School ban Canada goose coats

[Unicornandbows]

I feel slightly on the fence.. What do you think?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/16/schools-right-ban-pupils-wearing-designer-coats

Yep as others have said they’ll be fake more than likely, there was loads of fake Moncler about last year.

This is what school uniform is for. The clue is in the name:- uniform. Everyone the same regardless of parental wealth.

As a teacher I loathed mufti days. They highlighted the rich kids and made many children miserable. Parents were pressurised into buying things they couldn’t afford to save face for their kids when the deal was that they had already bought the expensive uniform. The discipline was always extremely difficult to maintain all day when the pupils were in their own fashion gear. Many, especially, girls, wore very inappropriate clothing for learning. The face of one kid who always forgot and wore uniform was excruciating.

I have nothing to say in favour of anything but practical, boring, sensible uniform appropriate for learning and a good, non fashion, uniform warm coat for keeping the cold and rain out. In fact, I would say it is the basis of a good school,

Well my sons went to a non-uniform school and because everybody wore what they wanted every day, it wasn't a big deal like it is on mufti days.

These parents should know that they're marking themselves out for all the wrong reasons.

We live in north west Canada. My kids coats are George from Walmart. Thick, warm, waterproof and replaceable. When it drops to -30 they layer the clothes underneath it. I am loling at British children in Canada Goose. My friends in Yellowknife (arctic circle -45) wear them. That's the level of weather they're for. We wore bobbly fleeces growing up in the UK. Anything else was too bulky and incovnenient to carry on the bus.

Ostentatious displays of wealth are a bit much

I used the phrase 'wealth shaming' to show the opposite side of the scales as the article is heavily based on affordability and how its unfair some pupils can't afford it.

Here is part of the article

the named brands are Canada Goose, Moncler and Pyrenex. It is not because kids are stupid, lose things or steal off each other (or that a big-ticket item more or less guarantees the worst possible result: mothers fighting in playgrounds). Rather, it is because of inequality. If some kids are walking around in £1,000 coats, those who cannot afford to “feel stigmatised, they feel left out, they feel inadequate”, says the school’s headteacher, Rebekah Phillips

I think and still stick to my initial thoughts of not banning specific brands but rather introduce blanket uniform if it's such an issue. Imagine the next brand being Gucci Vasace where does this end??

Imagine the next brand being Gucci Vasace where does this end??

Seriously! World gone mad!

It's not really about 'wealth shaming' (I don't think that actually exists) or actual, real inequality but more likely people taking on debt to create an illusion of wealth.

My oldest attends an ancient public school and the kids there wouldn't be able to pick this coat out of a lineup. Their fashion universe is non-existent.

Not read the full thread yet but just want to say, quite a few kids (primary and secondary) round my way have Canada goose coats. However I would hazard a guess 99% of them are fakes bought of that lady on the local Facebook selling page who sells them for £60. It’s the same with Ugg boots, they are very popular in DDs year group but again I would say most have the fake £30 pair that are regularly in the Facebook selling page. We live in an area that the vast majority of parents could not afford hundreds of pounds for coats and boots. (i.e High levels of unemployment/ high numbers of children in free school meals).

I can understand why the school would ban super expensive/ designer jackets but realistically should phase them out. If that happened where I lived then a large chunk of children would have no coat as the parents couldn’t afford to go out and buy more at the drop of a hat. The children that have these coats either have the fakes that would have been saved up for or designer but from a catalogue and probably still being paid for now if bought in August for school going back.

We had to abide by "You will wear school uniform with no additions"

This meant walking three miles to school from the station, wearing the school raincoat (grey, lovely!) over skirt shirt and jumper, with knee high socks. No exception.

Kids these days, they don't know they're born (and other such ridiculous phrases)

Dear God. If it ain’t the coats, it will be something else. You always know who the rich kids are. Ridiculous ban.

Seems like common sense to me to stop kids bringing expensive stuff into school. If you can afford something as ridiculously expensive as this you can afford to get a cheap coat for school.

I complied with school rules for unandorned black coat as part of uniform for one of mine. It wasn't worn, because no-one wears coats at that age! But then others that did wore all sorts, some bright red. I bought a plain black wool coat, very smart double breasted uniform type coat, still unworn.
It is the one s with a need to show off as if wealthy ime

As a few people have pointed out - the irony is that it's not the wealthy kids who wear designer stuff. It's the working class kids whose parents feel the need to demonstrate why, for goodness sake? that they can afford it. Utter madness.

