AIBU to think that parents should buy the correct uniform and stop moaning

[Loveluck7]

I am getting increasingly irritated by people on FB moaning that their child's human rights have been violated because they were put into isolation for having the wrong uniform.

I understand that some rules can seem ridiculous but unfortunately some bad parents who have let their child wear spray on trousers and tiny skirts, have necessitated schools stipulating the exact items they need to wear.

Isolation does seem a harsh punishment when it is the parent's fault but how else can schools enforce the rules when some parent's think rules do not apply to them? The child cannot attend class without trousers and parent's would be angry if the child was sent home.

You also often find that it is these parent's who also complain when a school is no good at discipline, yet will not follow the rules themselves.

I would so pay money go see every parent at that scholl refuse expemsive

I fear this is a prime example of the "uniform chicken" game I referred to earlier there is literally nothing parents won't bend over backwards to do if a school asks.i have tonask what goes on on otherwise usually intelligent people's head when they blindly agree to this. It's like the tommyknockers or something

pingu and cosmic, I think you should make formal complaints to the LA. I think that what your schools are doing is actually quite abusive - punishing children because their parents have no money or because a mistake was made by their own supplier.What your children are learning from their school is that teachers are petty and unfair - it does no one any good for that to be the case. It isn't going to encourage respect for the school or staff.
While there will br some kids who really couldn't care less about isolation, there are others who would be very upset by it - this should be a sanction for genuinely bad behaviour, not because your shoes have a label!

Good luck pingu

I have no choice Giles. I'm not a catholic so my child can't go to the other near school.

Other than comply for the sake of DD, what choice do I have ? (genuine question, I'd welcome ideas I haven't thought of after 14 years of kids going through the school!)

It needs everyone.
It's shocking truly shocking.

Exactly giles. That is why parents do the newspaper articles - they feel as if there is nothing else they can do to make their point maybe. It is terrifying.

Aderyn
Thank you.
My son finished school today and called me at work begging me to ring school.
It was his first day back and he spent it in isolation because the exact same shoes he wore 8 weeks ago have a 2 mm lable that is not allowed now.
It broke my heart as he started the conversation with "mum I am sorry but this is going to cost you money"

I cannot express how shit I feel. I have let him down.
His first day in year 10 should not be spent in isolation. I failed and I an too poor to fix it.

Drives me mad, especially the ones who buy their children Nike or Adidas because they can't afford shoes, what the actual fuck???

Cosmic

If it's any consolation I feel the same. Although DD isn't in DT yet she will be come games day.

How long can a school keep a child in isolation for? I mean, what happens if a parent simply refuses to indulge this shit and has a child who doesn't give a rats arse about being in isolation?
Schools cannot deny a child their proper education. They barely have enough staff to teach classes, kids with additional needs are not always getting those needs met, so how do they propose to give isolated kids their legal entitlement of an education. I would imagine isolation is impossible to maintain, esp at gcse level.
Not to mention that you can't actually be in isolation if there are 70 kids with you!

Think this thread needs someone with expert legal knowledge perhaps?

I doubt even a private school would have a 110 pound blazer .

I'm not sure papers in this case would help as you can see few people take it seriously but there must be someone that these parents can write to or call that stops this nonsense

Oh good God Cosmic that is absolutely disgusting, your ds nor you should be made to feel so crap over a pair of shoes. How petty can they get and how stupid!!!!!!!!!!!

Giles I can assure you the blazer is £110 and it is a state school.

No-one ever quibbles over wearing a uniform to work so it could be viewed as good preparation.

Bollocks. Why on earth would you need preparation to wear a uniform? All those countries which have no uniform in schools clearly don't have a problem in getting people to wear uniform if they need to in adulthood.

cosmic you didn't let him down. His school did! To me this is bullying - if you treated your child like this you would have social services involvement, but somehow the school is allowed to bully kids.

Luckily he wasn't too upset Aderyn, but he said some of the younger ones were.

Thanks Giles.

Oh i believe you I just meant that even private schools probabky wouldn't charge that much and that is in a school people choose and sell kidneys to attend .

It's not even remotely in the sake ball park as a reasonable expense for a state school serving people of every financial background. He must he in breach of a gazillion laws

How long can a school keep a child in isolation for?

As long as they like.
My son was told today he is in iso until i buy new shoes.
I know of a pupil that spent 5 weeks of a 6 week term in iso last year that included 4 days a week in Dt.
This school is 4 years old brand spanking new multi million pound academy.

It's not Giles. It doesn't breach the guidance.

The blazer is only polyester too not even wool. And it's freezing in the winter and sweaty in the summer.

Government school uniform guidance:

"The School Admissions Code 2012, which is statutory guidance, states “Admission authorities must ensure that [...] policies around school uniform or school trips do not discourage parents from applying for a place for their child.” No school uniform should be so expensive as to leave pupils or their families feeling unable to apply to, or attend, a school of their choice, due to the cost of the uniform. School governing bodies should therefore give high priority to cost considerations. The governing body should be able to demonstrate how best value has been achieved and keep the cost of supplying the uniform under review.

When considering how the school uniform should be sourced, governing bodies should give highest priority to the consideration of cost and value for money for parents. The school uniform should be easily available for parents to purchase and schools should seek to select items that can be purchased cheaply, for example in a supermarket or other good value shop. Schools should keep compulsory branded items to a minimum and avoid specifying expensive items of uniform eg expensive outdoor coats.
Governing bodies should be able to demonstrate that they have obtained the best value for money from suppliers. Any savings negotiated with suppliers should be passed on to parents wherever possible. Schools should not enter into cash back arrangements. Exclusive single supplier contracts should be avoided unless regular tendering competitions are run where more than one supplier can compete for the contract and where best value for parents is secured.*

Schools insisting on £110 blazers are clearly in breach of this guidance. If they are doing so because they think it encourages good discipline, they are hardly setting the best example by disobeying the rules themselves.

Agree it's bullying by a jumped up person who is humiliating children

You cannot truly think that a Headteacher would make silly uniform rules for their own enjoyment? The policies have to be passed by the Governors and take a lot to implement. No Teacher or Head would go through all the pain of enforcing these policies for fun.
Explain this one from our last head then.
The usual shoe policy - no problem there, but the insistence that children must wear these shoes to and from school no matter what the weather. They were not allowed to wear boots and change them when they got to school. Instant detention if they were seen outside of school or arriving at school in their uniform but without the correct shoes.
The head had numerous complaints but refused to budge. Kids were falling over in the snow and ice, getting soaked in the rain - she did not care. Some kids walked miles from the neighbouring village.
Thankfully the new head changed that rule in her first year.

So how did they teach him? I wonder why his parents didn't challenge it formally.

I'd seriously question whether a school really can keep a child in isolation as long as they like. Children are entitled to full time education and the full national curriculum. The requirement to educate isn't fulfilled by things like dishing out endless worksheets. Even if they send a teacher in to work with the child, they're highly unlikely to be able to do things like science.

So how did they teach him? I wonder why his parents didn't challenge it formally.

Is this to me?