School uniform nonsense...so angry!!!!

No lockers or coathooks at my DC's school either. On a day that my daughter had cookery (or whatever they call it now) she left the ingredients for a spag bol in the fridge in the catering room and someone stole the mince!! I was fuming.
My DS wears thermals under his school uniform and this seems acceptable to the teachers even though you can see some of it poking from underneath his polo top.
DD has a thick sweatshirt type hooded top which is part of the uniform and very warm - although I do think it looks a bit scruffy.
Glad that there was an apology offered to the OP but I think the issue is that there should be lockers available in all schools as kids find it very stressful to have to carry everything around with them all day. Mind you, still don't think they'd wear their coats though!

I'm glad there was an apology over this.

Our school is excellent in many respects but the students all carry all their stuff round all day and we have the same issue of students therefore not wearing coats. My DS always wears a t-shirt under his shirt.

When I think back to my school days - we all had a form room with an individual desk each to keep all our stuff. We didn't lock them or anything. (Old grammar school in the 60s/70s!)

Oh and yes we do have a new uniform with red piping. Fortunately the 6th form is different.

NO, gingeroots piping has not reached us - Yet.
I don't envy the teachers the smell though of all those damp sweating polyester clad teens on a torrentially raining day like today cooped up in a too warm classroom.
Interestingly a friend who is a pt GP told me that the number of kids from the school coming to get antifungal creams has risen alarmingly since the new uniform was introduced over cotton polos and sweatshirts.

Oh I agree about the cheap airline steward look .
Do yours go for piping round the blazer as well ?
It's de rigueur round here - think it has to raise grades by at least 2 %.

My kids have this at their school too. New head came last year brought in shirt/tie and blazer at all times uniform (used to be a sweatshirt) and monitoring it takes so much time. My children won't wear coats either. I complained to school - who said lockers were available - you have to find the caretaker and book one for the day and then get back really quickly at the end of the day and find him to get it open ! EASY!

Another nasty aspect of it is that the teachers don't bother disciplining kids they perceive as being the worst academically or the very popular but continually pick on reasonably well behaved students who are also those most likely to be bullied by the worst non compliers on a regular basis. Apparently I can only talk about my children to the school and not comment on others!

So I really sympathise with you - it is also very difficult for us to swap school too and we were happy before the new head came. I think this idea that dressing kids in polyester from head to toe so that they look like cheap airline stewards does nothing to "raise standards". A lot of parents were in favour of the new uniform as they thought their kids would look like they went to private school! - Ha, the cheap blazers only make the school look more State comp than before.

Agree with Gingeroots many teachers do just seem to want to break spirits.

Aaaargh! I have to remember not to use double dashes on MN, I keep doing strikeouts by mistake.

:(

All the depressing stuff I read on here about schools makes me worry a lot. My kids are so little -- I dunno. It seems there is not much hope of school being a good experience for them.

I so want it to be, but even if we were rich that's not the answer -- if anything I'm more freaked out by some of the stuff I've read here about fee-paying schools.

Hey ho. I guess they will need some big rucksacks

Glad you managed to get some common sense to prevail.

At previous senior school no lockers or pegs of any kind, as it 'provides places for pupils to congregate and bullying to take place'.

No coats to be worn indoors. So SEN son was carrying laptop bag, rucksack, coat, plus P/E kit everywhere. Because he had to print out and stick his work in books, he had to have all the previous days work as well while hunting down the day before's teachers to try to hand in classwork.

Many of the kids just refused to bring books in, and many girls carried just tiny handbags which couldn't contain books. Dilligent kids where automatic nerds for having piles of stuff and bullied for it.

After a couple of years of it his shoulders and neck are now permantly out and cracking and causing pain. Prehaps this would have happened anyway, but I suspect it's the cause.

IME children aren't treated with any respect in schools these days ,it seems to be all about showing them who's boss and breaking their spirit .
At my DS's school when it snowed they were expected to change into school shoes and then add the boots they'd worn to get there to the load ( including coat ) that they lug from classroom to classroom.

"they do carry their coat, blazer and sometimes jumpers as well aas their bags arround with them all day."

This just seems crazy! Nobody would ever expect an adult to go to work and carry around in their arms, all day long, everything that they had with them when they left the house, EVERY day.

What do they do with for instance their PE kit?

The school is being a bit silly.

DD1 HS is really very serious about the uniform being worn correctly but when there was snow we got a text from school saying that boots were allowed as well as adequate warm clothing.

How is wearing a T shirt any different than wearing a vest for exemple?

Also how could anyone see that there was a t-shirt under the shirt? When DD did, it was impossible to detect with the shirt buttoned and wearing a tie, Her shirt is pale blue though, maybe white is more see through and gave the t-shirt away?

Mummytime, Dd1's school does not have lockers either. they do carry their coat, blazer and sometimes jumpers as well aas their bags arround with them all day.

I thought there was a legal requirement for schools to have lockers available (because of back strain)?

I am so surprised at the revelation that it is normal for schools here to have no lockers or even coat hooks.

I only went to primary school in the UK and we did have a cloakroom. Then moved abroad where lockers were the norm. It has never crossed my mind that it could be deemed reasonable for children to have absolutely nowhere to put their things at school -- surely very impractical?

Well done re t-shirts though, OP.

Well done ,common sense prevails !

I agree with you that your son should not be forced to remove his underclothing (provided it really was plain etc), but I also think that you should insist he wears a coat. It will make MUCH more difference than a thin vest. I had to carry my coat at school along with bag etc, it was not that difficult. My school site was vast.

I'm puzzled as to how a plain white Tshirt would be visible when wearing a blazer. Surely the school has a jumper as part of its uniform as well?

My kids wear Tshirts under shirt and jumper. Not visible, no probs. As for wearing coats - well, teens just don't wear them anyway as it's a matter of image.

No schools round here have hooks or large coat-sized lockers. Even the v posh private ones.

How did the teacher spot them? My DS wears a long sleeve black top under his short sleeve shirt and you can't see it at all, with tie done up and blazer.

Ridiculous.

Your son (recovering from Swine Flu) had to remove his underwear at school

Go to OFSTED.

The press.

Governors.

Kick up a stink. (politely)

How can they make him remove his underwear?

That is ridiculous. Do what the others have said. And good luck.

This is ridiculous ! Our school newsletter recommends that in very cold weather pupils should wear a plain white T shirt under their school shirt and this is still within the uniform regulations.