School has banned Kickers shoes! I have bought them for DS. AIBU to to let him wear them and start a fight with them if they try to sanction him?

[CarefulDriver]

DS is starting secondary school next week. The school uniform regulations on the school website dictate that they wear black shoes (no trainer like shoes). Fine.

I bought him a pair of Kickers as I wanted comfy shoes which will last him most of the year. I know from previous experience with DS1 and 2 that the ‘businessman’ style shoes don’t last if they’re playing footie at break! Most of the DCs at their school wore Kickers and so did they once I caught on.

Chatting to friend who’s DC is also going to the same school yesterday and apparently the school has banned shoes with visible branding on which Kickers have. This is not on the main school uniform webpage which is what I checked to get his uniform but on a sub page for new Yr7s which I had read but only skimmed over the uniform bit as assumed it was the same as the main page.

I spent £68 on shoes, which IMO are common school shoes, he may not now be able to wear. He won’t be wearing out of school either obviously! I got them online direct from Kickers with a 14 day return policy which has runout now.

WIBU to just send him in on his first day in them?

[lockdownmadnessdotcom]

@RosesAndHellebores

But industry/commerce doesn't need post 92 graduates who can think critically. It needs literate and numerate young people post GCSE or A'Level who may be able to develop critical thinking skills as they mature.

Disagree. Employers want it all now. They're not prepared to invest in people or training. If you don't have what they want from day one, they get rid of you or don't recruit you in the first place.

It could actually be a silver lining of Brexit/covid that they have to invest in training from now on because they can't just recruit from overseas.

[AO33]

First of all, the whether the rule has just been brought in or not, it is clearly a rule. You admitted you didn’t read the page fully so that is not the fault of the school.

The reasoning behind not having ‘branded’ footwear is so pupils who may not be able to afford shoes in the same price bracket are not left feeling left out. So rather than complain over your failure to read the uniform rules, consider the children who can’t afford the footwear and the reason behind the school having such rules. Good on the school for looking out for all pupils!!!

[Carrysymons]

YABU. Not the school's fault you failed to read the uniform information properly. Secondary school is not the same as Primary, follow the rules or choose a different school.

[Totallydefeated]

follow the rules or choose a different school.

Oh, all the readily available good schools with sensible uniform policies that magically all have place available at them?! You don’t live in the UK, do you?

[user1471447863]

@FrippEnos you seem to be conflating the terms 'works for' and 'employed by', someone can do the former without being the latter.
Your MP or local councillor works for you but again is not employed by you.
Your nitpicking is detracting from the point of the thread though.

@GivenchyDahhling yes i am aware that teachers also pay tax, i am also aware that some parents will not currently be paying any tax or have ever or be ever likely to contribute any. Just as some people will pay extremely large amounts of tax yet be childless.


Anyway schools efforts would be better spent looking for holes in children's shoes rather than visible branding or looking for the child who is wearing shoes 2 sizes too big as their parents won't be able to afford multiple pairs as they grow. Or maybe enforcing their bullying policies should children pick on others for not having the right brands, or maybe instilling in them earlier that bullying is completely unacceptable and just not done in this school? It might be a tad hypocritical for them to take that moral high ground though when they themselves bully and harass pupils over what they are wearing when this is outwith the childs control? no?

Most of the rest of the civilised world hasn't gone to pot any worse than us by letting children go to school wearing jeans and a hoodie or even a Kickers logo on their shoes.

[FrippEnos]

@user1471447863

Phrase it how you like but, teachers do not "work for you" in either context.

As for nitpicking detracting from the thread. don't post BS and you won't get picked up on it.

[spongedog]

@MadameMinimes

The idea that education is “dumbing down” is patently untrue.

My GCSE and A Level students are working to a much higher academic standard than was the case when I was at school. They work harder, spending far more hours studying than we did in the early “noughties”. The curriculum in my subject (history) is absolutely packed now, with some really challenging topics. I just don’t recognise this “dumbing down” that you talk about.

Offtopic. But I dont agree with you at all. I work in a school, non-teaching but invigilate - I have mostly invigilated Science and Maths GCSEs. They are Mickey Mouse in their simplicity. I am appalled. For total transparency, I do have a Maths degree and an associated professional qual - so I am "mathematical", but even so. I am shocked at how low the standard is. They are nothing like as complex as my O levels.

I can accept that these exams would be tricky for students whose grasp of English isnt good. But no wonder international companies (financial services, City) try to recruit international students (including Scottish) as a preference over English educated students.

