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Original poster

School uniform rule - girls not allowed trousers

296 replies

Fisharefriendsnotfood · 10/01/2014 18:04

I'm wondering if I can call on the collective wisdom of you good people to help me construct my argument in the best way.

Dd (5) and yr 1 attends a local R.C primary school that I am more than happy with. She suffers from recurrent thrush and this year I noticed that when she wore tights under her pinafore it seemed to exasperate the problem. I checked the school prospectus for details because I have never seen a girl in trousers at the school and it states that girls must wear a pinafore or skirt as school uniform..

I then emailed the head and explained the issue and asked for clarification on the rules and she said that the last time the issue came before the chair of governors they decided not to introduce trousers as part of the girls uniform. She was very sympathetic and pleasant and said that if I got a doctors letter perhaps she.could allow it.

Now, there is no way dd would wear trousers if no one else was and I also feel that this would high light the issue / invite questions into something that is no one else's business.

So Grin if you are still with me, I want to get the issue raised again with the chair of governors because I cannot think of any valid reason in this day and age why girls should not wear trousers if the want to. I have to speak at a parent voice meeting and if I can muster enough support the issue will be on the agenda of the next governors meeting where I can present my argument.

Where to start? Can anyone offer pointers?

Sorry for the essay Smile

OP posts:
Original poster
Fisharefriendsnotfood · 14/03/2014 12:43

What a great tag line
"Changing the world one trouser leg at a time" Grin

OP posts:
thatswhatimtalkingbout · 14/03/2014 12:38

Well done Fish! Great stuff, I am buzzing for you!

Celestial, not sure if you still are, but if you are, would you mind summarising the email "why ties for girls is a feminist issue"? I am curious

Wow. This thread has well cheered me up. Changing the world, one trouser-leg at at a time.

LongPieceofString · 14/03/2014 12:25

Great result Fish. Keep up the good work! I thought of you this morning as DD was putting her trousers on Smile

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes · 14/03/2014 12:22

Well done Fish - I've just read the whole thread. I hope in 20 years time your DD is posting proudly in a forum about how well her mum did in the fight against sexism when she was at school. And hopefully there will be universal disbelief that such policies still existed at the start of the 21st century.

LurcioLovesFrankie · 14/03/2014 12:11

Sorry Six, we've all piled in at once with the same question, which probably comes across as very aggressive (and you'll run screaming for the hills going "never darken the FWR section again). But I am genuinely interested in your answer, since actually the "they don't look smart" claim is one OP has encountered among the other parent-governers at the school, and this is a rare opportunity to actually talk to someone who holds that view and find out why they do!

poorbuthappy · 14/03/2014 12:11

And do boys not look smart in trousers?
And why exactly does a 5 year old girl need to look feminine.
Seriously typing that question out makes me shudder with disgust.

LurcioLovesFrankie · 14/03/2014 12:05

Soon to be six, I'm interested that you've decided to join the discussion. Can you answer some questions? Why is it important for girls of primary school age to look feminine at school? Why can't trousers look smart? (It's what I wear to work 95% of the time).

UptoapointLordCopper · 14/03/2014 12:03

What do you mean by trousers not being feminine? I'm a woman and I wear trousers all the time and nobody has ever mistaken me for a man. I even have short hair. And no make up, and no high heels. And rather flat-chested, I have to admit. Not one single person has mistaken me for a man.

What does being feminine even mean!?

MadamBatShit · 14/03/2014 12:00

Why do school age girls have to look feminine?

Don't agree they can't look smart, but then again, I don't necessarily see the need to look smart either.

SoonToBeSix · 14/03/2014 11:54

I agree with the no trousers rule , they aren't very smart or feminine for school age girls.

UptoapointLordCopper · 14/03/2014 11:45

Smile Smile

Original poster
Fisharefriendsnotfood · 14/03/2014 11:31

Am buzzing Grin

Just the lift I needed. Thanks for the support on here too Smile

OP posts:
MadamBatShit · 14/03/2014 11:28

Yeay, well done!

TwoLeftSocks · 14/03/2014 11:28

Great!

Morgause · 14/03/2014 11:22

Great news.

BuffytheReasonableFeminist · 14/03/2014 11:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
Fisharefriendsnotfood · 14/03/2014 11:18

So, I contacted my local Councillor yesterday and he read my letter to the board. He emailed this morning to say it was the best constructed argument he had read in years and that he backed me completely. He has forwarded to two other local councillors and the LEA and is going to write to the head and the chairman of the Board GrinGrinGrinGrinGrin

OP posts:
TwoLeftSocks · 13/03/2014 20:55

It would be interesting to see what the response was if they asked the girls themselves.

And I hope those two parents at the parent voice meeting won't be representative of too many others.

Fwiw, I'd definitely vote for trousers and I have two boys - it's just as important for them to know that girls can choose to wear practical smart clothes and not just be there to look pretty.

BerylStreep · 13/03/2014 20:11

I think it should only go to parents of girls, however, if they are sending to all, then responses should indicate if they are parents of boys, girls, or both.

BuffytheReasonableFeminist · 13/03/2014 17:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Blueuggboots · 13/03/2014 16:50

Maybe they're worried the boys will want to wear skirts.....Wink

MoominMammasHandbag · 13/03/2014 16:42

When DD1 started at her C of E high school no girl had ever worn trousers (although interestingly they were allowed as official uniform. Tomboy DD started wearing them because she climbed over a fence to take a cheeky shortcut on the way to school and within weeks the other girls were following in droves.
Five years on we were picking DD2 up from school the other day and failed to spot anyone in a skirt. DD1 was chuckling about her "legacy".

TwoLeftSocks · 13/03/2014 16:38

I'm really impresed that boys do occasionall wear a skirt to prove the point - I think a Tube driver did that last summer too when they wouldn't let him wear shorts.

mummy1973 · 13/03/2014 16:26

My children go to a cofe school and girls can wear trousers. They look smart. (One boy did come into school wearing a skirt to prove a point and sensibly no one said a word and he went back to trousers the next day).

Spiritedwolf · 13/03/2014 16:10

You might well find that the more parents in the school are conservative on this issue than the general population (and most definitely than the MN FWR board) because they are a bunch of people who have selected a school with that 'look' and may be unwilling to see that 'look' change.

I would be put off a school with that sort of sexist uniform policy, and wouldn't tend to send my child to a religious school because I would make the (possibly unfair) assumption that they might be more 'old fashioned' and sexist. That's not to say you are going to be the only parent who thinks its daft though, and absolutely try to change the policy.