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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:
SomeDyke · 18/07/2017 18:08

"No changes of shoes allowed even if soaked
No pegs to hang clothes on to dry"
You see that is supposedly why at my school we had indoor shoes and outdoor shoes (although indoor shoes could be worn outdoors in the summer, probably provided we were past the equinox and irrespective of the actual temperature or level of precipitation.............(All of which makes me sound a bit Molesworth TBH, cue sound of 'Fairy Bells'......).

Italiangreyhound · 18/07/2017 18:14

Just a horrible idea to make kids wear a sign. Angry

treacletoffee23 · 18/07/2017 18:23

Notes in planners, messages home cannot be seen. It is a waste of time to continually deal with an issue which is solved by a colour on a lanyard.

SmileEachDay · 18/07/2017 19:49

Italian

Have you read the article? It's a lanyard - the students at the school have to wear an ID lanyard anyway. It's not some sort of giant placard. It means students who aren't in uniform don't get challenged by every staff member they pass.

kastiekastie · 18/07/2017 20:29

outrageous, disgusting, bullish behaviour

SmileEachDay · 18/07/2017 20:43

What is, Kastie?

Italiangreyhound · 18/07/2017 20:52

Smile "It's a lanyard - the students at the school have to wear an ID lanyard anyway. It's not some sort of giant placard."

Did I say it was a giant placard?

"It means students who aren't in uniform don't get challenged by every staff member they pass." Why would every single member of staff be charged with ensuring every single student is always in the correct uniform all the time. It's bullshit.

Yes, have a uniform. Yes enforce the uniform.

If the child is wearing the wrong clothes or heaven forbid the wrong colour headband (who knows what that might do) then the form tutor could deal with it surely. Maybe the kid's parents are not well off and have brought the wrong stuff because it is cheaper. Our school PE kit is massively over-priced! So the form tutor could know if the family have issues, like maybe a family member with cancer or whatever, and know to go easy on a kid in the wrong kind of shoes.

It is a 'sign' that is the purpose of it. To tell everyone 'hey this kid is in the wrong'. It's shocking and very sad in modern society to want to do anything to make kids embarrassed etc. Talk to them in private by someone who knows them and who they know.

And maybe deal with bullying or the massive amount of girls who are sexually harassing, in school. Maybe they could get a sign for the boys doing the harassing, 'stay away from me girls, I'm not safe to be around.' Then you would hear an outcry!

That last suggestion was not a genuine one.... although.....

Italiangreyhound · 18/07/2017 20:53

bought the wrong trousers....

ShovingLeopard · 18/07/2017 20:55

100% agree with Italian

SherbrookeFosterer · 18/07/2017 21:04

If that happened to any of my kids I am afraid I would encourage them to come up with some smart misbehaviour!

Whenever I hear about schools doing stupid things I wonder if the head teacher has actually had her or his own children.

SmileEachDay · 18/07/2017 21:05

why would every single member of staff..

Yes, have a uniform. Yes enforce the uniform.

Because one of the ways to enforce uniform is by all staff challenging incorrect uniform - otherwise you aren't enforcing it.

The uniform lanyard means staff know it's being dealt with, that a conversation has happened - otherwise how are you meant to know without stopping the child and saying "what's going on with you trainers, lovely?"

It's NOT to make kids feel embarrassed. Why would that be part of a school's decision.

SummerKelly · 18/07/2017 21:05

I might get DD one to wear around the house announcing that she has 24 hours to sort out tidying her bedroom out (sic). I'm starting to think we could have a whole collection. It could catch on!

DrHorribletookmycherry · 18/07/2017 21:13

The staff have to wear lanyards. The visitors have to wear them. It's a resource at hand for staff to communicate that child has already been reprimanded for breaking rules they signed along with their parents for a home/ school agreement.
If that child was reprimanded more than once no doubt these would be the EXACT SAME parents complaining. Because the rules are consistent but a number will always think they and their children are a special case because of x/y/z.

orlantina · 18/07/2017 21:28

A smart kid should just get a lanyard and wear it everyday. Then teachers would assume someone else is dealing with it and it's not their problem.

