Ridiculous uniform policy for secondary

I have first hand observations about non uniform schools from European countries. And I am more keen on uniform but a more comfortable edition than classic shirt blazer and tie. I am afraid lack of uniform creates disparity between kids and severe judgement on what you wearing.

If all wear jeans and hoodies it is uniform.

If all wear jeans and hoodies it is uniform.

At my DS's school they all wore jeans and hoodies - boys and girls. No need for any rules.

Dds school are ridiculous strict with inform.

Skirts must be on the lower part of the knee no kneecap showing
All uniform must be from the supplier including the box pleat skirt and the custard yellow shirts.
Everything is logoed
Shoes must have a strap or laces no logo or boots
There are trousers but they are so horrible no one wears them:
Oh and just for fun they have summer shirts too that must be worn from Easter.

The full uniform and pe kit cost around £600.

@TizerorFizz "nights out" maybe - but to be honest any teens under the age of 14 or so don't really go in for 'nights out" unless it's at the cinema or something these days. This is school girls we are talking about.
I do know several older teens who recently had their proms - they didn't even wear dresses for that. They wore trouser suits.

Dd went to a school where you called the teachers by their first name and overall I think it had a positive outcome.
If someone was struggling with some part of their work the teachers felt a lot more approachable

I think this is very telling.
There’s this idea in the Uk that having a uniform puts everyone on the same ‘playing field’ and reduces bullying but it’s a misconception. It causes so much angst and resentment and I hate to say it but they all still know who is poor and who isn’t 😞

I’ve spent time teaching in secondary school in Spain (no uniforms in state schools in Spain) and it makes no difference negatively at all to behaviour or motivation or anything like that. In fact if anything the kids are more relaxed and can concentrate better. They also call their teachers by their first names which actually increases respect as it feels like they are as respected as the adults so they behave more respectfully.

What I don't understand is out of school I rarely see teenage girls wearing skirts.

@TizerorFizz I actually see a lot of schools that say skirts should be worn "on the knee or just above the knee". I actually think "above the knee" is too short to start with and all a girl has to do is grow a couple of inches and the skirt is far to short.
Why do schools say "above the knee" to start with? They are practically encouraging skirts being too short.

My daughter would hate this. She is very fussy about trousers and only likes to wear leggings due to sensory issues. She has opted to wear the skirt at her new school (trousers are an option at her school for those who want them).

@Bearybasket most 6th forms do that.
Except they look nothing like actual office workers. On another thread I said the girls in this "office wear" dress like they are in an episode of Ally McBeal from the 90s.
Actual office workers seem to dress in long skirts and converse these days.

At my DS's school they all wore jeans and hoodies - boys and girls. No need for any rules.

@Needmorelego To be fair, the vast majority don’t. Uniform is never going to cover all issues these days it appears. Skirts for girls are better in many ways. It seems a lifetime ago now, but honestly I never came across so many issues with uniform when dc were at school and neither was it an issue at any time when I was a school governor. Not one complaint.. It was never discussed by parents - apart from poor quality sweatshirt! No child I ever knew had issues with the uniform. One child I knew had a very very rare skin disorder. Clearly special consideration there. I think the vast majority are ok with uniform and a noisy minority are not. Uniforms should be affordable and reasonably practical. Easy to wash and long lasting. If schools do this, most are ok with it.

@Smoothie23 FSM isn’t just for the unemployed. It’s benefits driven. The school gets huge PP funding too as a result of this. A uniform policy should always reflect community.

I don’t think girls are rolling the skirts over at the waist. They are shortening them. Having lived through the original mini skirt era, the skirts now are literally pelmets. Mine was never that short! However I’m assuming non uniform schools see these tiny skirts too or bum showing shorts? What about bra tops? Are they allowed at non uniform schools? I suspect they do have rules too!

@Danascully2 Some boys seem very messy. My girls didn’t spill food. Nor get muddy. There was no mud available. Didn’t notice this in many schools to be honest. All I’m saying is that loads of uniform isn’t necessary. For most a quick spot wash works.

As for wearing joggers - my DDs would never have wanted this. Neither liked trousers when primary age. We found less arguments over skirts as trousers are difficult for varied shapes. We also found a skirt lasted several years and several shirts doesn’t cost too much. You need a coat anyway so it’s a case of buying wisely.

Laughing a lot at the idea of buying one item of uniform for the whole week. My two boys come home every day with mud/food etc on their clothes. One of them was plastered head to toe the other day, including his coat, because he was apparently making an ant home with his friend. Not sure how he even found the mud as they have a tarmac playground!! I would have to wash at least one item of clothes every single day and get it dry for the next morning if they only had one shirt or pair of trousers. They are still at primary but secondary is rapidly approaching for the older one and he's not really any better at keeping his clothes clean...

The skirts are a big initial outlay but they last forever and still look like new. Our school did a survey to see if they should get rid of the kilts for a plain skirt and it was overwhelmingly rejected mainly because one skirt lasts the 5 years just gets shorter and they’re still in perfect condition to hand down or buy secondhand. On the other hand the boys trousers get a couple of terms at most so the overall outlay is higher