Uniform - polo tops

[BrilliantBetty]

Do your DC wear polo tops as part of school uniform?

My DC attend a primary school where shirts are required instead. It's a fairly disadvantaged school, lots of lower income families and the leadership feels a bit behind. Not progressive, any way. The shirts seem to be more expensive than polos, and stain / ruin very easily.

I noticed that all the other schools in our town go for polo shirts rather than shirt & tie / blouse. Is this a better option? Are you happy with this being your DC's school uniform.

I'm wondering about suggesting it to the school.

Yes, polos are standard in government schools in australia. So much easier and I imagine more comfortable for small children in button-up shirts and ties. Also no getting changed for sports / active lessons.

Mine have been through a school with shirt (and tie) and now are at one with a poloshirt.

I don't have strong feelings on it, except it's nice not needing to iron.
I didn't like it when dc#1 first arrived at the shirt school and it was a coloured purple shirt and no tie. it looked scruffy and the shirts were very expensive. When they moved to a white shirt and tie it looked much nicer.

However the shirts were cheaper than the poloshirts, as the shirts were generic white one, and the poloshirts have the logo on.
I would also say ime the shirts stay nicer for longer than the poloshirts.

I think it's more common for primary schools to have polo shirts, but shirts are clearly an ok alternative. I'm not sure I agree they are any more expensive or stain any more than polo shirts. If they are white they are going to look awful after about 2 weeks regardless.

The one benefit there is with polo shirts is they are simple to put on/off - which is obviously a benefit for children who are still developing fine motor skills or those with conditions like dyspraxia. If you do go to the school that feels like a more valid point to focus on.

Polos in R and Y1 then shirts and ties in our primary, seems to be standard here. When mine were in the younger years it was plain polos from anywhere not they have introduced a logo and lots of the parents are complaining about the price.

My children have been at 4/5 schools now.
White polo shirts look grubby in no time. I've really noticed how much better the white shirts of their current school look.

However the coloured polo shirts look the best. Especially dark coloured ones.

The shirts / blouses at the school are blue.

I've got through several this year, they stain from 'washable' pen. Buttons fall off too. So annoying.

I would definitely suggest for a change. Polo shirts are so easy, don't need ironing, easier for kids to get on and off, cheaper.

Primary - red polo shirts.
Secondary - bottle green polo shirts.

So much easier than a shirt and tie, no ironing, easy to put on, wear well (I've found while more expensive the logo'd polo shirts really last well)

I would suggest it, you can buy cheap polo in supermarkets and primark. They are much easier to wear and wash.

You could suggest polo shirts for the infants (reception to Y2) and use the argument about them being easy for children to dress/undress themselves, not to mention more comfortable and age-appropriate.

To make it affordable they shouldn't insist on a polo shirt with a logo, maybe a plain blue polo shirt to match the shirts and blouses.

I have to say I disagree with PPs about white, it's easy to get stains out of because you can bleach it.

My DDs wear shirts to primary school. In summer boys can wear polo shirts and shorts (girls also have this option if they don't want to wear the summer dresses), but they have to be the logo polo shirts with the school badge on, so work out much more expensive than shirts/ blouses/ summer dresses that can be bought from any supermarket or clothes shop. I think polo shirts would be more comfortable, maybe partly because you don't wear a tie with a polo shirt, and easier for younger children than the fiddly buttons on a shirt, but the polo shirts are £6.50 and can only be bought from 1 website.

Every primary school in the area has polo shirts, except the private ones. Pale blue, dark blue, white, red, purple, green, grey - Tesco in July/August is like a rainbow here. I much prefer them - partly from an ironing perspective and partly because my child with special needs would have no chance of wearing a button shirt, collar and tie. I loathe shirts, ties and blazers on little kids.