I have nothing to say in favour of anything but practical, boring, sensible uniform appropriate for learning and a good, non fashion, uniform warm coat for keeping the cold and rain out. In fact, I would say it is the basis of a good school,

If your school was non uniform you would find that students turned up in weather appropriate clothes and that they would generally morph into one big, happy, jeans and t-shirt wearing family, with a few hoodies and cardigans and sweatshirts on cold days. In warmer weather you would see students in shorts and t-s.

You would also find that there is more to a good school than what meets the eye.

If some kids are walking around in £1,000 coats, those who cannot afford to “feel stigmatised, they feel left out, they feel inadequate”, says the school’s headteacher, Rebekah Phillips

I honestly can't understand the thought process behind this. It is the opposite of fighting materialism, and it does nothing to deal with the feelings.

The answer to students feeling inadequate is providing opportunities in school for students to excel, to feel they are a part of something greater than themselves. Not restricting the choices of others to protect feelings.

Honestly, if someone's sense of identity and self is so fragile they require expensive products to manage life then they have more issues than uniform rules

I think the opposite is true too. If someone's sense of identity and self is so fragile that they are upset by the sight of others wearing things they can't afford or their parents won't buy for them, then they have issues that tinkering with the externals won't solve, and so does their school.

mathanxiety my experience of non uniform is the same. Had kids in non uniform school for 8 years, including a teen girl. Jeans and t shirts/ jumpers. No angst over clothes, brands barely on the radar and certainly unimportant.

Uniform rules put a bright spotlight on any opportunities to wear anything different, whether a coat or bag or even socks, or on mufti days. Without the spotlight it's not a source of such great interest.

I am chuffed those brands are being banned, in fact, I would love to see all down-filled clothing banned! These feathers & down are ripped from the birds whilst they are still alive, sometimes their fragile skin is torn at the same time (so the pluckers sew it up with needle and cotton - no anaesthetic). Then, of course, there is the fur trim, gained by trapping coyotes..... just abhorrent! How anybody could wear clothing involving this cruelty is beyond me.
Anyway, probably not the angle anybody was looking for, but I try to speak for the voiceless when I can.

Four teens in no uniform schools. No drama. No one cares what they wear. It’s been below freezing for two weeks (we had a foot of snow in September) and ds still went to school without a coat today.
I wear mukluks and a down coat. I’d probably wear Canada goose if I could afford it, but I really can’t. For about a month each year when it’s -30/-40 you can hear manmade fibres literally crackle when you move. plus I fecking hate coyotes. I got chased down by one calling in the pack and have two scars from crawling through a barbed wire fence to get away. Their howling gives me the willies.

I wouldn’t contribute to animal cruelty at any cost, so man-made it is. The designers are slowly seeing sense and banning fur from their collections, slow and steady wins the race.

I heard this on the news like 2 days ago. This is the most controlling crap Ive heard. Do they wear the coats in the class. It so ignorant. I am not concerned with the next home to this extent. Are we going to tell wealthy people to share their money evenly throughout the world? Huh? How bout that. No, ok!

“You would also find that there is more to a good school than what meets the eye.”

Yes, I agree, there is more to a good school than meets the eye.

As a teacher I can see why as expensive coats cause a lot of issues. The biggest being of they get lost or stolen or damaged parents think the school should pay for them. Don’t send your child in in such a fancy coat. It does cause issues with bullying, no matter how people want to phrase it. ‘You can’t stop me doing what I want’ etc etc. But if schools have standard issue items these issues are eliminated.

Where did that 'what' come from....

It's funny reading the responses in this thread.

I'm local to this school, it is in a very, very poor area. I can promise you that the kids wearing the 'designer' gear are the kids whose parents are buying them are either doing it through ill gotten gains or they're fakes.

This isn't your standard comprehensive with a mix of kids. They'll all be from the local, shit, estate. I'm from similar stock before you bash me.

Round here, only the scalls wear such ridiculous things like Ralph Loren and Chanel. The rest of us are in Florence and Fred or H&M.

I know the area too NationalShiteDay and I agree that it’s likely that most of the coats will be fake. I think a lot of middle-class snobbery has been displayed on this thread. The likelihood is that these kids will be living in tough circumstances but their parents want them to have something nice to make them feel good about themselves. Sadly mumsnetters interpret this as gauche and tacky and all the other horrible words they’ve used to describe these kids and their parents.