to think that all UK secondary schools are like army camps?

[Ceci03]

So I'm trying to re-locate to the uk and have another job interview tomorrow. Looking at schools in the area though, I'm a bit concerned about all the rules and regulations they seem to have. They all seem to be extremely strict, what with uniform regulations, detentions, and a huge amount of rules. My ds /dd have been attending a fairly progressive (state) school in Ireland and I'm worried how they are going to cope with it all. Are all (state) schools in the uk like this. It sounds scary.

Only read your initial post, but my dc don't find their comp scary. They enjoy school. Providing they don't struggle to behave they won't have any issues. You can help them get organised and remember what they need.
The thing with uniform is that presuming you can afford to provide the uniform then it's not hard for them to stick to the uniform rules unless they don't want to. (I suppose some kids might have sensory issues but you'd need to discuss that with the school before sending them)

Blimey AngelasAshes I bet your kids were glad to leave that school!

My DDs secondary school recently got a new head teacher who instantly introduced a new uniform policy last year, which is much more strict than the previous one, and it has done nothing except incur more expense for parents when the previous uniform policy (shirt/tie/black trousers/skirt) was working fine. He also changed the tie and the school badge meaning all the branded items people had bought with the intention of passing down were obsolete.

This year we got a post on the PTA Facebook page halfway through the summer holidays informing us that S5 students were to have their blazers braided this year, which has just put an extra £20 on my budget I hadn’t accounted for.

Scottish schools are going to shit too.

Obviously all schools are different but my DS’s was more like a holiday camp, very few rules enforced, minimum homework (or at least minimum effort by my DS ), hardly ever heard of any detentions issued, uniform rules rarely enforced - all very easy going and far too laid back for my liking.

Children have so much mental pressure in their lives these days, throwing them into a fashion parade every day is just unnecessary. Uniforms makes things a little bit more relaxed in school, where they go to learn.

If they need 'express' their fashion sense they have plenty of opportunity to do it outside of school.

The UK has had to try to meet the challenge of diversity much more than many other countries where it is a fairly new concept. Uniform and rules are one way to band the school student population together and give everyone consistent treatment

Seriously. Going back 40 years things were a lot harder. I say bring back the old days and get some serious discipline in them

As far as I can tell very strict uniforms are either because the school is trying to ape private schools, many of which are far more causal, in fact, or to paper over the cracks of a load of other problems.

The schools that have confidence in themselves don’t seem so fussed.

DD is at a non-uniform primary and clothing is an absolute non-issue. But English people are obsessed by it, think it’s a cure for all schooling ills. It isn’t.

All my friends from other countries moaned about uniform at first and then fell in love with it!

Very few high-end, respectable jobs require uniforms.

No but a dress code is usual.

After looking around 3 secondary schools last year for my Year 6 foster son, I chose the strictest of the three because I liked the discipline there and am a firm believer that if you stop the little things happening it’s less likely that the big things will. The school also has the best exam results in the city; probably because the kids aren’t mucking about in lessons and are having to get their work done. I think school does need to be enjoyable but kids can’t enjoy it if they have to put up with teachers needing to deal with behaviour problems every lesson.

My DC like secondary. One of the reasons is that it's very strict, esp re low level disruption. Because everyone knows what the rules are (and that they'll be enforced) it's actually very calm and a good place to learn. And because it's very calm and the vast majority of kids dont take the piss, the teachers dont have to be punitive or shouty.

Actually they don't. Fashion and music are basically the only things that they can assert themselves as individuals. A lot of other things require being an adult and having own income.

Oh how sad you actually think that.