To ask what UK parents really think of school uniform

[longtimelurker101]

Relating to the thread on school uniform and hair dying. What do parents really think? Do you support the idea or would you prefer that schools across the U.K went non-uniform and had no rules regarding appearance?

It's not confirmation bias. It's rejection of all arguments and statements in favour of uniform. I disagree with all of them. I agree with the arguments against it. No need to suspect there is anything more to it.

That shoe thing is utter utter nonsense.

feet don't fit every kind if shoe. some if us as kids have feet that are a wider ir narrower or just dint feet the unsupportive expensive "school shoes"

restrictions on the red dot on the sole or a.logo on the back must make it sodding impossible for some.

40 quid + on sone of these things and they are barely fit fir purpose half the time

There's no need to spend £40+ plain black leather shoes when supermarkets such as ASDA sell them for £15 (and have cheaper non-leather ones).

But, yes, a very unusual sized/shaped foot is going to have trouble with any mass-produced shoe.

cheap shoes are a false economy though. I'd rather pay 40 quid upfront than replace cheaper shoes. m&s were awful and didn't fit dd and looked far cheaper than.the 25 quid they cost. plus you don't get half sizes witg supermarket brands.

cheap shoes are a false economy though. I'd rather pay 40 quid upfront than replace cheaper shoes.

Thats great if you can afford it but if you are on a low income and you can only afford £10 on a pair of shoes then cheap is better than nothing. I remember kids at school (I am 42) wearing canvas pumps all year round because their parents couldnt afford proper shoes. There wasnt the supermarket option then.

I'm on a low budget, I spend about £40 on their school shoes in sept and they last all year.

I did a bit of flounce last night, but I'm going to say that the shoe thing is ridiculous. Also if you're school.only has none provider they are in breach of dofe rules, complain! If your so against it all do something about it too, it might help your cause. Joffery I still think kids would talk more if kids were in their own clothes permanently, thereally used to be many more issues back in the 80s.

Anyway, actually math I think there are some good arguments for it, despite what you think, and it is just that what you think.

Happy Friday people, now if this overground train would move..

hownotto do your kids feet not grow in a year?! There is no way mine would be able to wear one pair of shoes for a year, they would not fit for that long.

I think the shoe thing depends on age or stage of puberty. A lot of girls feet don't grow after age 12ish. And boys will be a bit later but also stop. My two have size 11 feet but neither of them have changed shoe size in about 18 months. They are 15 and 14. They have continued to get taller but feet have stopped.

I think strict enforcement of uniform is a waste if time and ridiculous. We have a uniform which they have to wear but there are quarterly round ups to encourage any non compliance. No one cares if the top buttons are done if there are logos on shoes Tec. General compliance is enough. In England when my niece was there she got a note home for having a small white heart on her plain black socks. I feel to see how that affects anyone's learning.

my Dds have really slow growing feet. dd1 is 9 I sonetimes have to replace shoes on the same size. so they last month's at a time. if I multiply that time by the 4 weeks the last cheap ones lasted that's 60 quid on shoes plus the eventual 40. so that's q00 quid in 6 months on shoes vs 35-40

There are some nuts schools out there! Who has time to police that level?

Just as an interesting piece of information 57 % of USA publicso schools say that they have a strict dress code, while 19 % wear uniform.

cheap shoes are a false economy though. I'd rather pay 40 quid upfront than replace cheaper shoes.

Not in my experience. I have 2 dses and the Sports Direct ones last the same amount of time as Clarks because they play football on tarmac all day. I'd rather replace 10.00-15.00 shoes 3x per year than 40.00 shoes 3x per year. That's a massive difference.

Oh, and dd had Tesco ones this year which are still immaculate. We can afford Clarks, but I really don't see the point. They've just made a massive marketing stunt out of 'fitting' and 'quality' but mostly it is just that - marketing. Don't be fooled!

I am not fooled. however I've been through several years of school shoes and know which ones I'm I. pressed by and which ones I'm. not.

clarks are shit they don't even fit either of my Dds.

my vote at the moment goes to kickers. however they are more pricy but have appeared to be more durable

I used to really like some of the Next shoes/boots when mine were in primary, I've been impressed with the Kickers too which they both currently have in high school. However DS2s last pair were Clarks and they were honestly great - they were men's shoes bought in the sale though rather than kids. They cost me under £30 and lasted a full year and he is pretty hard on shoes. Also if their feet are still growing, decent leather ones do have a bit of give in them that cheaper hard leather or plastic doesn't. That can be a good or bad thing I suppose as they can become a bit "roomy" if they've worn thicker socks in the winter and then go to thinner in the summer - sometimes the thinner socks trick gets you through that last few weeks in the summer when you really don't want to buy new.

Bogey, the kid concerned is 15 and has had puberty but no growth spurt in terms of height or feet size... He has been a size 6 for over a year. He was born prematurely and has always been tiny. He is almost the smallest child in his year and the smaller kid I can think of, has some sort of medical condition...

My older sons are 6 foot 2 and were close to that by his age. His brother who hasn't yet hit puberty, is nearly 2 years younger and the same height/bigger feet, if that puts it in perspective.

In fact the tiny 15 year old's self esteem seems badly knocked by his lack of height. I forget all about it then when I see one of his mates, it's a shock that they look almost like grown men. So his ego and self-consciousness is already fragile. He really loved these shoes because they were this brand and because we can't afford much nice stuff - only got these because of Jan sale discounts. So this is a small thing that actually boosted his ego, and is important to him - even though myself, his dad, and his three older brothers don't give a toss about this kind of thing; to him it is very important.

I think this is why uniforms exacerbate the differences between kids, in fact, because the only areas left for self-expression are stuff like the coat, shoes, hair dos, which puts even more onus on those things.

