Parents of Y11 pupils, are you going to buy uniform for 8 March?

[SomewhereUpMyArse]

Our school has sent out a newsletter which amongst other things tells us to ensure pupils have uniform that fits for 8 March.

Now I did get some new trousers, shoes and shirts for ds2 back in September, he barely wore them due to isolating a couple of times (school instructed) and ofc hasn't since December. He's grown almost two inches since September and so the trousers now don't really fit and the shirts look a bit stupid. But do I really have to get a whole load of new kit for what will be at best eight weeks' wear after which he'll never put them on again? He is six foot 3 and a half so I have to buy men's clothing for him anyway, it isn't cheap and I'm literally buying it so he can go to school for eight weeks having missed about half a year altogether due to covid. It just seems stupid. What are others doing? YABU= suck it up buttercup, them's the rules. YANBU = send them in in joggers and bite me.

@SmileEachDay I completely agree. There are going to be enough big changes when schools open more widely without changing uniform.

A relaxed policy still has guidelines that need to be followed. If the socks weren't an issue, the anxiety would transfer elsewhere (speaking from experience!).

Herc yes uniform rules aren't the only issue with school related anxiety.
Perhaps schools (and the Dept of Education) should be spending more time looking at what the different causes are and how so many children could actually be helped rather than obsessing over clothing.

Ooh thanks for the reminder!! I doubt mine will fit into his trousers or shoes....
Our school will hopefully be relaxed about it as long as they wear black trousers/trainers

Well if they don't it won't matter detentions will just give more study time 😬😀

In other countries they don't have uniforms but you would have to buy all equipment including all exercise books/paper and textbooks. I know what I would prefer to buy ! A year's worth of uniform is a heck of a lot cheaper than a set of text books etc. each year

Tangled 's comment has just proved my point. Why should a child be punished by detention because they aren't wearing the correct clothing when there could be 101 reasons why a parent hasn't provided it.

Gin if covid has taught us anything surely it's that anything that a parent needs to provide for school and education a laptop, access to WiFi and being able to buy work books is a gazillion times more important than some trousers.

I doubt my twin yr11 DSs school uniform will fit when they try it on but I'll be buggered if I'm buying them any new stuff for just a few weeks. They can make do with their trousers 2 inches up their legs
I doubt they'll be the only ones.

be is a comfortable and safe environment
A big part of that is routine and familiarity.

The fear of getting 'into trouble' because they don't have socks in the correct shade of grey or whatever actually adds to levels of stress related school refusal and a complete fear of school and total rejection of education
If that’s the case then it’s not about the uniform, that’s a symptom of a wider SEMH picture which needs more targeted support.

(I am speaking from personal experience)

I’m sorry you - or your DC? - have had negative experiences at school. I hope it was resolved?

My experience is as a teacher and the DSLO so is perhaps different and a wider perspective than yours.

If you’re worried about a child being anxious about not having the right uniform, then clearly you’d be against sending them in in joggers, and advising them to buy new trousers.

Smile it's my child. It's an ongoing situation that is struggling to be sorted thanks to covid (the school are being fantastic but everything is s l o w and stop/start).
That's the thing - schools are for ALL children. All who have different needs, who all learn in different ways, have different interests and educational levels. But sadly the current system is set up as a one size fits all and simply doesn't work for 1000s of children.

It's just daft that schools are expecting uniform.

Two of the primaries and the high school here told parents not to buy specific uniform in the summer. They all said as long as kids had plain black/navy trousers (joggers/jeans/trousers) white top (t-shirt, shirt or polo) and a plain black, white or navy hoodie then it would be acceptable until Christmas because we didn't know how much time they'd be back in school. At Christmas they then said the same policy would apply until the summer. Only one school has stuck to uniform policy and it's one of a few things thats shown they're not particularly supportive of how hard a time families are having atm.

It's all very well saying that people would have to buy uniform at this point of the year anyway, but kids have worn their non-uniform clothes much more this year so the costs have been there for parents. Not to mention the difficulty in obtaining uniform items and the financial hardship so many people are facing.

nobile my child's issue with clothes is usually more to do with comfort. She would happily wear joggers and hoodies every single day. She likes the feel, the level of movement they provide. For her it's like being trapped in a circle - gets anxious about how the clothes feel but then gets anxious about being in trouble if she wears alternative so would wears the required stuff but is anxious about how it feels......

If they had been going all along had schools not been shut this half term, he still would have outgrown them and you would still have had the expense.

@SomewhereUpMyArse

Exactly. You can't do a wash every day. Probably cost as much as trousers. And teenage boys are filthy.

I was hoping someone would work out that midweek washing uniforms is no more economically sounds than buying 3 pairs of trousers.

In normal times you could try on uniform in shops, charity shops would be open, second hand uniform pool would be available. DS needs a new rugby top, the sleeves on his year 7 one are now 3/4 length. The second hand uniform pool did not respond to my email asking if they had one last year. It's not like normal times so 'you'd have had to buy it anyway so nothing has changed' doesn't really work.

But sadly the current system is set up as a one size fits all and simply doesn't work for 1000s of children.

But schools simply cannot be all things to all people.

Funny how everyone seems OK to source non school uniform that fits, yet when it comes to uniform it's impossible...

That's the thing - schools are for ALL children. All who have different needs, who all learn in different ways, have different interests and educational levels. But sadly the current system is set up as a one size fits all and simply doesn't work for 1000s of children

I wonder how much experience you’ve had of what schools do in order to cater for the widest possible number of children?

Absolutely, there is no way of individualising every last thing. And actually, part of being in a school community - especially at secondary level - is learning to develop coping mechanisms because society doesn’t individualise life.

Herc I never said it's impossible to source school uniform. For many it's the price. I could go to Primark (for example) at the beginning of the school year and buy 3 pairs of trackies, pile of t-shirts, couple of hoodies, pair of trainers, underwear and socks for about £50. This would last my daughter about 6 months until she outgrows it. £50 would not cover school uniform. £50 would be lucky to cover a blazer.
This is what I get so angry about when it comes to school uniform.

This is what I get so angry about when it comes to school uniform

I think that’s a different argument to this though. Personally I couldn’t give a stuff about uniform, but if you’re going to have one it has to be enforced - otherwise the message is that the smaller things don’t matter, and overall compliance and behaviour suffers massively. I’ve worked in schools where that has happened.

Smile I have had lots of experience - good and bad.
When you have a child with ASD and school anxiety and refusal you tend to get a pretty big view of what schools do (and don't do).

I am going to leave this thread now because I will just get more annoyed.
Bye all.

You can get blazers for £20ish, most of our kids have 2 in their life at the school. Some only 1.

It sounds like you've had a tricky experience maisie however it's very easy to say school should do xyz for your child without appreciating there is no funding and 29 other kids in the room. If 29 different sets of expectations were needed, the whole thing falls apart very quickly.

You can get blazers for £20ish That doesn't help if your school requires students to wear the logo one from the uniform supplier that costs £36 for children's sizes, more for adults'.

Kowari Have you written to the school/governors to ask them to sell badges separately you can sew on to any blazer?

Didn't know that was an option, in normal times you would be able to buy from the uniform pool. Other items required from the school supplier are tie £6, rugby shirt £24, shorts £9, games socks £9, so not just the blazer.