to think that the principal is being unreasonable

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the principal at our local secondary seems to me to have gone power mad about uniforms. I agree that on school grounds the children should wear appropriate attire. But he was in the local paper saying that "I've had to go down to the local garage to confiscate hoodies". that pupils wearing hoodies outside school "give the school a bad image" and that they should wear the official school coat (which is quite pricey). that (shock horror) "pupils remove the hoodies or non school coat before they walk in the gate". Is it just me or has he gone mad? how far away from the school would it be acceptable to not wear the full uniform? should children constantly be in uniform lest a middle age man strip them? i know quite a few people that are fed up of having to go to the school and reclaim items of clothing (and get a half hour "talk"). should he be told to wind his neck in?

We have 2 private schools in our town - the pupils are always in uniform when out and about and look very smart. The local comp on the other hand..........

Why did he go to the garage? I doubt any head had the time to patrol the neighbourhood on the off-chance, so presumably he was called there because a specific incident and that sounds as if there is a problem. Perhaps this is an indicator that behaviour does need to be tackled?

Very unreasonable. Outside school pupils are free to dress as they please. Harrassing them at the local garage is not acceptable. Parents should complain about this. At what point is it ok to wear the hoodie? half past three, ten to five (say you'd gone somewhere else on your way home from school so still had uniform on)

What is wrong with a hooded top anyway? It's still not all that warm and it seems a sensible choice in the winter to keep your head warm. Poor behaviour would give the school a bad name but you can behave well with a hooded top on or behave badly with a regulation coat on.

Personally I think YANBU, but thankfully my kids go to a school with no uniform, but with a dress code (no mini skirts, no cleavage revealing tops, no hot pants). I think that school uniform regulations can get a bit ott.

I'm assuming he's referring to children on their way home from school, and not people who are at that school, gone home and got changed.

It's quite common, I think. They want them to walk home from school in proper uniform.

Rightly or wrongly - people complain My eldest son's 'uniform' is a polo shirt with the schools logo on, a sweatshirt with the school's logo on, jeans and trainers.

It's a great school, fab kids, brilliant results - but the local people are forever moaning about how the children look as they walk home from school. So much so that the school is considering a uniform change.

See, to me, what matters is that it's a great school, the children are lovely, the school gets fab results, the staff are well motivated...

But no, what matters to the local shopkeeper and the person looking out of their window at 3:30pm is that there are lots of kids walking down the street in jeans.

I remember in the late 70's my DH was walking home from where the school bus had dropped him off. It was a sweltering hot day in the summer and DH had taken his blazeer and tie off. He was over 5 miles away from the school and a teacher spotted him. Next day he got strapped at school for not wearing the uniform correctly.
It was the talk of the place.
Barking!!!

YABU - he is trying to set some standards. i think you should support him.

we had this at our school - also had to have right colour hair bobbles and socks etc and behaviour and attire on the way home were also considered to be important due to school reputation - personally find no problem with it.

My last employer also had it written into our contracts that appearance and behaviour on way to and from work were considered company business and you could effectively face disciplinary for stepping out of line

I was taught that you are representing the school whilst in uniform, so by that token YABU. It sets a good precedent for later life - careers etc, teaches you that YOU represent your school/company and YOUR actions whilst in uniform can reflect badly on your school/organisation.

as far as i know it isn't a behaviour problem. he targeted the garage because a number of kids go in to buy a mineral, sweets, crisps whilst walking home from school. he didn't mention any behavior problems only "the image of the school". so as far as i know it's an entirely aesthetic measure. Most of the items confiscate were hoodies or fleeces but he will confiscate any coat that isn't a school coat also.

Can you not see the link? Slovenly appearance reflects badly on the school too. Some people feel threatened by "yoofs in hoodies" (despite there being no problem) and could complain. It's reasonable enough to expect them to stay neat and tidy until they change clothes.

"the image of the school" - seems important to me. why want to send your children to a school with a poor image in the community?

I am sat here wearing a hoodie !! How I must lower the area !!