[Volhhg]

Yeah send him in with them. Don't be a scared and blindly follow pointless rules, bad things can only come if this subservient fearful attitude. As if banning branded shoes or any uniform policy really does anything to address the extreme social inequalities in the UK? It doesn't even touch the sides and seems to me just a some kind of mindless control. I dread to think of the attitude of a head teacher of a secondary school who has the time to even think up this kind of rubbish

[Volhhg]

@mnistooaddictive

I’m a secondary teacher. We get forced to check shoes and get passive aggressive emails if a member of senior staff finds a member of our tutor group in the wrong shoes. For me it is the path of least resistance. I’m not getting down on my hands and knees to check but if I can see obvious logos as they walk in or when I’m stood at front of the class I will do something about it. If the locus can easily be seen from 2m away they will not be allowed.

Wow what an awful school culture for children to be educated in

[RampantIvy]

@Volhhg

Yeah send him in with them. Don't be a scared and blindly follow pointless rules, bad things can only come if this subservient fearful attitude. As if banning branded shoes or any uniform policy really does anything to address the extreme social inequalities in the UK? It doesn't even touch the sides and seems to me just a some kind of mindless control. I dread to think of the attitude of a head teacher of a secondary school who has the time to even think up this kind of rubbish

It's all very well being a confident adult to question silly rules, but for a nervous 11 year old being told off in front of everyone for wearing the wrong shoes it will be extremely nerve wracking and unpleasant.

[Lightisnotwhite]

@RosesAndHellebores

But industry/commerce doesn't need post 92 graduates who can think critically. It needs literate and numerate young people post GCSE or A'Level who may be able to develop critical thinking skills as they mature.

Do you think they might be children brought up in a regime they don’t agree with and decide clothes are a bollocks way to decide worth …..

or the be the system mums don’t agree with and feel forced to buy £68 shoes to kick off at the repressive state.

[whatbigfeet]

My 13 year old son has men's size 11 shoes. School don't want anything branded and I can really only get smart men's shoes. Last year the sole came off his first pair within two weeks as he was playing football at lunchtime. I've got to buy him some this week and have no idea what to get!!!!

[AO33]

The same shoes as last time and tell him to wear his trainers to play footy in.

[user1496146479]

@CarefulDriver

They have the name on the heel as well in big letters in bright green and red as well as the tag on the front though.

Why should I have to deface a brand new pair shoes just because of a stupid rule they’ve just brought in .

Kids have been wearing Kickers to school for years!

Why do we have to put up with this crap?

If they have that much colour, then they don't meet the criteria of being 'black' ....

[MadameMinimes]

@whatbigfeet What about these? www.treads-shoes.com/boys/school-shoes/turin

www.treads-shoes.com/boys/school-shoes/milan

@AO33 In a lot of schools they wouldn’t be allowed to change into trainers at break nowadays.

[AO33]

Find it hard to believe a school that allows football to be played at break would not allow a pupil to change their shoes into trainers! Even from a health and safety point of view (which I think is also ridiculous) they would have no leg to stand on of injured whilst playing in school shoes

[MadameMinimes]

@spongedog

1985 O level questions www.theguardian.com/education/gcses2000/story/0,,358622,00.html

2019 Higher Tier arkalexandra.org/sites/default/files/June%202019%20Higher%20Paper%201.pdf

[gogohm]

Was the same 10 years ago, no branding , no contrast stitching

[BaconMassive]

BREAKING: School has rules.

[RosesAndHellebores]

Can't see any Pythag, Trig, or Calculus on there @MadameMinimes but by 1985 I think it had gone to hell in a handcart anyway.

[bellamountain]

I absolutely detest the power teachers have over their pupils for wearing the wrong type of black shoe. It's ridiculous and makes zero sense. Not allowing the kids to express themselves in small ways or allowing them to feel comfortable is wrong. What difference do bloody Kickers make.

[NotTheGreatGatsy]

It always makes me smile when people say “how does their shoe type affect their learning?”

It doesn’t. Neither does it affect my ability to teach wearing fishing waders and a spinning bow tie.

This made me smile too because one of the best teachers I ever had used to wear a spinning bow tie.

[CatMandarin]

[wordsareveryunnecessary]

OP the shoes are smart and sensible. Cover up the label with a black permanent marker. That should resolve the issue

[wordsareveryunnecessary]

@whatbigfeet agrees. My DS is a size 10 men's. Managed to get some Clarks mens with a velcro fastening. They look fine but just won't withstand walking in bad weather. The kids are encouraged to walk but there are no tough school shoes in men's sizes. A lot of kids age 12+ need men's sized shoes