challenging ridiculous uniform policy

Can’t have young people making their own decisions on what to wear now can we…
Or on how many layers then need to keep their own body temp regulated 🙄

Apologies if this has been mentioned already, how are the staff dressed?
Will they overheat as well?

Oooh no, we can't be friends. 😂 Though I bet you get less bugs then me

@ThisHangryPinkBalonz I'm the annoying person who opens all the windows on the bus.....even in midwinter.

Must be naturally warm 😂I'm tempted to put my heating on 😬

If he's a governor, hopefully he knows how to challenge constructively rather than being "Mr Angry" and ranting on a parent Whatsapp group, or organising a petition on the dubious grounds that the more people who complain the better because it will push the Head into a corner.

Best to reassure the Head you're on their side, pay a few compliments to soften them up, then challenge gently but intelligently. And if you can help them to see it as their own idea, even better. It's much more likely to work (speaking as a fellow governor).

@ThisHangryPinkBalonz well I've spent all of today (about 20 degrees, lots of rain) in just a t-shirt because I'm permanently warm. About October or November I might start wearing a cardigan 😂. I don't own an actual winter coat. I have just a pac-a-mac.
Because I'm always bloody boiling.
Is it climate change? Or because I happen to be a naturally warm person?

Following rules and decent punishments for those that can't follow them, do improve grades. Look at the impressive grade improvements from who the media classed as the most strict headteacher.

Overheated in September through to June? Blimey, climate change eh 😂

Good luck with challenging it, it isn't an inclusive policy at all. All those layers would be a nightmare for anyone with sensory difficulties, not to mention those who just run hot.

It's not unreasonable to challenge it but I doubt you will get anywhere. It is unusual to have a compulsory jumper with an optional blazer, it's usually the other way round. I don't agree with any of it and think uniforms should be similar to primary, if anything.

@EducatingArti see the post I wrote above about parents/students having to sign an agreement - "If items are lost it's not the schools problem".
A child that says they've lost something they should only be allowed to go and look in lost property before/after school or during breaks.

Unless of course, no-one wears jumpers in which case there will be a group of parents complaining that their child is always cold!

But then they would still have to deal with the umpteen cases of jumpers that have been mislaid/stolen etc, students disrupting lessons to go back for them and notes from parents asking for help in finding said item which particularly with year 7s unused to moving from room to room can cause significant disruption and waste huge amounts of teacher time.

Insisting everyone wears them between lessons I'd the quick efficient way of avoiding this.

Join the governing body - effect change from within.

Challenging from outside is just pissing in the wind.

The parents who don't feel a need to ensure their kids are warm are very different to those who find it difficult to afford items of uniform.

Things being abandoned/lost shows that stuff isn't looked after by all kids even when their parents have spent considerable sums on equipping them. You can't lose a jumper/tie/blazer/pair of shoes if it's physically on the kid's body.

The uncollected clothing already goes to the kids that are from financially pressured homes or are being neglected the following year, along with anything donated by leavers. It doesn't get passed on earlier because a. somebody might finally remember that there's a lost property area right next to their classroom and think to ask if anybody's handed in a jumper and b. if they're given out to kids who can't be bothered to look after things their parents have paid for, there won't be anything left for kids who genuinely need it.

@NeverDropYourMooncup maybe all parents should have to sign an agreement form before their children start.....
"All items my child brings to school are the responsibility of my child and if lost then tough luck. Lost items might turn up in Lost Property but if they don't there is nothing the school can do".
Well maybe not exactly those words 😂
Students should sign a similar one.....
"If I bring something it's my responsibility and if I then lose it I should look in Lost Property. If it's not there then I should have not lost it in the first place".
Or words to that effect.......

It was batshit rules like this that led DD to go back to home education after wanting to go to secondary school. Well that and she hated the lessons, found them boring in comparison to the internet school, who also, in her words "treat us like people". Schools are run more and more like military institutions now and yet children are increasingly having problems....

@Clearinguptheclutter as I said a couple of comments back I didn't bother to buy my daughter the secondary jumper because I knew she'd never wear it.
If it didn't say "compulsory" on the list how were you meant to know?

If there are children whose parents can’t afford the basics then making them buy a blazer and a jumper seems downright cruel. I’m not sure what that has to do with children that leave expensive things and don’t bother collecting them, why does it matter that there is lots of stuff in the lost property? That’s what lost property is for, if not claimed by end of year donate to charity.

@EducatingArti but if jumpers weren't compulsory no teacher would need to ever utter the words "where is your jumper?".

@NeverDropYourMooncup so some children have to suffer being hot and uncomfortable because some different children are forgetful?

(I've just remembered the time the coach on a trip circa 1990 had to turn around after ten minutes because Mr Geography teacher had left his jumper behind.......)

Yes, but in a large comp, teachers won't know every child. If every child has to wear a jumper and blazer between lessons, any random teacher can immediately spot anyone who isn't and send them to get it straight away without umpteen conversations/debates/arguments about " but miss I didn't wear it today" (when actually they did but have forgotten) or trying to remember that Joe and Emily are the ones who run hot and never wear a jumper so they don't need to speak to them when they are seen without. Then you get the kid who left his jumper behind but can't be bothered to go and get it right away because it is break time and his mates are already playing footie so tells the teacher he never wears a jumper and then his form teacher has to deal with a note from a parent 2 days later saying please could they help little Johnny find his jumper which he says he left in room 3B on Monday but is no longer there and isn't in the school lost property etc etc. All this can take up huge amounts of teacher time when multiplied by umpteen occasions during a week!

It is just a way of making organisation and management easier which ultimately means that lessons are not interrupted and teachers can focus on, well, teaching!