challenging ridiculous uniform policy

Back in the 80s i remember going back to school in September in a coat and sometimes a hat because it was cold. this was circa 1984/85 so forty years ago. Now September is quite a warm month.

As the school does not seem to realise this i assume they arent lecturing about climate change or including it on the curriculum because that would be completely hypocritical. If they DO teach about climate change then their hypocrisy should be pointed out to them

Luckily our school - jumpers optional.
Blazers compulsary.

@Clearinguptheclutter so the rule is that they must wear the jumper at all times unless given permission to take it off? But the blazer is not compulsory? If so, then yes, some other schools have this rule for most of the year (until it gets hot in summer when it gets relaxed).

Are short sleeved shirts allowed? Some children prefer them - if so I'd buy those if he has a tendency to get hot. Also if you are allowed to choose which shop to buy the jumper from (i.e. it's non-branded) then you can choose thinner ones which helps

Our local school its blazers only no other jackets no matter the weather. It drives me crazy when it's pouring with rain and freezing. I work for same council and they provide me with full length coat, hat, gloves and waterproof trousers. It's crazy

This is so awful and emphasises how pointless most of these petty rules are.

ClockwiseHoneysuckle
If the rule is that you wear a jumper then it's fairly obvious that this does not mean carry it round in your bag. It means wear it unless you are told you don't need to. I would have thought this was pretty self explanatory personally.

I hate school uniform rules when they are this militant. I work with young people who struggle accessing education. 1 girl I worked with had 0% attendance from September to January and I managed to get her in school for a hour to build up to a part time timetable. She made it all the way on site and then got told off for wearing fake eyelashes so left straight away.

Another child was a child who entered foster care and was so happy that she had a pair of school shoes that fit her properly. Apparently they looked too much like trainers (they 100% werent trainers) and was given school “spare shoes” to wear. I was furious.

It's SO ridiculous to say that parents can "just choose" to send their children to another school that doesn't have the same ridiculous rules. In many areas there aren't enough school places and the reality is that parents don't have a free choice. As for saying they must home school, that is equally wholly unrealistic when parents need an income to keep a roof over the family's heads.

It's interesting that when these topics come up, people supporting them are in an ever-decreasing minority; the majority of parents and indeed non-parents can see just how unjustifiable and ridiculous strict uniform rules are. Yet some schools, particularly academy schools, still labour under the delusion that parents like them and it makes them look good. It's mostly laziness on the schools' part, as it's much easier to mess around with uniform and enforce draconian rules around it than actually to ensure high quality teaching and learning. I wonder when these schools will finally catch up with reality?

They didn't agree with this rule, @Getonwitit, because the school chose to keep quiet about it.

It isn't about what the children want though is it? It is about rules that are there to be followed. It is about rules that parents agreed to when they choose to send their child to that particular school. If a parent doesn't like the rules of a school the can either send them some where else or home school them.

If children don't want to wear blazers, why waste time arguing about it? Just get on with the lesson. Blazers are stupid garments anyway, there's a reason why they aren't worn routinely outside schools.

I suspect that if OP's husband tries to make the appointment with the head he will be told to raise his concerns with the HoY first anyway. At least the HoY can pass on the very valid questions that will be raised about this, and if the issue is not resolved, Mr OP can legitimately insist on speaking to someone further up the line.

Usually the jumper is optional, the blazer compulsory when moving between lessons for smartness. Jumpers aren’t even that smart; they’re just an item of winter clothing, so I never understand that bit. I never wear a jumper even in winter! I’m a secondary school teacher btw and I always tell kids to take their jumpers off if they’re hot. 🥵

The policy didn't set out that children would not be allowed to remove pointless items of uniform without permission. Didn't you read OP's posts?

At my nieces’ school, in Ireland, wearing a jumper was compulsory, some thought it was to prevent coloured lacy bras showing through the while shirt, & to save the blushes of the male teachers & principal 😳
In my son’s school, in Northern Ireland, an officious head of department was instructing all the students to put their blazers back on at an extremely warm 20+ degrees prize giving evening, where sun poured in through the many windows.
I quietly mentioned to her that I would be concerned that some of the teens might faint - all of a sudden, there was a special announcement that blazers did not have to be worn on this occasion 😂
Thankfully my son has left school now, is quite the young executive and wears cargoes & a tee & hoodie to work, unless it’s a special meeting, then it’s an open neck shirt, jacket & black jeans.
School uniforms are enforced for control - which is rarely followed through in the world of work.

In my school it’s blazer compulsory, jumper optional extra. Blazer must be worn in corridors, can be off in lessons.
Kids prefer the jumper. They will claim to be dying of heat exposure and refuse to wear the blazer. This is while wearing the jumper. 95% of pupils will never remove the jumper no matter the heat. We just argue about the bloody blazer.
I think the logic is, if they didn’t have to wear it no one would buy it. I know uniform costs are a separate argument.
When DSS was at school, it was ‘you don’t have to wear the blazer or jumper, but you don’t wear anything else’ (hoody etc). He refused both and shivered November-March.
You can’t win.

We are in east London so all secondary schools are ridiculously strict here, and all have uniforms prescribed even down to the socks colour. I can imagine there is a good reason for that ))

Totally ridiculous having to ask to remove your blazer. What happens if you’re hot but the teacher says ‘no’?
When I read these threads I’m so glad DT’s was a non uniform school so when it was cooler they wore jeans and swooped to shorts on warmer days - no permission required- they could think for themselves what was appropriate for the weather.

Our school and other schools in the area have the same rule. We were told teachers are always reasonable and let children remove their blazers in class. Also, you dont need to wear the jumper for the summer term.

I know we had a few warm days but generally this country is not the warmest, so I cant see it being a massive issue. I have more of a problem with our school only allowing school uniform coat in winter, which I was told is not the warmest one.

DS just started a school with this rule. And has come home with a noticeable odour every day. Must be very unpleasant in the classrooms. It's been very mild in the SE this week.

I don't understand why the blazer can't be the "compulsory" item (heatwave exceptions aside) and the jumper optional to give the kids some bodily temperature regulating autonomy. Jumpers can easily be shoved in bag.

I have no idea what the kids are meant to do when the weather does turn and (black) winter coats are compulsory over the blazer outside of school but no lockers or place to hang them. Do they have to carry thick wet coats around with them all day as well as bags with full day books and potentially PE kit, musical instruments?

If the head of being useless, I’d escalate to the Governors. I wouldn’t let it rest if it meant my DC’s were stuck having to ask to remove jumpers and blazers. I bet the teachers and head were dressed for the weather rather than inappropriate clothes!

If the head was presented with the very pertinent questions which have been raised in relation to the policy on this thread and simply replied reiterating the policy, he would come over as a total idiot who is unable to justify the policy.

I agree. Enforcing ridiculous and punitive rules doesn’t engender respect. Quite the opposite.