I love a good illogical school rule!

[TheNightingalesStarling]

The email has come out. They don't need to wear blazers today due to weather.. on buses, in corridors, in lessons etc

However... they must carry it at all times. No leaving it home or in their lockers!

I know it doubles as a pencil case for many of them but would the world implode if they safely left them at home?

The fashion parade thing is a bit of a myth. In practice with no uniform the vast majority of children end up opting for comfort and turn up in jeans and T shirts or sweatshirts.

Why is it more important that they look smart than that they be comfortable and able to learn? Why should parents have to shell out for a pointless expensive blazer when a jumper or sweatshirt would so the job just as well?

Ours you got a “shirt sleeves” edict from on high and ditched the blazer, removed the tie, undid top button and folded sleeve up to mid forearm.

weirdos

OP, did you reply to the email by asking why? I would absolutely have to ask.

We have a ‘no white soles’ on completely black trainers. Cause obviously that would massively impact the learning.

I don't understand why more parents don't complain about stupid rules like that, if you're too hot why can't you take your jumper or blazer off?!
My friends son goes to a school with the same bat shit rules about only being able to take jumpers and blazers off if it hits a certain temperature but I don't see the point in that rule? What's it teaching them when in an office if you were too hot you could do just that without having to wait for permission

Agree....Whenever my dc have had an own clothes day at school, it has been a fashion parade and my dc have agonised for days over what to wear...but I think this is just because it's such a rare event. I'm sure if they could wear their own clothes every day, they'd soon lose interest in what they or others are wearing.

Uniform is so outdated now..the argument that it prepares them for the world of work is no longer applicable. It's not the 1980s...even those with corporate jobs are invariably wearing smart casual or just casual.

DD, aged 10, had a mufti day last week. She told me she loved it, but she's glad there's uniform - she couldn't face that pressure every day!

Personally, I am in favour of uniforms. But I don't understand some of the ridiculous aspects of them. Blazers not being allowed to be taken off? Even in my day at an old fashioned, strict school, we had to wear blazers when walking arond etc, but the rule was that once ou got to a classroom and took your seat, it was up to you. Ties? I don't get that at all, x100 for primary school. Pleated skirts for girls that give no flexibility to adjust for body size/shape? Bizarre.

Ds once got put in isolation because he was wearing the wrong colour socks. School uniform rules are the height of pettiness.

My daughter has just left her batshit school.

It's rule in summer is no blazer, but must wear the jumper or wear the blazer and no jumper. If teachers give permission can be removed in lessons but must be worn in hallways.

Opaque tights all year round, or trousers.

Back in 2020 they allowed the kids to wear PE kit instead in the hot weather, but apparently that was only due to the pandemic. But it was so much better!

This is an "outstanding" school, it's a joke. The school is awful.

My other kids go to a "good" school and none of this nonsense is there. They are suitably strict on uniform but have said no blazers this week without silly rules..my son is still taking his blazer "for the pockets" haha

And of course, blazer in the winter, hard to find a coat to go over it, so they freeze

but I think this is just because it's such a rare event. I'm sure if they could wear their own clothes every day, they'd soon lose interest in what they or others are wearing.

This will be true for SOME children, but not all. And SOME children will still stand out - for wearing clothes that are old and ratty, for wearing clothes that are inappropriate, for wearing expensive clothes.

Also, frankly, while the cost of a blazer etc is expensive, school uniform is a) hardy and b) no one actually cares if it doesn't quite fit or there's an ink stain. So it's very durable. That's not the case for regular clothes so much.

Quite. Currently getting ready to start my £110k a year job wearing a £2 t-shirt and £4 shorts! No one dresses up for work anymore

we had an optional summer uniform at ours. Gils could wear blouses without ties (as long as the blouse had revers) - boys could wear short sleeved shirts with their ties.
Boys did want to wear shorts, they were allowed eventually.

There's still bullying / wearing the 'right' type of clothes issue sin Europe etc

Traditional uniforms , blazers, ties etc have had their day, imo. Our local school only wear blazers & ties in sixth form - what a waste for a parent to buy all that for about 9 months wear.

Trousers, polo shirt, sweatshirt, black footwear. All state schools in the county wear the same colours . Make it cheaper for parents and take the ‘fashion’ element out of it.

I see very few adults, even in some traditional professions, who wear blazers and ties on a daily basis, so why should the children?

