Crazy school rules you remember when you were at school

[Notyouthful]

At my high school, they decided to do a one way system to go around the school to lessons. For 2 months, I was on crutches and three times a week, I had lessons which were in neighbouring blocks, but in the opposite direction to the one way system. I was made to go around the whole school. Surely they could make an exception for myself and a friend (carrying bag) to go the quickest route? Never been on crutches before and since - I got tired very quickly.

When it was PE when in crutches and for another month after that and if was outside. I was made to sit on a wall, not allowed to sit on a chair. I was bored out of my mind. Once a week, the lesson was the last one of the day. My parents took me home. Much to dismay of the teachers. Well I wasn't learning anything freezing to death.

Same school. They made a block of loos for each school year. I was having extremely heavy periods - that heavy that I had to change between lessons. Some lessons changeovers were opposite side of the school to the toilets for my school year. Having to follow the one way system (see above) too. I was always late for lessons. It was embarrassing.

Another school year, I had PE on my final lesson of the week. We were expected to get changed to go home/board school bus. At the time, I was living 10 mins walk from the school. What was the point in getting changed for 10-15 mins then getting changed again? Mobile changing rooms backed onto the main road and there was a hedge with a gap which could squeeze through.

We had to have a red pen to underline dates, titles and page numbers if doing exercises from Maths or French books for example.

When the weather was warm we had to wait for an announcement from the Headmaster over the tannoy to say 'Girls may remove their blazers and ties and undo the top button of their shirt, boys may remove their blazers, loosen their ties slightly and undo the top button of their shirt.'

If the announcement didn't happen, we just sat there working through.

At junior school it was either school dinners or go home for dinner, no packed lunches allowed. We had to eat everything or the scary dinnerlady would shout at you. Very occasionally we got ice cream as a treat and I vividly remember my friend, Jane, who hated ice cream, crying and actually retching trying to eat the ice cream. Horrible Mrs Dinnerlady said everyone liked ice cream and Jane was just showing off.

In our state primary we had a ‘matron’ who was what a school auxiliary is these days. (Dealing with first aid, supervising lunches etc) She used to check lunch boxes, if you had any chocolate or sweets she would take it, you never saw it again. If you put anything partly eaten or drink in the bin she would take it out and make you finish it.

We had free milk in the glass bottles and in the summer it would sit outside in the corridor and get warm and curdled. We still had to drink it all 🤢
Navy gym knickers for p.e. Girls made to change their clothes in the classroom, even in primary 7. We rebelled in primary 6 and were allowed to change in the medical room.
Not allowed to go to the toilet outwith break times, I pissed myself a few times in class and had to sit in it until home time.

I am baffled as to why my previous post has been greyed out- it simply said in hot weather we had to wait for an instruction over the tannoy from the Head to tell us we could remove our blazers and ties (girls) or remove our blazers and loosen our ties (boys).

Compulsory showers after PE, said showers were ones you’d walk through not stand underneath and actually wash. The PE teacher had a “period book” where she would mark down when your time of the month was and you didn’t have to shower if you were menstruating.

Secondary we had the one way system as the building was octagonal shaped.
if you missed the classroom you had to all the way round again. It was for safety apparently because the doors opened out into the corridor.
One stairs for up and one for down only.

We moved to a new building in second year and it had a swimming pool, there was NO curtains in the changing rooms and we were forbidden to hang a towel in our cubicle, the gym teacher would rip them down ‘we’re all girls here, it’s fine to look’ When I left in 6th year there was still no curtains on the cubicles.
No shell suits or jogging suits or we would go on fire and die, even if it was a gym day and nowhere near the science department.
Compulsary running round the playing field for an hour in the snow and hail in shorts while the teacher stood in a track suit and coat.

Oh and the p.e. Teacher would send you to the nurse to get a tampon if you were on your period and couldn’t swim. She had spare swimsuits too.
If you refused you were given detention. You were only allowed this to happen one week. If you were still on after 7days she wouldn’t believe you, detention and a tampon you were sent to get.
I was always getting detention as I wouldn’t use a tampon, my dad went to the school to complain and threatened to return in uniform (police) if it ever happened again.