Do you think that would work?

OP posts:
UnaPalomaBlanca · 18/07/2017 21:28

It's not always the parents' fault. My son flouts the uniform rules on purpose. I provide him with the correct clothes yet he insists on pushing the boundaries with black trainers instead of shoes; black jeans instead of trousers. I'm pleased when he's caught. I would love him to be humiliated by wearing a sign... but he just gets a card to keep in his pocket and show other teachers if the issue arises.

SummerKelly · 18/07/2017 21:45

Teenagers are programmed to push boundaries and take risks, it's how they manage to separate from their parents and make their way in the world. As parents we know it's best to pick our battles around the important things and not create problems that we don't need to.

pointythings · 18/07/2017 22:03

orlantina as a parent I would be very hard pressed not to laugh if one of mine did that. But they don't have to, because our school doesn't have dumb uniform rules, just sensible ones.

StormFrontage · 18/07/2017 22:13

My DD would most likely have acquired a lanyard and substituted 'I have 24 hours to meet Dame Judy Dench' or some such.

user1496491861 · 18/07/2017 22:14

perhaps if all the uniform came from the same place instead of 5 different supermarkets!! or wherever in my day there was only one place we could get our uniform so we all had the same! there wasn't any choice

perhaps the school should think about that
all parents have different budgets -
I have bought crap cheap shoes for my kids as I couldn't afford anything else and yes they do fall apart and no its not always easy to get to the shops

we are living in different times - the school need to accept this

humiliation is cruel and does not work! it can ruin peoples lives have they thought about that - or is the shininess of the shoes more important !

I think what they are doing is shameful - blame the parents not the kids

StormFrontage · 18/07/2017 22:14

She's quite polite really. Sometimes.

StormFrontage · 18/07/2017 22:20

Also the secondary school bursary now per child per year is only £140 where I live, for the lowest income parents (e.g. a single parent with a child with disabilities, on income support) - to cover all required trips, all required extra books and materials, and ALL required uniform, at schools where the minimum required uniform costs over £200.

If you're a parent on carer's allowance and income support, it's impossible.

pointythings · 18/07/2017 22:28

I just had another thought.

If people want rules on school uniforms, let's have them. On a national level. Managed by the Department for Education.

We could start with something simple, like banning schools from rip-off single supplier deals. No longer uniform 'should' be affordable and'should' be available from a range of high street retailers - no, those become 'must'. Let's have maximum pricing for items of school clothing if schools want to go the single supplier route. Oh, so suppliers will go out of business? Well boo-fucking-hoo, they have been ripping families off for decades.

And sports kit? Let's do away with the fancy 'separate kit for every single sport' nonsense. Simple basic kit only, a set which will cover all sports, again subject to price limits.

Logos? Must either be part of the above mentioned reasonably priced kit, or must be supplied at cost as iron-on and/or sew on badges.

Hair bands, socks and other nonsense? Not allowed. If a student fiddles with hair bands, they get done for being disruptive. But no detentions for 'the wrong hair bands'.

So everyone will be wearing state mandated uniform. Nice and easy, no need for endless uniform policing at schools because the rules will be the same everywhere. Think schools, especially the kind of academies that pull this petty uniform nonsense, will like this? Of course not. Tough. If you're going to have an obsession with uniform, let's make it a national one.

UnaPalomaBlanca · 18/07/2017 23:00

Yes to pointythings

noblegiraffe · 18/07/2017 23:23

Show parents two sets of kids. One in a blazer and tie combo uniform and the other in a polo shirt and skinny jeans or a short tight skirt. Ask them which they think is likely to be the better school.

Parents tend to equate smart uniform with better school. But then whinge when the school actually enforces the rules!

If a school has uniform rules but doesn't enforce them, then why should the kids expect any different from the other rules?

AliceMum09 · 18/07/2017 23:46

The secondary school my son will go to in September doesn't have a uniform. I think part of the reasoning behind that is to avoid problems like this issue!

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