To wonder why half of my sons class were to scared to go to school without a jumper on today?

[takingiteasy]

Random but yup...

It's scorchio here, like 23 degrees. It has been for a couple of days. Tue/Wed my son (6) had a meltdown of sorts in the morning as I said he didn't need to wear a jumper. I've been looking to sending him out with a shirt/polo and a lightweight canvas coat just in case but those days he wore a jumper and came out of school hot, red and aggitated. But he's been insistant he needs to wear a jumper or a big coat. Today was awful, tears and everything. Adamant he's going to get into trouble. I assured him he wouldn't. Anyway it eventually came out that 'Betty' in the dinner hall told them they had to wear a jumper or a big thick coat or they'd be in trouble. Don't know who Betty is, don't know why she'd say this. Spoke to some mums this morning and they've been having the same issues - how bizzare?!

Spoke to teacher (hate being one of 'those' mums but he'd been so upset over it all) and she's none the wiser.

Who is this Betty and why is she insistant the kids should be melting?!

DD (at secondary) was looking for her jumper this morning, first time she's worn it in weeks as she hates being hot.

Turns out it's because they have been told that today they will be allowed to remove blazers in class... at which point her not wearing the uniform jumper would be discovered & she doesn't want to get into trouble.

Still no further forward but he is happy he didn't get into trouble for not having a jumper on. So much so that, on the way home, he decided to copy the man that walked past us, with no T-Shirt on.

Stupid Betty must be well sweaty in this weather.

All schools need a scary dinner lady

I've had (admittedly much smaller) ads in the middle my mobile site for ages.

Was it Betty Swollocks ?

I've just had adverts for the first time; I always use my mobile for mumsnet. Oi! Mumsnet! Not impressed!

Looks like I've been really unlucky. Maybe MN think I'm particularly susceptible to advertising or something.

Nothing really to do with this thread but when I was at secondary school all the guys had to wear a blazer and were not allowed to take it off in class until the teacher gave them permission, they were, however, allowed to raise their hands and ask permission to take them off. In mid-summer the teacher usually gave them permission to remove their ties too. We girls wore 'summer dresses' and cardigans, but were allowed to remove our cardigans withour permission.

The guys were also not allowed to sit down until all the girls were seated, then the teacher would say 'sit down gentlemen'

This was, I believe, an old fashioned way of teaching school children manners.

Secondary. It's tits and sweat. I just said

DS5 was not impressed with not having a coat and jumper today. He cried at school because he didn't have a coat yesterday afternoon. I think it's more to do with it being a routine change for him though, he's a stickler for everything being the same every day!

And yes, there are still kids wearing vests!

My kids school has this. They have to have cardigan in class, unless teacher says otherwise. They have to have a coat. I think it started as a sensible rule, when in the spring several children had no coats when the weather turned rainy, from been v. Nice
Doesn't seem such a good rule today, especially when I've got 3 x lunchboxes, book bags, jumpers, coats and a plastic model rocket to carry. Also children v. Young so need to hold their hand too!!!

DD's secondary school is reasonable about clothing; they will let the kids take off jumpers as long as shirts are tucked in neatly. Although DD (now 12) will not take off her jumper anyway.

DS's primary is no worry whatever, so far, so good. As they've had a new head this year I'm waiting to see if there are any changes to the uniform policy.

And as for 'cast ne'er a clout till May be out', according to my Dad, a country boy, he has always understood it relates to May blossom in the hedgerows, not the month of May.

my twins havent worn jumpers last few days and had text from older 2`s school stating they can wear pe kit instead of uniform due to heat.
my high school we had to wear blazers and had to wait for permission to remove them,use to swelter in them :(

Ime teenage girls often wont remove jumpers as most school shirts are transparent. By that they mean the outline of their bra shows through. Pretty grim if they have to sweat the hot weather out for the sake of rubbish shirts.

In primary the teachers have to present the rules as fact as if they didn't the first bright day in early February kids would start coming in without a coat. I'm sure they won't actually enforce the rules in this weather though.

One summer, back when ds2 was in Year 9 he had about a week of being even hungrier than usual after school. He finally got around to admitting that he wasn't allowed in the dinner hall without a school sweatshirt on At the time, it was absolutely scorchio outside and the heatwave had been going on for, yes, about a week. He wasn't the only pupil affected by this apparently new rule since very few of them were taking a (completely unecessary) sweatshirt to school anyway.

Discreet enquiries revealed that it wasn't a school rule at all. Merely another Manic Betty who'd decided that they needed to be "correctly attired" before being allowed in the dinner hall. Clearly she had confused it with the Savoy Grill....

Nobody wants to be one of "those" parents but this is well worth raising with your ds's teacher, OP.

I dunno why this should be OP, but I wish I had Betty's powers to infuence children!!

Maybe it was Sweaty Betty!!!

It's not just children. I saw two women on the tube this afternoon in full winter coats...

When I picked up my ds1 (4) from school today he'd put both his jumper and coat on! He'd taken both to school as the weather here wasn't so great this morning. Amazed that neither the teacher or TA suggested that maybe he didn't need to put them on to walk home. Did make a bit of a show of getting him to take his coat and jumper off as soon as he got to me...

Why are secondary schools so insistent on them keeping their jumpers on till told otherwise...my son and daughter's school is like this about their sweatshirts...what is their problem???? I have no other complaints about school policy, just this!

How weird, my old secondary school was the same. Jumpers weren't mandatory but blazers were, and ties. Black ties, right round your neck.

You had to wait until the official announcement from the headteacher that summer shirts were allowed (meaning no ties for girls) and the boys used to (rightly!) campaign every year to also be allowed to forgo their ties.

Blazers had to be worn at all times and you had to ask in lessons if you could take them off. The teacher could refuse Quite why this was supposed to be helpful, I have no idea. Our language teachers used to refuse unless we could ask in the correct language.

We all waited for the glorious day in Summer when the head decreed that from now on we could leave our blazers at home if we wished. That was a happy day. Apparently, the latest head has now retracted this policy all together

I have never worked in a school which makes jumpers compulsory.

However, I strongly suspect it has something to do with tight tight, low cut white shirts with luminous bras underneath. While I'm sure your daughters don't dress like that, there will be some who do! Much easier for a male teacher to say, put your jumper on, rather than your shirts too tight and that bra is innapropriate for school.

Jumpers and ties are compulsory at ds's school unless they are told to take them off - it's such a load of bollox, why would a teacher want to teach a room full of sweaty pre teens?