My older sons were all immune to peer pressure and are truly happy to wear £5 Tescos jeans - apart from one who has (hilariously because at school he never gave a toss how he looked) become a Tumblr fashion icon - go figure - he even gets recognised by strangers on nights out, and all he posts about are his clothes/piercings.

Still awaiting The Phone Call.

I went to an all girls Grammar, our uniform had to come from the school suppliers and apart from the colour the actual shape of it wasn't too bad. Normal skirt (in school colour), v necked jumper (also in school colour) and a blouse (in the second school colour, from M&S I think). Black or skin colour tights, or socks above the ankle in black or the school colours until yr10 when we were allowed to go bare legged.
In my yr10 they finally allowed trousers (after years of parents and children asking) which were black and had to come from the school supplier, they looked like two sacks sewn together. No one wore them, a few people bought normal black trousers and were consistently given detentions for it. I remember two incidences of the whole class being made to kneel in the entrance hall and the teacher checking our skirt lengths with a yard stick, mine was too short and I was told to pull it down. Unfortunately I hadn't rolled mine up, I had simply reached the maximum skirt size (32 waist), and so my skirt sat higher than it should.

We were also forbidden ANY make up until yr10 when you could wear foundation, and clear mascara. No hair dye allowed at all. Clear nail varnish was allowed once your got to yr10.

Even when girls came in with dyed hair, we talked about it at form time/in the corridor and that was about it. No one cared. It doesn't change kids ability to work, nor do piercings for that matter.
I can understand having a school uniform but I don't think dictating people's hair and body modifications is appropriate or necessary. I don't see how it is anyone else's business.

What I would love is fir Dds to be able to wear their sturdy comfy weatherproof ankle boots in winter. supportive, and much more practical.

and trainers or nice light canvas shies in summer.

would he nice to get proper use out of all the shoes instead of them having to wear schopl shoes which really aren't the best all day yet still needing other shoes.

you end up spending far more on shoes you wouldn't give the time.of day too if it weren't fir school and the other shoes get less use out of them which is a waste

but hey, black shoes make all the difference don't they

at the last count in more than a third more were in favour than against

That's really interesting because it certainly doesn't reflect the split between uniform and non-uniform schools in this country where the vast vast majority have uniform.

I like uniform for reasons mentioned by pp - helps children feel a part of the school community, everyone looks more or less the same, no arguments in the morning, helps me get through working week more easily. However, no-one seems to realise that our children spend up to 70% of their waking hours every year in school uniform and less than a third in home clothes. More needs to be done to make school uniform more comfortable - take children with eczema for example - even the 100% cotton uniforms can aggravate the skin; what about children on the autistic spectrum who are affected by hypersensitivity to touch and HATE seams?

If a child is uncomfortable in their uniform, they are not going to get the most out of their school day. We need more choice so we can buy our uniform from any outlet to suit our own children's/families' needs. I like to buy expensive uniform because it works best for my child's skin, it lasts and I don't spend on home clothes unless I really have to. But I am lucky that our children's uniform requirements are quite simple, with no complicated logos needed on polos, shirts or trousers, which all go next to the skin. I feel that the education system really overreaches itself into family life and parental decisions sometimes.

What many schools in the US might call "strict" dress code is actually not very strict at all. Depending on the location, gang items, offensive slogans on t-shirts, showing underwear, those types of thing are forbidden. And the rules tend to be gender-neutral. And state schools that do have uniform tend to have things like polo shirts, shorts and trousers in a choice of prescribed colours; many allow dark jeans. Again gender neutral. And no blazers, no ties, liberal choice of footwear.

Yes, that's the other thing - having to waste money on school shoes that they wouldn't be seen dead in, out with their mates and are no use for football, etc. The 13 year old lives for football so he'd be happy in astros all day and TBH for the money, a decent pair of Adidas seem to be more hard-wearing and useful than a middling range pair of school shoes.

When my older kids went to college at 16, it was appreciably cheaper for us because no more school shoes and they got so much more value out of spending out the same or a little more, for something they loved, found comfortable and could wear all the time.

Interestingly, at ds1's old Junior school, they were always doing surveys with the parents about whether or not to have uniform. Every single year no uniform won. However, the head really wanted it, so he cleverly got the up and coming Y3 parents to petition for uniform and then introduced it just for that year group and future entry, and anyone else from the higher years could choose to wear it (absolutely no one did, not one person).

Seryph I went to a private girls school with very strict uniform requirements, every single item from the school shop (even the knickers and socks were meant to be uniform ones, although only new girls had them and they weren't worn - you had to have them for uniform checks though...)

The school colour was a very particular royal blue

I'll never forget the term when the school uniform list was re-printed and somebody made a typo -the "girls in the 5th form or above may die their hair in NATURAL colours only" was misprinted as "girls in the 5th and 6th form may dye their hair in SCHOOL COLOURS only"

A surprising number of 5th formers turned up on the first day of term with royal blue hair (and were promptly suspended!) :o

"That's really interesting because it certainly doesn't reflect the split between uniform and non-uniform schools in this country where the vast vast majority have uniform."

Out of 100 singlular posts ( so repeat posters and myself not included) it was 63 for 27 against.

I think it would also be interesting to see the primary/secondary split if we could break it down further, I certainly appreciated the uniform more in secondary both in my own experience and for my DCs.

Liberal: But its interesting that they have strict dress codes, there are lots of twitter feeds in the US that bring up cases from schools where people are sent home for violations etc. I'm not sure they all are that liberal in the same way that many schools are no where near as draconian on uniform as some of the examples here.

So here's a question: Are a lot of those that are anti-uniform in that mindset because of the poor way they were handled with it at school? It seems that many folk who are anti it have a bit of an issue with the way they were treated, and on the contrary many who are for it found uniform helpful or them in the past.