To think that forciing children to wear thick blazers/jumpers...

[nomorequotes]

...in hot weather is a breach of human rights?

Why do schools have the right to tell our children to be uncomfortable at school?

Trish - woollen long kilt. Long sleeved shirt. Woollen tie. Wool jumper. Wool blazer. Long socks or tights. Lace up school shoes. Oh and the ever stylish Panama hat

Echt - ahahahaha I love it.

For shits and giggles I urge you to google 'sommerville house summer uniform'

Just looked at that site. :o

I pass through an area full of private schools every day, none quite so full-on as that, though it took me years to get used to seeing older boys in uniform shorts and the thick blazers in the summer.

Having said that, lots of boys at my school, opt for the shorts all year round.

That's a lot of wool! Did you have to wear all if that all the time? Could you at least ask permission to take your blazer and/or jumper off if you were hot?

We could take off the jumper and blazer but couldn't roll the shirt sleeves up.
The 'best' thing about the wool was that it did rain a bit in winter. Nothing like 30 girls in a stuffy classroom all smellng like wet dog

Yanbu - all the schools I've worked in insist on blazers etc in the summer but do allow them to take them off in classrooms. Seems crazy seeing as I'm wearing sandels and a floaty summery cotton top. One rule I've never really understood.

DD's school and the two where I teach insist on blazers being worn. Pupils have to ask permission to remove them, and they MUST be worn to and from school. Cruel imho.

My daughter is about to move to a school where the uniform is only a sweater and a polo shirt with logo. A lot of parents will not buy the logo polo shirt so their children are effectively forced to wear the sweater all year or face detention.

My children have finished school for the summer, but in the last couple of weeks most of the children have been wearing shorts and t-shirts as it has been quite hot. Uniforms are seen as a strange English thing or for very posh schools (we are in Western Canada). My colleagues at work look as smart (or not) as my colleagues in the UK used to. In any case the majority of them are university educated, and coped just fine with a few years of wearing whatever they felt like and then adjusting to work. It's such a ridiculous argument (especially when applied to primary school children).

I am very very glad not to have to bother with uniform arguments!

I agree with you Nooka.

Lol at 'somerville house summer uniform' -- is that the equivalent of county jail orange do you think? i.e. a high vis colour to make escape impossible...

Schools who need to enforce a rigid uniform policy regardless of weather with no flexibility seem a little weak to me.

YANBU - being at an ambient temperature physically, enables me to work productively.

I googled 'somerville house summer uniform' and also saw the uniform for another school called St Aidans, Brisbane which has a very Enid Blyton looking uniform.

enews.staidans.qld.edu.au/school/enews_room/Lists/Photos/091310_0536_JuniorJotti2.jpg

The promotional video makes it look unbelievably idyllic there. I now want my dd to go there instead of to a local comp near Croydon!

I don't have any connection to the school by the way. As I said I live outside Croydon. (Riots, illegal rave, closed down Allders, veg markets etc)

They look like a group of newly arrived space aliens on their crop circle.

A niece of mine went to a school in Dublin where their uniform was like Madeline's.

I agree with you FrontForward. It begins to look like a case of rules for the sake of rules. That spells weak in my book, as well as unfocused, fearful of individuality, and joyless.

Why doesn't it come down to human rights? If a haulage company was found to be transporting cattle at high temperatures they would be fined.

Why should schools get away with ridiculousness like this I bet they aren't as rigid with their anti bullying policies.

When I started high school in 1984 (yes NINETEEN EIGHTY FOUR) my mum bought me the full school uniform.
But she didn't realise I also needed a PE uniform and at 11 years old neither did I.
Every PE lesson my teacher kept on and ON at me to get the correct uniform. But I didn't want to bother my mum with it She says my dad kept her short of money. So I left it and took the shit for it the PE teachers doled out to me every lesson. NOT ONCE did one of them try to speak to me on my own about why I didn't have the correct uniform. Just moaned constantly to me about it in front of the other kids.

And I was an overweight kid and was constantly bullied in PE by some of the other kids IN FRONT of these same teachers. They did NOTHING about it though. Priorities eh? Looks like not much has changed in thirty years.

I think the huge emphasis on conformity and uniformity by way of focus on uniforms actually encourages a bullying culture.

Wear them to and from school??? REALLY??? In this weather?

I grew up in Australia and we had to wear our (wool and satin lined) blazer when it was 43 degrees Celsius outside the school grounds. There were prefects and teachers who would give you a Saturday detention if you were caught without.

Didn't have to wear them in the classroom, however, classroom temps could reach 48 degrees in Summer.

Lived to tell the tale, though you could argue it wasn't strictly necessary - though character building...

OK, so I've only read the first and last pages but can we please please all rise up against this insanity!
I am a teacher and I hate the rigid adherence to uniform. I broadly accept it in principle for class reasons (all pupils looking the same so financial situation not obvious) but actually I don't care what they wear as long as they do the fucking work. It is such a waste of time and effort. The practical element is important too. Blazers aren't practical and ties are vile. Our pupils can take blazers off in this weather, in classrooms, after they have been given permission. If they run an errand or go to the loo, they have to put the ridiculous garment back on.
But if all you parents stop supporting uniform rules then we might regain some common-sense.

DS loves wearing his jumper and blazer and won't go to school without them. Same with his hoody. He looks like he will pass out through heat but still wears them.

Ds can take his blazer off during lessons all year round, but must wear it walking around school unless the outside temp is above 20'C for more than 2 hours.

DSS 2 gets a nose bleed whenever he's hot, which is every 5 mins ATM....can't wait to be able to challenge this when they complain about his nosebleeds, Mwahaha!

And all other rules at DSs school are very reasonable... I do wonder if it's because the HT is Australian and doesn't realise 25'C is hot.

Lynette then your HT is a prat. 25C in the UK is very, very different to 25C in Australia, because of the humidity. Someone - dare I say you? - should sit down and explain this to him.

Ds can take his blazer off during lessons all year round, but must wear it walking around school unless the outside temp is above 20'C for more than 2 hours.

So do the teachers take temperature measurements and announce when it has been 20'C for more than 2 hours so they can take it off?

Ahh St Aidens. Everyone used to laugh at their uniforms as the ribbon used to tie the neckline is a brown shoelace. Ahh youth.

As for hot weather. No schools really had air conditioning until the late 90's early 00's. You just put up with it. Biggest rule regarding uniforms then was 'no hat no play'.