@KindLemur at least you had an individual cubicle for your showers. At one school I was at, the shower was communal and we all had to go through it one after the other with the PE teacher watching us. I was lucky in that I was a late developer, but for girls who developed earlier it must have been extremely embarrassing. 1970s.

If we passed a teacher or especially a nun in the corridor we had to do a deferencail type of bow/nod .

Oh I see.

But they want them to not be bringing in a "single use" one each day I guess?

They'll have a good fiddle too 😂😂😂

I can't think of anything remotely unreasonable in a bog standard comp in the late 1980s and early 1990s compared to the set of ridiculous draconian and anxiety fuelling rules you get in an average secondary school these days.

Primary school in the 90s. At lunchtime, we weren’t allowed to sit with anyone in our year group. They’d line us up outside first and send one person from each year group in at a time. We would count the numbers in the line of the next year group and try to reshuffle ourselves so we could at least sit with someone in the other year that we liked.

Pointless counting, though, since once in the lunch hall we had to eat in absolute silence. Anyone caught whispering would have their name written in The Book and be made to stand at the back of the hall for the remainder of the lunchtime, and then finish their (now cold) meal while everyone else went outside to play.

My dc have the one way system at their secondary. I think it's because it would be chaos without it due to the number of kids being higher than what the school was originally built for.

Strange. Maybe it was an automatic thing which mistook one of the words for something it wasn't.

We had the one way system introduced when we were in Year 10, lots of walking round buildings to get to the next classroom etc., but we had travel time built into the time table to accommodate it.

You didn't mention a canvas type trainer at all? That's a trigger word.

"School skirts should be no more than two inches above or below the knee when kneeling."

The head of the girls school used to carry a tape measure in her pocket and if she saw a dubious hem, she'd make the girl kneel down in front of everyone. If it was too short, the girl had to go to the home economics room, put on her lab coat, take off her skirt and rehem it with seam binding.

I grew from 5' to 5'8" in about 18 months. My skirt was constantly too short.

😡😡 😡

Lancashire must have been full of Gitmos.

Gils' school, navy blue knee length skirt which had to be worn to and from school, even if it was snowing.

Hats had been abolished before I got there but we had summer and winter uniform, so from Easter to September you could wear a pink gingham dress.

Until fourth year where you had a change of tie.

Only allowed a coat in navy blue.

We could wear one pair of studs or sleepers, with one in each ear and with them in the matching hole.

Rat's tails were banned.

Patent shoes were obviously only for hussies and our shoes were inspected in the morning.

We had two bells at dinner time, one to say the angelus and one for the actual dinner time.

The day one nun found a couple of girls with a Ouija board was a huge scandal.

@8misskitty8 tampons? Inside the school gates?

We had less rules at our secondary than my DD does now!

toilets are locked and they are only allowed in a specific one per yr group at break times, unless they have a doctors note.

they have to ask to take their jumpers off.

no sports leggings (have to be a particular one)without a skort over the top for pe, no extra jumper/hoody on cold pe days

one small pair of stud earrings, no make up, no nail polish or unnatural hair colours

it extremely hot weather, students will be notified that they can come in their pe kit

coats only in black or navy

Oh and boys haircuts must follow a set of rules!

My primary school had regulation knickers that were part of the uniform, we were checked to make sure we were wearing them. Rows of little girls, having to hold up their skirts.

Makes me shudder now 😢

No

Skirts will be between 1 and 4 inches from the floor when kneeling.
Girls will wear white socks in summer and beige socks in winter.
Girls will wear brown interlock knickers - this rule changed when new summer dresses came in and the brown knickers showed through them - girls will wear white knickers in summer!
Girls will not walk past the headmistress's office. They will walk up the stairs on one side, along the top corridor and down the stairs on the other side.
Hats will be worn at all times when outside school and we were not allowed to be seen eating in the street when in school uniform. Woe betide those who got caught.
Packed lunches were not allowed. We either ate school dinners (no choice other than the set menu) or went home for lunch.

@Trifficultly it's to stop them tripping and not being able to stop their face hitting the floor/table/whatever. It sounds weird but was a rule at a school I worked in because there had been quite a nasty accident (and a few more minor ones). No idea why just for boys though but it is true that they are more likely to have pockets in their uniform- that is also very unfair!