' casual uniform of polos and no blazers/shirts/ties. The desirable secondary serving the naice catchment with the million pound houses has no uniform at all so the kids are all in hoodies and joggers. Our local secondary (in the okay but not super fancy part of town) has a blazer but no tie or formal shirt. Meanwhile the troubled secondary serving the tough area has the old fashioned shirt, blazer and tie look with kids sent home for minor infractions (which has not improved their dire results).