or is the school?

[advisemewisely]

dd had a problem with her ankle joint, they cause her alot of pain. she is under the hospital for physio and has specialy made shoe inserts to correct the way her foot sits in her shoe. she also has very flat feet and instep.
on monday it was pissing it down and she went to school wearing boots very similar to these www.deichmann.com/GB/en/shop/home-girls/home-girls-shoes/00009001058340/Long%20Leg%20Boot.prod?r=5&c=3&filter_brand=all&filter_color=all&filter_padding=all&filter_size=all&orderby=topseller&st=PRODUCT&filter_cat=home-girls/home-girls-shoes/home-girls-shoes-boots
buy the come to calf height.
she wore them with trousers, so you couldnt see that they were boots until she was getting changed for pe.
i got a call from the school saying i had to take her another pair of shoes as these were not suitable for school. i said no, i was at work.
now when we go to the hospital for fittings, we take all her shoes, so we know that the inserts wont rub, fit well and do their job. wellies are crap on her, they dont support her foot or ankle at all. and so when it rains so she needs to wear boots, she cant just take the inserts out and put them in her new shoes very easily, they are tight to get in and hurt if not put in really well).
I've told the school that if its raining or cold she will be wearing her boots. they say if she is wearing boots they will make her stay in at break as a punishment for not wearing correct uniform.
who is BU?

If she walks on her own usually, couldn't you take her when it rains? Obviously wouldn't work if you gave work commitments. But possible?

Because as gas been pointed out a multitude of times, noble, finding shoes that fit orthotics and are also watertight is nigh on ducking impossible

I've just reread the thread, and no it hadn't, so don't get arsey with me. It was mentioned that the selection was limited, but limited isn't the same as non-existent.

If you genuinely can't get waterproof shoes for your DD then this needs explaining to the school clearly. Go in and discuss the problem instead of simply getting arsey and saying 'no, I'm going to break the rules' because I expect they have no idea what the problem with normal shoes is.
That's what the issue is, because other kids have no need to wear boots in wet weather.

Advisemewisely- in that case she needs the boots- she cannot wear wellies in like the other children, so the school need to make a 'reasonable adjustment' (ie let her wear the boots). I can not believe the school are taking this attitude to a child with a medical condition. They should be helping her to manage her condition. They should have an Equalities Policy which clearly sets all this out. Ask for it, scrutinise it, quote any relevant wording back to them.

OP- I read your updates and it's clear that the school knows this is a medical issue. Go to the Head, take some GP/hospital letters and if no joy there, go to the Governors.

They are not making reasonable adjustment for a medical problems and should be ashamed!

poor DD - it sounds like they are slipping if they are rubbing like this.

your school is being v UR, here

i'm with Odd on this, if it was a visible aid they would take a different stance

i think a letter from your Pod will help, can you call the clinic now? you might have the letter by the end of the week

Hi again,

these are the ones my daughter wears - plenty of room for an insert and a heel lift. An absolute godsend!! And waterproof! We bought them after reading the reviews.... they are right....

www.minibarratts.co.uk/en/leather-lace-up-casual-shoe-99353

She also has a pair of these which she wears when she puts a skirt on (occasionally!!):
www.johnlewis.com/340882/Product.aspx

they have a high toe for a brogue, so the inserts fit

I think the school is being unreasonable - but it isn't clear from your OP whether you have actually discussed this with them before or whether the phone call asking you to bring shoes and you saying "no" is the first they've heard of it?
In which case you need to go in and have a proper discussion about what is involved for your DD,with medical letters if necessary,and if they still make an issue of it they are being VVU!

tiredness those arent the exact boots, hers zip up, fit well and have enough support for her ankle.
the inserts caused blisters with the shoes we had, and i took those to the hopsital app, they checked the fit. maybe not well enough tho?

pride
i did say, they know. i have spoken to the teacher, and have taken her our of school for apps, so have supplied the appointment letter for them so they knew where she was going.

tiredness
no, they said they had to be worn 80% of the time, never said anything about easing them in.

I suspect the school think you are an awkward parent because they will have had many children wearing orthotics over the years who haven't asked for special dispensation to wear boots.

My DD wears orthotics and it is a pain to find shoes but we take the support with us when we go shoe shopping, and it might mean that she can't have her first choice of shoe but we have always found something - Mary Jane or brogue styles usually.

So I do think that it is possible to find a sensible waterproof school shoe that will negate the need for a boot, but if you are adamant that she needs to walk in boots then she needs to learn how to swap the orthotic from one shoe to another (which she will do when she puts trainers on for PE, or goes on a residential trip surely?) - or you could consider getting a second orthotic.

Having said that, there is one child at DDs school who has had special permission to wear black trainers because she needs to wear arch supports and they are apparently the only style of shoe that work for her, so a doctors note might be the way forward, although it still might not result in her being able to wear her boots.

I agree with tiredness, she should have been told to wear them in more gradually. Dd2 has orthotic insoles, has done for the past 5 years. She was wearing them down before growing out of them iykwim so had to have some made of harder, less flexible material. She had to wear them in.
I would also go back and get them checked out, surely it shouldn't be that hard to get them to fit into her shoes properly if they are correctly made.
I absolutely hate buying new school schools because getting sensible enough ones that she will actually wear (she's at high school) is nigh on impossible! I must say I would find it harder with boots than shoes though anyway.

Even so, I think that school is definitely being unreasonable, especially as it is still primary. You do need to speak to the head about it, but do get them checked out, your poor dd shouldnt be getting blisters with them

OP I am really sorry this has happened. My arch is completely collapsed so I need to wear insoles as well and it's really hard to find shoes that they are comfortable with and I have had loads of blisters trying to wear shoes that didn't sit well with them.

I agree if you get a medical note surely there isn't anything they can do. Also, I thought school uniform wasn't enforceable? Is that just Scotland?

adeucalione
this is her first pair of these, i had to take buy the school shoes and take them to the fitting, as i didnt know what i was looking for, bought 4 pairs of bloomin shoes in varying styles, and then kept the ones that worked best.
next time i can take the inserts shopping with me but this time i didnt have that choice.

If primary then schools cannot enforce uniform anyway, according to head at school I work at. And school are BU, we have happily made exceptions for medical reasons, if parents are ok with it we tell class so that he/she is not made uncomfortable by being different. But boots/shoes is surely a bit of a non issue anyway, not noticeable really?