To think these socks are absolutely fine for school???

[owlah]

DS is in year 7 and needs grey socks for school. Boys have to wear trousers.

The bit of these that you can see are grey, only the toes and heel and very top are purple... The only reason it was spotted is because he hurt his foot on the stairs and took his shoe off when seeing school medical person, she ticked his uniform card for having incorrect uniform...

AIBU for thinking it's ridiculous?

They wouldn't be allowed at our school they have to be plain grey or black. They actually do a sock check when doing uniform checks weekly.

I worry a bit about a school that actually thinks it's worth spending their very limited funds on uniform cards.

YANBU - that is ridiculous. Who is the School Medical Person, OP? Are they support staff? Can they record on a uniform card, if not a teacher?

And with regards to bra colour - it is an issue. At my school, numerous girls, especially in the summer, where flourescent colour pink or orange bras and through their white shirts, it is totally inappropriate. They wear them to be noticed on purpose. Therefore, it is sensible to ask girls not to wear these.

They wouldn't be allowed at our school they have to be plain grey or black. They actually do a sock check when doing uniform checks weekly.

Gawd. They actually think it's worth spending good learning time on sock checks? When they put me in charge of Ofsted, I'm going to ordain that any school that does that must go straight into special measures.

That's a gate way sock. Before you know it he's wearing these as mix and match

You could take revenge and take action against the school for your sons injury on the stairs that resulted in the socks purple toe being identified! I am sure its a health and safety issue and needs putting in the accident book, if they are being bloody minded, resulting in a loss of a trip for a purple tip then so should you be but that's just me

Dd's school specify that any visible socks must be black, as must tights, but have no interest in coloured soles or bands around the top. Dd wears coloured soles to distinguish them from ds and ds's socks. Seems totally OTT to me.

Ah, this reminds me of the terrible day I got my one and only detention because I didn't have a name label stitched properly to my spare socks (kept in gym bag in case you got your feet wet -- not that they ever checked if they fitted, most people just had the same ones they had when they started, and never used them thereafter!).

Mind you, it did prepare me for wearing subfusc to exams at Oxford, where not having totally correct kit (like the wrong colour socks!), would usually get an 'excuse me sir/madam, but if you arrive this afternoon dressed like that, you won't be admitted' from the Bulldogs outside the examination schools.....................

Ha ha Middleclass. Next thing you know they'll be onto the harder stuff.

Any member of staff can't sign their card, unfortunately. Even the receptionists, etc... They have great job signing the children's who are late and have an untucked shirt, etc. just as they're signing in.

I can't see many children going on this trip!

*can

*joy

YANBU. FFS.
Is that all they've got to worry about. The colour of your ds socks.
I hope they're as quick to stamp out real problems eg bullying ect.

SomeDyke you went to Oxford, but could so easily have followed a different path to Wormwood Scrubs had the unlabelled spare socks in your bag gone unpunished.

Just pondering what the motivation is to do well for a child and their school team if they know they wont be able to participate if they win? I don't think the school have thought things through with that one

Good point, Itsnotwhatitseems. Also, presumably, once your uniform card is marked, you have less incentive to bother about uniform thereafter if you're going to be punished anyway.

YANBU.
This is ridiculous. One of my Ds's school were this ridiculous. Shoes had to be black and totally plain. No logo on the sole, the inner sole or sides (a feat damn near impossible) Shoes would even be inspected to see if you'd tried to cheat and buy ones with a logo tag and just cut it off. It caused so much of a backlash amongst parents and teachers who had better things to do than practically look at kids shoes with a magnifying glass that it was eventually dropped.
I truly believe it is done to foster the rules are rules mentality and prevent any further thought as to why the rules are there, who they benefit and question if they are fit for purpose. In short, it teaches people to stop thinking and abandon their sense of empathy.
Might seem a bit of an absurd leap, but when you widen the picture to see how many rules are being applied to schools, workplaces and the general populace, with so much rigidity, one begins to wonder what kind of society lies in wait for those in their teenage years.

*one of my ds's schools

I would go to school and ask to "inspect" all the male teachers socks and make sure that they are leading by example!!!

Generally I'm all for uniform being correct. But this is ridiculous.

A) the stripe isn't visible usually and it's small
And
B) he hurt himself and the medical person gave him a uniform violation over something so minor - what an uncaring person who must have such a shit life they enjoy ticking uniform cards. Wouldn't you just have ignored it if you were the medical bod?

Why do people conflate 'strict uniform' with 'high standards'? It's such a daft waste of time. I work at an independent school with the usual prescribed uniform. But when there are issues or infractions it's a quiet word, reminder to the parent and that's that.

No silly punishments or detentions. Urgh. I'm dreading my son starting secondary school and having all this shit to deal with.

Dolores - you are SO right.

That is flipping mental to call that a uniform violation. Does the school nurse get commission for every kid she stops going on school trips for spurious reasons?

I'm not one to go running the the school over every little thing, but I would definitely be calling them about this as he has been wearing them since September (?) without a single person realising, they were only noticed in unusual circumstances of being injured and having to take off his shoe. If it takes that to be noticeable then I don't see the problem with them

Oh for goodness sake. It's a smart sock. No one would bat an eyelid at someone wearing it with a business suit. It's hardly superheroes or neon polka dots.