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?

I like uniform. At least the stuff that can be bought in supermarkets / M & S!

I like school uniform.

Hair dyeing? I don't see a problem with schools saying students can't dye their hair.

I like uniform. It looks smart, they are part of a school so wearing the uniform represents that. It takes away the pressure of wearing labels or expensive clothes if families can't afford them and cuts down on bullying. There's some evidence to suggest plain colours help children concentrate. PE kits are practical. Less fuss all round! Agree about making it more simple and students being able to take their Blazers off in the summer.

I like uniform, both as a pupil (as I wasn't interested in fashion and it meant I didn't have to think about what to wear) and as a parent (as I don't have to think much about what the DC wear). :)

For those saying you can still tell the difference between the haves and have nots, maybe you can, but you don't know whether the have nots are getting by on one set of uniform per week or five, and that would be even more marked if it was permanently mufti.

AppleSetsSail

I developed some sympathy for the argument that girls shouldn't have to wear a shapeless blazer for so much of their formative years in the other now-locked thread. I don't really see what the problem is if the uniform is aesthetically pleasing, which the blazers are typically not.

Happy with uniform.

Would far rather see parents getting vocal about the actual child's education and standards of teaching and how to address further education for our children.

I like it. Life would be a nightmare and very, very, expensive without.
It should be cheap and available on the high street.

I don't like uniforms. As adults, we have to conform so lets give our kids some freedom when young to make decisions about clothes, style and hair.

I like a uniform, my boys always look smart, but the restrictions for shoes is annoying. One week, black trainers are fine, the next they aren't. One week Astro turfs are ok, the next they aren't!! 😡

Uniform (I'm a teacher).
My daughter says non-school uniform days at her school are called 'judgement' days.
One of my pupil premium tutor group had a long chat with me over a (non school uniform day) lunch time. They said how much they enjoyed choosing their clothes for school that day and how it was nice to dress like the 'cool' kids. They also elaborated that it would be a nightmare for more than one day because their Mum couldn't afford to buy more clothes like they were wearing - they were their 'best' and most loved.

I'm not 'for' school uniform in terms of conformity and school rules - I just think it makes it easier for most parents.

I work in one of the strict high schools. I love uniform, everyone looks the same, non uniform days are talked about for weeks "what you wearing? "What is she wearing?" It's a nightmare

No uniform for my boys at secondary, but branded PE kit.

They don't wear expensive clothes, few people do brands and just seem to wear jeans, t-shirts and hoodies. No problem, one less expense and kids can wear what they feel comfortable in.

I like no uniform.

I loved uniform, but from my own personal experience as a child. We didnt have spare cash for whatever was fashionable, so my clothes were practical and hard wearing and often hand me downs from my older sister. I hated Mufti days, it was just another excuse to bully and make me feel excluded from my peers. In a uniform we were all the same.
I do agree they need to drop the expensive logo school shop stuff. and ridiculous rules, our uniform was navy skirt (of any style as long as it was on the knee, white blouse, and navy cardigan or jumper.

I like it. I don't have to think about what Dd is wearing, takes the stress out of it all.
But our school isn't that strict - polo shirt, grey dress/skirt/trousers, sweatshirt or cardigan in school colour which can be a school logo one but doesn't have to be.
It's the same sort of uniform I have to wear for my job!

From another perspective, I teach at a visitor attraction when school groups come. I hate it when kids aren't in uniform. I don't know the kids, I'm with them a max of two hours but most of that is out in a public area. If a kid wanders away from their adult it is so much harder to track them down, or if I see a kid wandering by themselves are they one of mine or not? (Yes, I have accosted random children whose parents turned out to be just a bit further down the path in the mistaken belief they were in my non-uniform group, and yes, when one child did a runner from his group his wearing uniform made it so much easier to put out a description and track him down - was returned inside 10 minutes. )

Mine are in primary and headteacher doesn't insist on logo. So a 5 pack of polo was £10 and as they are so cheap it's easy to replace when they look manly.

Same as trousers and dresses.

I like school uniform, it's a leveller as others have said, and while you can sometimes tell the difference between an Asda and a John Lewis set of school uniform (but not always, if the Asda one is well looked after and ironed compared to a JL version that's not) - a) neither is 'cool' or fashionable enough to it really matter, and b) even the 'expensive' version of school uniform is usually cheaper than buying 'normal' clothes from that shop - and nowhere near the price of 'labelled' casualwear.

But a lot of schools do have stupid uniforms that aren't practical and expensive and too restrictive. That's not a problem with uniforms as such, more how they are implimented.

I love school uniform as a parent. It's so much easier in the mornings, I think it looks smart and my DC's school has a very sensible policy which makes uniform cheap.

