Why is uniform for secondary school so formal and strict?

[Soubriquet]

I mean why do they HAVE to wear a blazer unless a teacher says it’s ok to take it off. Why do they HAVE to wear a tie when most primary schools don’t.

Why does it HAVE to be a particular brand, especially with the COL crisis that’s happening.

My dd is going into secondary school and she’s moving from a primary school who were fairly flexible for uniform to one who is strict. I mean one skirt is £20 on its own! Madness

People argue it’s to prepare for the working world, but even adults in the working world have more flexibility

Schools are struggling because parents with these attitudes pass on to their kids.

It's draconian and completely not what school is about. My personal bugbear is lace up shoes. So if you have a SEND child with a dispensation to wear Velcro they are a bully target.

Totally agree. Or shows that have requirements that are expensive. Why can’t they wear smart black trainers that can be bought in Shoe Zone?

We were told it was to prepare us for working in uniform, yet every job I’ve ever had requires you to either dress nice, or wear their uniform top and any black bottoms. I’ve never had any issues with piercings, tattoos or hair colour.

I didn’t go to school here so never wore a uniform growing up. I couldn’t believe how seriously the schools take the uniforms when my children started school. I remember sending my son to school in normal clothes one day as I had forgotten to wash his uniform. I genuinely didn’t realise how unacceptable that was. I mean, he was 4 and it was one day 😂😂😂I don’t mind uniforms at all, he would have loved the teachers I have come across over the year to put as much effort into teaching as they do measuring my children’s skirt or whatever.

We have school uniforms because private schools had school uniforms as a marketing ploy. Made the school stand out.

Grammar schools adopted school uniform to imitate private schools and to keep out the riff raff. Parents had to be either well off or motivated to afford uniform so it worked well for gatekeeping.

In the name of improving school standards more and more schools have adopted strict uniform standards as far easier to do that than look at the other factors that make private schools effective. It’s become a quality marker and the origin story has grown up around it with a mythology and explanations for its benefits which categorically are not rooted in evidence.

School uniform in the UK is rooted in classism.

Interesting.

It is a peculiarly British ‘thing’. So classist and anally retentive 🥱 Our obsession with uniform makes us an outlier in Europe. (Shudders at the thought of all the sweaty polyester (plastic) crap kids have to wear every day for 12 years)

We were in Spain and saw a group of school kids in baby shorts and matching tshirts, so much easier to wash, iron and suitable for school activities.

Why school have these ridiculous policies is beyond me.