I have to agree.
My school didn’t have uniforms until I turned about 13, and I honestly can’t recall anyone being bullied or made queen bee for their clothes (other things, sure). I really noticed it here when DSD and DS insisted there were ‘the right sort of’ school bags or shoes or water bottles (?!!) to have. My nieces and nephew also are abroad with no uniform and I’ve discussed it with them, they said people like to dress to show what ‘style’ they fit in with eg grunge, prep, but don’t get flak over it from others.
But I do wonder if maybe non uniform wouldn’t work here in the UK because I think, in general, 50yo & under are really swayed by brands and trends! Massive shopping culture here these days. Still: school uniform rules, especially high school ones, are exasperating.

Agree - we are paying through the nose to send DD private, but there seems to be less fetishisation of “uniform” in the private sector as it’s not used as a proxy for discipline. Obviously DD has to wear the uniform, but they actually don’t get weird about a bit of makeup/discreet jewellery/rolling up skirts/not wearing blazers as the kids are pretty well behaved anyway.

In the summer they can wear a short sleeved blouse or polo because there isn’t this weirdness about jumpers and blazers. The uniform doesn’t become a visible sign of “behaviour” or conformity to school rules like it’s become recently in the state sector (misguidedly so, IMO — I went to a state comp in the 90s and we were able to be comfortable in summer uniform without all this fuss!)

I’ve always been pro uniform but honestly, especially since the pandemic when the kids were allowed just to wear comfy sports kit to school on PE days and I could see how much of a difference that made to DD, I’m not sure how much I believe in school uniform any more. Especially at primary school. And I do think that at secondary there ought to be at least a range of sensible options, like a summer dress or short sleeved shirt for summer and none of the sweaty polyester blazers (WHY would you want teenagers to wear dry clean only polyester all day?!? The classrooms must honk!)

Our school is fervently anti coat. Anyone wearing a coat (even in the snow) is looked at with utter disdain by staff. Their thin cheap blazers should suffice apparently. Mad.

My son's secondary school uniform is just a school polo shirt with black school trousers, skirt or shorts. There's a school jumper (which no-one wears because it's a bit itchy) but no blazer, tie etc. They look a bit like they are coming to fix your air conditioning but it's simple, neat and comfortable. Why on earth did blazers make such a comeback? When I went to school in the 80s, and started teaching in the 90s, no-one wore a bloody blazer!

I’ve always been pro uniform but honestly, especially since the pandemic when the kids were allowed just to wear comfy sports kit to school on PE days and I could see how much of a difference that made to DD

Yes agree...I remember this. Was also great that they didn't have an extra bag to carry on those days.

But the same kids stand out in uniform. It’s painfully obvious who is wearing a third hand blazer and Asda school shoes and who is wearing new every year with Gucci flats!

My dd once had the same for the colour of her bra

It was white and not flesh coloured so it was visible under her shirt

I was hauled in and patronised

I went mental-nobody should have been looking at her underwear and it certainly didn't impact on her education

It ended with them threatening social services and me threatening I was going to the newspapers,sm and my mp

Our cards where marked that day (being a working class,single parent didn't help-that teacher hated the working class and/or single parents)

Ds went to another school who insisted on trousers,shirt,tie,blazer,white socks and black shoes (no handbags allowed for the girls and no brand named bags for both sexes)

All good-but in hot weather they where not allowed to remove the blazer and in winter they where not allowed to wear 'outside coats'

It's fucking barmy-report bullying and they don't want to know but dare to wear a white bra and they are all over you

(ds was once attacked by bullies on school grounds and they just shrugged-i had to get the police involved before they pulled their finger out-same kid loosened his tie a week later and he got a dentition)

Normally I backed the school up and tried to work with them but some rules where just pointless

DD's primary now let's them wear weather-appropriate sports kit on PE days which she loves - being comfy all day, wearing trainers etc, encourages them to run around at break time. It also saves time getting them all changed in and out of their kit for PE, and they don't lose their uniform.

DS secondary emailed to say they can leave blazers at home, but very few of them do as they keep some much in their pockets - timetables, print cards, stationery etc.

True, but my sense is ithere's a slightly different viewpoint? eg, DS thinks its hilarious that his friend Jack (made up name)'s parents have very strict rules on buying expensive clothes, even though Jack's family is the richest in the class. And the vast bulk of the children, whether rich or poor, by this time of year have blazers that are all too small/stained etc. And I think with good second hand blazers or careful budgeting, many families who are don't have a lot of money can still do a good job of making their children blend in.

It doesn't go away completely - they all know who has money etc, but it is different I think.

I worked for a MAT where the same rule applied to staff!
when I was at school if it was really hot boys were allowed to take their ties off, girls didn’t have to wear them. No one made you were a jumper or tights though.
i can remember walking to school in just a shirt and skirt when it was red hot. I really hate the blazers they have now.