As a child I also loved school uniform as I dreaded casual dress days or trips as I never had the right clothes.

local secondary to my parents have made q sensible transition to a continuation of the primary uniform (deprived area). So now it's logo polo shirts and logo jumpers with any black trousers/skirts. Might not be super smart but all the kids look the same, logo stuff is reasonably priced with weekly/monthly put away schemes with suppliers to help parents budget.

My opinion worra?

As a parent I think it makes the mornings much easier, DDs 1 and 2 can take an absolute age to get ready of a morning when there is no school and it saves time. Both DDs have said that they like it, DD1 said when she was in year 13 that she'd have prefered to keep wearing uniform in the 6th form as she felt it had become a bit of a fashion pararde.

As an educator? I'd go with the Sutton Trust study that says that uniform doesn't really impact attainment, and I agree that people can still see who is rich and poor by looking at who has the uniform from John Lewis and who has ASDA, comparing phones etc. I'd also agree that it can have negative effects on students who "get done" for having minor infractions.

But then again, I have taught in the states too and with no uniform and the differences between the wealthy and not so wealthy kids is even more evident, and that there are bullying issues down to what kids wear.

There is also the fact that unifrom and appearance of students are closely associated with the quality of the school in the UK public perception.

More to follow later...

Primary uniform if worn should be joggers and a t shirt. Totally practical

I hate school uniform, my kids are primary aged so aren't bothered about their clothes, they just have to be practical and comfortable.
I didn't have uniform till high school and I hated it, what women wear ties ffs.
And I bet if kids wore non uniform every day they wouldn't be bothered either, even the teenage girls.

I don't see a problem with schools saying students can't dye their hair.

Because it's petty and authoritarian and not their hair?

OP you know my opinion, I'm against uniforms as having been to a sixth form without uniforms I can say in my experience it worked much better

My children wore the standard polo shirt/grey trousers/skirts primary uniform in the UK and no uniform ever since we moved to North America.

I used to be in the simple/practical/cheap and non ugly uniform is good camp, but it's actually been much easier as a parent since we dropped the uniform.

My children very quickly stopped being so interested in their clothes once they weren't forced to wear uniform 5 days a week. They tend to wear whatever is clean and works with the weather. dd is more fashion conscious I guess, she likes jeans or leggings, shorts in the summer (it gets very hot here) and t-shirts/overshirts.

Sure her outfits are fairly similar to many other girls, but in colours and styles she likes and suit her. She kicks back a bit about not being allowed to wear a beanie in class, and the time when she was told her top was too skimpy for PE when the boys were allowed to take their shirts off, but generally speaking we have no clothes related angst or rebellion here.

The idea of creating something for kids to rebel against is frankly bizarre. Would you do that at home with your own teenagers? Randomly invent some rule that you know they will kick back on, in the hope that they will then be compliant with something important? That makes absolutely zero sense to me. Arbitrary rules make children lose respect for you and be less likely to listen when you have important things to say. Teenagers aren't some sort of alien species who think in a different way to adults. If anything they are more concerned about justice and fairness, and more likely to get angry at stuff they consider to be some sort of authoritarian power trip. I sure know I felt like that in my teens!

Even at schools with strict uniform you can tell rich from poor. Maybe particularly because the uniforms can be very expensive. Rich have brand new pressed shiny uniform all year round, clean jumper every day, in the bin as soon as someone scribbles whiteboard pen on the cuff. Poor have either hand-me-downs/second-hand-sale, or three sizes too big so they can grow into it, few paint or marker stains, bit bobbly from lots of washing.

I don't like uniform. I like strict uniform even less - having attended schools like that and having the choice between being the only one dressed differently and horrible eczema from wearing polyester. Actually, at secondary i wasn't even offered a choice. Poly sports joggers were a particular torture.

I used to live in Germany, and the kids looked comfortable, colourful and sensibly dressed.

I love DDs uniform (primary).

Makes getting dressed so easy and quick in the morning, and I'm spending less on clothes than before she started school as she only needs a few outfits for after school/weekends. Her logo'd jumpers are £7 from school, that's a lot less than I'd spend on a decent jumper for non-school (you don't get a nice jumper in Next/M&S etc for £7 IME).

All her class look lovely in their uniforms (they don't have to wear a logo'd jumper but have to be in red jumpers/cardies). They look smart and cute.

I had uniform for primary and secondary. I was distinctly uncool at secondary school and uniform made this slightly less obvious. My out of school clothes were hideous hand-me-downs (we weren't poor just didn't have parents who were bothered about how I dressed). I hated non-uniform days/school trips as I always felt so self-conscious.

I like uniform, too. The stricter, the better.

'Poor have either hand-me-downs/second-hand-sale, or three sizes too big so they can grow into it, few paint or marker stains, bit bobbly from lots of washing.'

We're poor and that's not true. Our uniform can be bought in any shop.

I even like uniform for work. DH has strict uniform. Cheaper, easy to clean, get up and go.