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

I wore (gasp) jeans to school! And yet I am a functioning adult.

More likely our regular school uniform fetishist.

I agree with this and it's the same for my area. The top schools all have polos while the schools that struggle have tie and (cheapo) blazer. One of mine went to one of thrse schools and went through 3 blazers in the first year playing football at breaktime. They also weren't allowed to remove their blazers without special permission from a teacher
Art lessons, drama and heatwaves in shirt, tie and blazer is utterly ridiculous.

@Byetoshirts In a word - yes. But parents are low rent too! I valued a uniform and dc liked theirs. I prefer a V neck blouse for girls and DDs had this at secondary school. Low rent sweat shirts were gone too. I think if you want decent fabrics and a smart look, you pay and go private! Shoes is another issue too!

Honestly who cares how smart they look? A more comfortable uniform doesn't harm the education the school offers.

My children's primary and secondary both have uniform polos. Their primary is one of the best in the city, and the secondary was rated as the best in the region by the Sunday Times. Every school in special measures in the city has a smarter unform of shirts and ties.

Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying a smarter uniform makes schools perform less well. I'm just offering another data point to illustrate that the relationship is not straightforward.

Shirts at primary school is mental. I don't care whether polos are associated with the worst villainous drug-and-crime addled dregs of society; they're easy to put on, easy to take off, easy to wash, warm and comfortable. My kids are 6 and 8, they're not going to a wedding, a tea party at Balmoral, or a job interview, so that'll do.

I think primary school uniforms should be about comfort and practicality (for parents and children, and teachers!).

I’d prefer joggers, sweatshirts/hoodies and polos or t shirts, with trainers, personally.

I hate the stupid “smart” grey Teflon trousers and skirts, and uncomfortable and impractical black shoes, particularly the ones designed for girls.

For secondary, I’d support a uniform hoodie/sweatshirt/t shirt and whatever trousers/skirt you prefer.

Though my children had shirts and ties for primary as well as secondary, and did actually like them.

My son has PE today and is wearing a hoodie t shirt and black joggers, he looks poor, it’s a travesty 😅
honestly lady there’s a war raging people are dying and starving all over the world and your biggest problem is polo shirts…

Why do your kids care if they look smart at primary age? More fun things to care about surely.

This is satire surely??

Low rent? You sound like Hyacinth Bucket. Don't be so common.

Ours wear polos upto y6 on pe days (twice a week) it’s tracksuit bottoms, t shirt and hoodies.

My DCs’ (now 18 and 16) secondary school had polo shirts right from when it opened the year before DD started there. The school are just as strict on every aspect of correct uniform and smartness as if they had shirts / blazers.

Being comfortable and able to get on with their work is far more important than wearing a shirt simply because people think it’s ‘low rent’ . What would you find more comfortable to wear If you were sat down at a desk in a hot room all day OP?

I hated my blazer at school too. Hot restrictive acrylic fire hazards that were forever getting lost.

I think you are missing the point somewhat.

I think that school uniforms in this country are old fashioned and need modernising. Children need to wear something comfortable and practical. Don’t get me started on girls school shoes either!

Your post is proof that school uniforms are all about snobbery.

It was the mention of “low rent” that did it!

If she didn't want to be accused of snobbery, she woud have left out the 'low rent' from the title.

Is snobbery really such a sin? I expect almost everyone is a snob about something; I know I am.

A friend’s children’s senior school changed their uniform to a gender neutral one with polo shirts and quite a few people were very cross about it.

Our secondary and primary have polos. I'm all for it and don't iron them either. Put on hangers to dry.

I’m not loving that so many people have accused the OP of “snobbery”. She prefers a shirt and tie to a polo shirt, she hasn’t kicked a load of kittens.

I think what people are reacting to is the phrase 'low rent' (i.e. not prestigious, looks like you're poor) and the comment about schools in the affluent areas not having them. And her later comments about how she wouldn't mind polos if in her area prep schools and other aspirational schools used them. Whether or not that's how OP means it, it comes across that her worry is about social class and how high status the kids appear to people who see them in their uniform. And that this matters for small children more than practicality, comfort, and the ability to run and climb at breaktime.

And kicking a load of kittens may make you a psychopath but it doesn't make you a snob!

Yabu I think. I have two dc in primary school, y6 and y3. The uniform expectations at their school are very sensible. I just buy polo shirts, sweatshirts, trousers, black trainers. I am not looking forward to the stricter requirements of secondary school. Uncomfortable button shirts, stuffy blazers that they have to ask permission to take off most of the year. Bonkers.

I don’t wear starchy blouses and tight uncomfortable clothing to work as an adult so why we expect children to is beyond me.

I’d have them in polos throughout myself. Much more practical.

Move schools then! The majority of the schools where live primary, secondary and prep all have polo shirts and look incredibly smart! Now the expensive independent school, one of the top in the country, the majority look a mess, shirts hanging out tie not properly tied and top button undone bearing in mind it’s around £20,500 per term!

I’m not loving that so many people have accused the OP of “snobbery”. She prefers a shirt and tie to a polo shirt, she hasn’t kicked a load of kittens.

I see what the OP means, even if I don’t entirely agree. When my children were in pre prep / prep, I remember saying that I wished they could just wear their games kit all the time because it was smarter and more comfortable than the normal uniform. I’m conscious that it was also far more expensive (everything was logoed for games), to the point that we would all keep an eye out for various things at the second hand uniform sales.

At my daughter’s senior school, the girls can wear games kit if they are doing something active, even if it isn’t a PE / games lesson day. The result is that nearly all of them wear games kit every day. No one gives a monkeys.

I find this really funny. I'd actively choose a school that had comfortable/practical uniforms. The schools round here all have shirts and ties but one. I would've chosen that one if it hadn't have been for the fact that the school itself seemed like a bad choice (and by that I mean the quality of education and staff, not the aesthetic of the buildings). There is another local primary that goes a step further and has blazers too... It's completely a wannabe private school. It's aggressive marketing says the same. This is the school that spent thousands of PTFA money on an outbuilding to hold all their secondhand uniform (that nobody buys because who would wear secondhand uniform when you've got something to prove? Presumably that's why they have so much of it that it needs it's own building!). They however can't /won't provide meaningful SEN support (maybe because it doesn't fit with the image they want to project?). I'm aware that the funding for this would come out of a different pot... but funding the construction of a building that barely gets used when other areas are so lacking doesn't sit well with me. Considering it was presumably the PTFA that chose how their money was spent, it shows what the parents value most - I imagine there'd be utter chaos if they tried to change the uniform there! I'm truly baffled by the state of education today.