Yes and no... I do think the hoodys give a bad impression and look scruffy. However, DS goes to a well regarded private school. Their uniform simply specifies a "plain dark coat" or something like that. None of this official school coat nonsense.

My hoody is not scruffy. My children wear hoodies at the weekend for riding, after activities, cycling etc. Why does it look scruffy ?? It casual wear and my DD1 hoody cost a bloody fortune !!

Like you said. Its casual wear. Not smart.

I"m wearing a hoody right now. Under no circumstances do i think it suitable for smart wear or as part of a uniform.

DS1's hoody is from Superdry. That doesn't make it look smart.

Fair enough, it's casual, don't wear it in school. But these kids aren't in school. The head has nothing better to do than go to a garage, where the kids are apparently not causing any trouble, and confiscate items of their clothing.

It's not ok for him to confiscate their hooded tops on a Saturday afternoon so why is it ok to go round patrolling the local area and removing clothing at 4 on a Friday afternoon?

What if a child decides they don't want to travel home in their uniform and decides to change ALL their clothing, not just their top or coat? Surely they are entitled to walk around after school wearing whatever they please?

oh I agree but in their own time will not reflect the school surely. As i belive wearing my Hoody will not refelct on me professionally in my own time not when working as a professional

YABU. If pupils are in uniform thy should wear the full uniform IMO. If they want to wear hoodies they should get changed completely. Half and half does not look good, and it does give a bad impression of the school.

My ds is at a GS with a head who is strict about uniform, and even then I see pupils walking around with shirts untucked and ties looking straggly. That is as far as it goes though and looks bad enough.

My other ds will go to a comp, which has an excellent reputation in the area, and they have recently toughened up on uniform. Even though they have become stricter, there are still girls walking around with ridiculously short skirts, pupils of both sexes with no ties, ties completely undone, hoodies etc. They look awful, and it does make it hard to believe that the school is as good as its supposed to be when the students go around looking scruffy.

YABU - at my school you were only allowed school uniform (also stupidly expensive) and we weren't even allowed to wear our school jumper outside of school without the blazer over the top! Keep in mind this was in Sydney, so even in the middle of winter only gets down to 10 deg ish...! If we were seen without our hats/jumper with no blazer etc we would be given detention and given a lecture. I was given a detention once for not wearing a black ribbon over my hair tie!

So expecting the kids to wear their school coat to me really isn't that much to ask!!

YANBU - who decided he could dictate what kids wear outside the school?

I think that this is someone who needs a lesson in boundaries ie his realm ends at the school gate!

What if a child decides they don't want to travel home in their uniform and decides to change ALL their clothing, not just their top or coat? Surely they are entitled to walk around after school wearing whatever they please?

I agree, however they should change ALL of it, not team parts of the uniform with part of their own clothes.

When wearing a uniform you are representing an organisation. And whilst you are wearing any item of that uniform which can associate you to that organisation then you are representing what they stand for.

Nanny - your school's policy sound preposterous to me!

OP - I think the HT is being heavy handed, yes. Teens have the rest of their miserable, oppressed, tow-the-line adulthoods to look smart and wear a stupid pointless tie.

I believe in uniform for schools. Everyone the same and no designer labels would be my preference....but do kids have any need to 'look smart'?
No - they do not. The only reason for it is to pander those adults out there who think wearing a stupid pointless tie is a measure of people's worthiness. A token for the easily convinced. The headmaster obviously places value on a person owing to their appearance, and thinks he will be more respected in turn, if he pushes those values onto his pupils. I'd say it was his problem.

Anyone can wear a tie or dress smart, and still be a cunt of the highest order. The school should spend the time they find they have to waste on sodding uniform policies, on sorting out the kids who misbehave and treat other badly.

Tie schmie. Blazer schmazer.

YANBU, if it's outside school property and outside of school hours and the child is not under the responsibility of any school staff (for example, a school trip), then the child is free to dress how they please.

I have 2 DCs in secondary school, on colder days they wore thick hoodies to school because it was a lot warmer then just a blazer, and easier to carry around then a coat. I'd have told the school to bugger off if they'd told my kids they can't wear them on the way, or going home from school.