Aibu-Allowing d's to wear knee high boots for school

[Shippers87]

Posting here for opinions as I'm annoyed at the attitude of the teachers at my dd's school.

She is 6 years old and we bought her some black flat boots that sit just under the knee for school on days where it is cold/wet/windy as frankly the Mary Jane style shoes that are normally sold for girls are not suitable for this weather.

School assistant has kept asking my dd where her shoes are and went on to say she can't wear her boots.

It does not say this in the school uniform rules. Nor are they not practical as she is comfier in them than normal school shoes.

So I said next time they ask for my dd to tell the teacher that I let her wear them.

They have now told her that she has to wear her pe pumps inside. Which has made her feel sad.

Can they do this ?

I know there is no legislation saying that UK school children have to wear uniform but I feel this is a bit petty seeing as in this day and age you can wear knee high boots in certain workplaces

I don't pick her up/drop her off due to working full time so am thinking of writing a letter as I am unable to speak to them after school

Lots of girls wear boots to school in winter here. There is a uniform but thankfully they can wear whatever footwear they want...runners, shoes and boots are all popular

Put her in trousers and job done ?

I have occasionally let my DD wear her boots to school on the coldest days. Never had an issue with it.

In fact her school often send out a message on days when the weather is bad to say they can wear any suitable footwear.

She does wear school shoes then. Say majority of the time and they are not a replacement.

On normal weatger days she has to wear her school shoes.. she is ridiculously girly and would not entertain wearing unisex or boy shoes.. I just feel I this modern day and age why this is such a big deal for teachers and schools when she is comfortable in them. Whatever happened to individuality ( within reason) and wearing what you feel comfortable in it doesn't affect her learning or distract her classmates so really cannot see the issue

Boots not allowed when my DD was in Primary. She needs to get changed when she gets there.

Ahh so the issue is that you won’t parent her and say “these are suitable school shoes for winter” and insist on them

There is a time and place to be girly. School isn’t it!

Boots are not appropriate school attire.

she is ridiculously girly and would not entertain wearing unisex or boy shoes..

It doesn’t matter what she would “entertain”. There is a dress code she needs to abide by and you need to ensure she follows it. Personal preference is wholly irrelevant.

This is ridiculous. Why is it always assumed that girls should put up with less practical and less comfortable clothes. Skirts instead of trousers, open topped shoes instead of closed top shoes, cardigans instead of jumpers. It’s Victorian and sexist.

Females also have a considerably lower core body temperature so should be able to wear whatever the hell they want if it keeps them warm and dry.

And for your school to pick on your 6 year old daughter instead of speaking to you is totally unreasonable. They can’t surely think that your daughter took herself off to the shops, bought the shoes and gets herself dressed without her parents knowing what she’s wearing every morning? Totally cruel.

Why are boots not allowed? I was always brought up to question things and if there is valid reason than that is fair enough

Sirzy has it right here.

Boots aren't shoes.

DD has a pair of DM's, sturdier shoes you'd struggle to find.

With respect, we don't know do we? Ask the school. Then you can decide if it's a valid reason or not.

But tbh, it's better just to comply with the regulations than cause a fuss for nothing isn't it? For your daughter, you may not have to see them every day but she does!

Lots of girls at both my dd's schools wear boots in the winter. Never been a problem, very normal.

It's not the uniform. Uniform means that they all dress the same for presentation reasons as well as practical reasons.

All DC at ds's school have to change into plimsolls inside. They have a large grass playground which is often muddy so it's to stop the floors getting wrecked and filthy rather than a uniform rule.

But you're not questioning her refusal to 'entertain' unisex shoes? Not that questioning of outdated gender norms?

My DD doesn't wears black trainer style shoes for school. On wet days we wear wellies to walk to school and then change. I agree girls' shoes tend to be far less practical than boys'. Kids should be running around at play time and need shoes which are practical for that. I wouldn't have thought knee high boots would be allowed though.

Why are boots not allowed? I was always brought up to question things and if there is valid reason than that is fair enough

It doesn’t matter. All you need to know is that they aren’t and if you don’t like it you switch schools; you don’t flout the uniform policy.

They don’t have to justify themselves to you. They have the choice to allow or disallow anything as part of their uniform policy, you have the choice of agreeing and following it, which you did when you signed her up at the school, or moving elsewhere.

Such nonsense. Why do schools waste time on this kind of thing. How on earth are a pair of comfy boots on a cold or wet day going to compromise her learning. I know half the posters here think anarchy will ensue as soon as one kid does something minutely different to the others or you'll get the "if you can't follow the rules don't send her to that school" brigade. It's weather/season appropriate footwear. What a first world problem. YANBU.

I’m a teacher. In every school I’ve been in, pupils change their outdoor shoes to indoor plimsolls when they go to the classroom. They then change into their outdoor shoes at break, lunch and home time. And I agree that what children wear makes no difference but they have to abide by the rules, just like they will when they have a job with a uniform policy.

I would imagine the reasons include : uncomfortable to sit cross legged on the carpet, the point of uniform is for children to look "unifrom" and these will make her stand out, nowhere to store during PE, DC finding them hard to put on and off... But essentially the school has imposed a fairly universal, reasonable rule. The more practical thing goes both ways as presumably she is wearing a skirt or no one would see her boots ...Surely that's less practical than trousers? So you're not really arguing for more practical options, or you'd be fine with any of the shoes suggested above.

There are loads of practical girls shoes

OP choose not to buy them

My DD has lace ups and sturdy leather shoes that were waterproof

Even now they were Doc Martins

Knee high boots maybe be practical outside but not inside. Schools are often hot stuffy places where small children are expected to sit on the floor cross legged on carpet (some of the time). I can't imagine it would be pleasant in knee high boots.

I'd get her to change when she gets to school. Our school always provided wellies for the littles ones for out door play. And would ask parent's of older children to bring them in when the weather was bad so they could still play out.

Boots are boots. Boots aren't shoes.

Simple.

Your daughter may initially be a bit irked about it but you are the parent and it's your place to buy her suitable shoes for school

As PP HAVE said, I can't imagine that wearing knee high boots is comfy when you're sat on the carpet

Meh my girls and all their friends have survived wearing boots every day of winter since year 1. They are now in year 6.