To ignore the head and send DS in summer uniform?

[SummerStresses]

Ever since my kids were small the schools summer uniform has been summer dresses for the girls. Shorts and school regulation polo for the boys.

DD has just told me it's changed and now boys in KS3 have to wear a shirt and tie all year round.

Girls are still allowed to wear summer dresses.

How can a 7 year old be expected to sit in a shirt and tie in this roasting heat right through to July?

They sell polo's upto 12 years but you aren't allowed to wear them?

AIBU to tell her DS is wearing the polo sold by THEIR office this summer.

At my sons secondary school they have to wear blazers in the summer too and can only take them off if given permission.

who decided it was a good idea to have young children running around playing with a noose around their neck

Omg. I have read some dramatic responses on mumsnet, but that take the biscuit. A noose 🤣🤣

It's not roasting hot here, and it won't be roasting hot most days between now and July.

Be grateful your uniforms are not designed by Burberry

A short sleeve cotton shirt will probably be more cooling than a polo shirt.
Many professional men wear shirts and ties throughout Summer....it's no big deal.

OP, not sure where you are, but today's the last day of the heatwave in most of the UK.

Many professional men wear shirts and ties throughout Summer....it's no big deal.

So? These are kids. They're going to be sitting in red hot classrooms, not air conditioned offices, and are going to want to be running round with their mates in the heat of the day. They don't need to be wearing a tie to school at 5.

Polo shirts are relatively recent as items of school uniform

They were my school uniform in the 70's and 80's - indeed by secondary school they'd removed any gendered uniform entirely, skirts were allowed for all.

Short sleeved shirts are fine, though, unlike polo shirts, often they need ironing, which is a nuisance. I prefer polo shirts. Ties, however, are pointless and should be got rid of in secondary as well as primary.

Uniform at many workplaces includes polo shirts or open collared shirts these days.

but today's the last day of the heatwave in most of the UK.

what heatwave?!?
It didn't rain and was gloriously sunny- but heatwave?

bridgetreilly it is never roasting even in the tropical parts of south London.

Make your point to the school by contacting the Head and perhaps the chair of governors, not by breaking the policy. You probably could argue it is unfair to those struggling with their gender identity, if you think that will help get the policy changed. The head might fear being branded as transphobic.

What is the girls uniform if they wear shorts instead of a dress? Can they wear a polo shirt, or an open collared shirt, or do they then have to wear a tie too?

what is so comfortable about polo shirts? Too thick for summer, too thin for winter, always look scruffy and wash terribly. Give me a shirt any day! The only reason Polo Shirts don‘t need ironing is that they look scruffy anyway. I rather have the choice of my kids looking presentable (thankfully we have shirts from summer term reception, and earlier if wanted - most kids never wear polo shirts except for PE)

Too thick for summer, too thin for winter, always look scruffy and wash terribly. Too thick for summer? Primary school children wear polo shirts in summer in Australia. Too thin for winter, when they are thicker than a shirt?

You can’t just go against rules just because you don’t like them. What kind of example does that set your children?

Maybe to not be a sheep and unquestioningly follow pointless rules?

I hate being told what to wear. I have not taken jobs before on the basis I would have to wear a suit. What's the point, when I just sit at a desk all day?

it is unfair to those struggling with their gender identity

don't give ideas to the professionally offended, but the solution is simple, impose shirts for anyone, they are just as appropriate for girls as they are for boys.

I don't know any men who wear a tie to work, I thought that was completely outdated.

DH works in very swish central London finance offices and no one wears a tie.

I hate being told what to wear. I have not taken jobs before on the basis I would have to wear a suit. What's the point, when I just sit at a desk all day?

then you don't take the job.
The OP is free to send her child to a different school.

Once you accept a job or a school place, you agree to -reasonable and legal - dress codes. If you disagree, you express your opinion, but you don't make your own rules. No one is forcing you to stay there if you are unhappy.

No way would I be sending my seven year old child to school in uncomfortable uniform regardless of anything. It's a state school fgs. They aren't going to kick you out.

I don't know any men who wear a tie to work, I thought that was completely outdated.

I work (not DH, me) in the city and none of the men around me doesn't wear a tie, with the exception of the catering and the facility department members.

Some businesses still wear tie, it's really not such an outrageous concept.

Usually women get the raw end of the deal with stupid clothes arbitrarily deemed presentable by society, but I have to admit that the tie is one of the most pointless things I can think of.

My DH always wears a suit, long sleeved shirt, and tie to work. No matter how hot or cold it is. Male teachers at my (Primary) school often wear shirt and tie (not suits though). Male teachers at DSs secondary do all wear jackets and ties.

Management where I work wear open collared shirts, I've never seen anyone in a tie. Children are not mini adults though, my DS is in year 8 and they still run around at lunchtimes.

Can’t he wear a short sleeved shirt with his tie (which is neither here nor there if it’s not too tight, won’t make him any hotter).