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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think that schoolchildren should not have to wear a sign saying they have 24hrs to get their uniform sorted?

384 replies

orlantina · 17/07/2017 15:33

www.theguardian.com/education/2017/jul/17/school-makes-pupils-wear-signs-if-uniform-doesnt-meet-standards

The idea being that by wearing a sign, it makes teachers aware that the pupil is aware of the issue and is going to get it sorted.

But I think that wearing a sign just also highlights issues and makes the pupils a potential target.

There are loads of reasons why a uniform might not be up to scratch in the morning. Not all of them are under the pupils' control.

OP posts:
Devilishpyjamas · 18/07/2017 09:57

Oh god lancellotie I'd be incandescent.

On a more minor note Ds2 walks 40 minutes to school in all weather. Finding a shoe that is acceptable to the school but sturdy/comfortable enough for that walk is tricky.

Ds3's school is like a breath of fresh air.

Pengggwn · 18/07/2017 10:01

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Lancelottie · 18/07/2017 10:11

No ta.

I'll stick to what I'm good at, while wishing the school would stick to their actual wording of 'plain flat black polishable' and fuming at the pointless waste of time that is shoe shopping, for just one more year.

Honestly, it's like trying to make 1200 kids all wear the same tooth brace.

Chapwithwings · 18/07/2017 10:14

Schools love to go in hard on areas that are easy to fix and demonstrate to OFSTED that they have discipline policies. Therefore you end up with a crackdown on uniform infractions and 'extreme' haircuts.

Trying to get them to deal with bullying or poor grades... hmmmmm, that's quite hard

Gileswithachainsaw · 18/07/2017 10:23

I think I was your dd lance

Shoe shopping tool hours. I have a high I step plus was under a physio. I have side feet to. So utbwasbt a case of grabbing a pair of Mary Janes and job done. Heel grips insoles you make it they tried it to get them to fit properly.

I had some god awful shoes that barely scraped through then and probably wouldn't now. It carried on to secondary school too. If have been fine with s one ankle boots/walking boots except of course girls weren't allowed trousers were they so until sixth form when suddenly trousers didn't cone with an asbo Hmm and I could hide boots under them, I wasted hours of my life and so did my parents on sodding shoes

Gileswithachainsaw · 18/07/2017 10:23

Wide feet

LittleIda · 18/07/2017 10:25

Lance - would Doc Martens shoes be any good? And for devilish too? Dd wears brogues for her 35 min walk up hill.

Gileswithachainsaw · 18/07/2017 10:25

It also wasn't possible to find shoes that fitted my insole things so I couldn't wear them

StormFrontage · 18/07/2017 10:27

I remember a head teacher at a massively improving urban comp in my area saying to me that he had better things to do than argue with pupils over uniform. Grades continued to rise throughout his tenure.

That was his leadership style. I happen to share it. Others don't.

wanderings · 18/07/2017 10:40

Oh, the irony of that lanyard containing a huge mistake! I had to look at it again to check that it wasn't serving a dual purpose: that it had been written by the child, who then had to display their mistake.

I'm curious: if a teacher decides to ignore a uniform infraction, does the teacher face "disciplinary action"? I'm not a school teacher, but I can't help wondering what I would do if I were. Ideally I'd want to be one of those teachers who couldn't care less about uniform, education is far more important, but I expect I'd have to enforce it, kids would see me as a soft touch, united front, Gove's legacy says so, yadda, yadda.

I don't mind uniform in principle, but when its technicalities become more important than education, something is not right.

ilovesushi · 18/07/2017 10:46

I'd be moving school sharpish. How utterly ridiculous.

Lancelottie · 18/07/2017 11:36

To be fair, our school does deal well with bullying and slipping grades (which is why I mostly love it). But DD's shoe style doesn't affect her grades or anyone else's.

(Thanks for the suggestion, LittleIda, but Docs are also specifically banned. Frankly, I'd be happier if the school did what my mother's v strict convent did, back in the day, and let them arrive in anything and then change into House Slippers from 9 till 3.)

LittleIda · 18/07/2017 11:56

Ahh ok. It does sound rather prescriptive. Ours just says Plain black sensible leather shoes (no logo), maximum 3cm inner edge of heel, no boots, no canvas shoes, no
trainer style shoes. DM shoes would probably be ok i should think as long as they were plain black all over.

NC4now · 18/07/2017 11:59

DS School has a card they get given for uniform report. That seems much more appropriate.

Devilishpyjamas · 18/07/2017 12:25

No DM's are banned at ds2's school. They would like the boys to wear those lace up office shoes with shiny soles that leak in two seconds. Useless for walking to school.

Lancelottie · 18/07/2017 12:33

Most school-approved footwear seems designed to reduce the child's movement. Maybe that's genuinely the plan?

SomeDyke · 18/07/2017 12:39

Just to point out, at Oxford when entering the examination schools, if you were wearing the wrong colour socks, so we heard, then one of the officials at the door would state that if you turned up in the afternoon wearing them, you would be refused entry.

And whilst I was at my graduation ceremony, a middle-aged chap was desperately changing his black bow tie for a white one, worried he had misunderstood the meaning of 'black tie', as opposed to 'white bow tie'. Oh, and let's not get started on the who can wear their 'mortarboard', and who has to use it as a pencil case..............

Which brings me to the main point. During school or university exams, we now have pretty stringent rules as regards what can be bought into the exam room as regards pencil cases, mobile phones, smart watches, random electronic devices etc etc. So, an ability to follow written rules and prescriptions however insane they may seem can sometimes be useful. If the rules are clearly stated, whether that is academic dress, what you should and shouldn't do in an exam room, or what you can and cannot take onto a plane or in your luggage, sometimes it just makes everyones life a bit easier if you just follow the rules......................

(Mind you, I still don't forgive the new and inexperienced teacher who gave me my one and only detention for not having my name tape sewn into my spare socks................)

Gileswithachainsaw · 18/07/2017 12:53

Most school-approved footwear seems designed to reduce the child's movement. Maybe that's genuinely the plan?

I've seen posts on MN before on on how children have got into trouble because they have 2 mile walks to school and regal shoes just aren't suitable and despite having shoes to change into they get into trouble befire even walking through the gates. Some teachers even go so far as driving round neighbourhoods to make sure blazers aren't removed and coats aren't put on over them.

And it never ceases to amaze me how blindly people will follow these rules no questions asked

Gileswithachainsaw · 18/07/2017 12:53

Regular shoes

Devilishpyjamas · 18/07/2017 13:19

Ha ha I was wondering what regal shoes were

Lancelottie · 18/07/2017 13:50

Happy to provide the right colour socks and the regulation or even regal form of pencil case.

But shoes need to fit. That seems to be the bit that gets forgotten.

Lancelottie · 18/07/2017 13:52

Regal shoes. Perfect.

to think that schoolchildren should not have to wear a sign saying they have 24hrs to get their uniform sorted?
Gileswithachainsaw · 18/07/2017 13:57

Not regulation colour barnacles though off to the wall of shame you go Wink

StormFrontage · 18/07/2017 17:09

Some if the rule enforcement is nuts. Some seems to be borderline cruel:

Wear blazers till you feel ill
Take coats off to show you have a blazer underneath, in the pissing rain
No changes of shoes allowed even if soaked
No pegs to hang clothes on to dry

pointythings · 18/07/2017 17:37

Storm it always makes me think that the British don't like children much. They may love their own, but they don't like children and teenagers as a species Which is really sad.

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