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?

You picked the school and you need to abide by their rules and rules do change.

@HavelockVetinari

I'm a single parent carer income support to one with diagnosed profound special needs and one with medical needs. I dont have a huge income. Our school had higher than average FSM and SN.

Whatever the kids may think, Kickers and Dr Martens aren't about the brand. They are proper decent shoes generally recommended by physios and OT. They are about the only shoes that can take orthotics and frankly a hell of a lot cheaper than piedro boots. Kickers in some way are better, at a third of the price they are cheap.

Families pass the shoe down and and some people are able to make them work better financially than a cheap shoe because of the resale market.

I'm all for brand snobbery if it helps inclusion and is good for the physical well being of the child.

Will the school trousers not cover the heels ?

Your child won't be the only one, there will be plenty of children in the 'wrong' uniform. Especially the children on year 8 and above

I'd give your child a note or contact the school yourself and say your child is wearing these shoes as they were the only pair that were comfortable. End of story

What's wrong with Kickers? Is there a stigma around them I have missed?

Is it just the little green label?

OP yanbu.

@TheWholeJingbang

Who has the time to police this shit? Seriously!

Agree.

This is actual fucking fascism, based on a false premise, a lie, that to 'get on' in this world you must conform and dress like a 1950s commuter crossing London Bridge.

The most sucessful entrepreneurs of our age: Musk, Jobs, Branson, Bezos etc, seem to get by in their T-Shirts, chinos, jeans and trainers.

So the school had sent you the information in advance but you hadn’t read it. I don’t think you have much of an argument then

And why would you send your child to a new school setting them up for a fight with school?

Don’t most shoes have some sort of branding? It’s a bit silly, kickers are appropriate smart shoes for school. I would think this is more aimed towards trainers, as I know lots at my school try to get away with sending them in black Nike airforce/black Adidas trainers and insisting that they are black leather shoes and so are appropriate.

Never mind I miss read the OP. Doh.

You are still nbu OP.

Similar problem here...I bought ds14 done black air force ones at the end of last term. Since then, the school have banned trainers. I think, apart from them being made by nike, they are a sensible, sturdy, leather shoe that will have lasted him at least until xmas and then been passed down to ds11...School disagrees unfortunately

I'm always amazed how crazy the two tiered school system is.

We have three-tiered schools round here. Our first schools are quite informal (uniform encouraged but not mandatory). Middle school is a bit stricter and uniform mandatory but spec is like 'black school shoes'. High school is stricter again but only things like 'no trainers' and 'no excessive branding'.

Seems like primary schools are quite relaxed them when they go to secondary school they are suddenly wearing blazers and strict shoe policy.

I'd give your child a note or contact the school yourself and say your child is wearing these shoes as they were the only pair that were comfortable. End of story

Yeah... that won't be "end of story" at all.

We just cut the green and red tags off and blacked out the writing on the back with a marker.

This annoys me because a vast majority of parents buy Clarke’s shoes, which also have a labor and name on the soles etc - yet deemed acceptable

I wouldn’t worry about it I doubt they actually care

I think the teachers need reminding how much school has been missed since March 20 and then reminding some more about how the teaching unions influenced the failure to return summer 2020.

Small, minded pettiness that does nothing to engage respect for orofessionalism. Ask why in writing op, and why it was not easy to see on the website. "How does my son's shoes having "kickers" written on them orevent him from learning; in what way are they not sensible shoes; what is the fundamental difference between logo'd uniform and branded shoes; why, on that basis, should my ds miss more school than he has missed already due to Covid.

Copy to the Chair of Govs, Head of Education at your LA, and The Rt Hon Mr G Williamson, QC, MP. Wind them up and watch them go.

Of course it's probably not wise to do that unless you can chose to send him elsewhere but what a petty minded, misplaced, bloody fiasco that sums up everything that is wrong with the UK state education system.

My school has similar rules on uniform. shoes have to be plain black. That means literally. I would advise cut the coloured tags off and colour the other bits in with a black sharpie.
I will spend the first 2 days of the new school year phoning parents about 'incorrect' uniform and about 50% of them will argue with me and about 25% of them will shout and swear at me.
It doesnt affect learning but its the specific rules of the school. I would love to say to parents if you dont like the rules choose another school but we are not allowed!!

@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?

This is the post that made you unreasonable to me. Going back to change my vote.

@HavelockVetinari

The reason schools ban these shoes is that many families can't afford almost £70 for school shoes - secondary schools are the worst for brand snobbery, and I remember kids without the "right" shoes/coat/bag being teased constantly.

You can obviously afford them, but there'll be lots of families who can't. And a family who can afford £70 shoes that likely won't last a year due to puberty growth can afford to replace them with Clarks etc.

And yet millions of schools around the world manage to cope JUST fine.

It's only in the UK that we seem to explode when faced with people being different to us.

I think the teachers need reminding how much school has been missed since March 20 and then reminding some more about how the teaching unions influenced the failure to return summer 2020

I think the Head teacher sets school policies, the teachers are expected to implement them.

Don’t treat teachers like they’re the policies makers, speak to the right people!!

Why should I have to deface a brand new pair shoes

So your kid doesn’t get into trouble. It’s hardly ‘defacing’ them to cover the branding with a sharpie, is it?

Don’t think you’d find many secondary schools that would allow big red and green branding on the back of shoes.

The reason schools ban these shoes is that many families can't afford almost £70 for school shoes

Well how do schools reconcile that with putting on school trips costing close to £1k (example from older DCs school) which only the richer kids can go on * @HavelockVetinari* How does that make sense? A level playing field.

Considering the PE top alone at this state academy school is £25, I don’t really think they give much of a shit about the poorer families.

I don’t mind being that parent at all. I have lots of experience at it with an older SEN child who was totally failed by his secondary school and left with absolutely no qualifications or skills and can’t access education or employment now as he’s so disengaged. as they seem to put more effort into making up stupid rules than actually helping vulnerable kids who are bullied and who need extra support to get an education.

Obviously I will not let DS get in trouble so I’ll have to call them on Tuesday and ask them to explain this new rule with what I said above.

@mum11970

Don’t think you’d find many secondary schools that would allow big red and green branding on the back of shoes.

Almost all schools where I live seem to, many kids wear kickers every day. The ones I’ve had the branding is usually on the heel, not on the back of the shoe, so the child would have to lift their feet for it to be noticeable.

£68 shoes for school that will be outgrown/trashed in a year is exactly why schools do this.

It’s ridiculous and brands are a marketing nonsense. The school teach kids about sensible choices. Really tricky when parents are this obtuse.

I would email the school and ask for a copy of their uniform policy. If it includes the bit about no visible markings, ask when that was brought in and when the governing body discussed the changed.

If it was brought in very recently I think you have a case to ask them to remind it for the year since the cost to parents of replacing new shoes is prohibitive. Governors are obliged to consider the impact on parents of new uniform policy.

If it’s actually been around since before the start of the summer holidays I think you need to appeal to them because it wasn’t on the main uniform policy page.

I intensely dislike uniform, the stricter the more I dislike it, but that dislike isn’t a practical weapon in getting your own way. You may need to find a way to eat the cost and make an effort to read all the bits of information they’ve directed at you much more carefully as their communication is clearly not excellent.

If it was these shoes that you bought then I'm afraid I do think YABU as the red and green writing on the back is very clear on the website and black shoes is generally understood to meaning wholly black, not with flashes of other colours. Personally, I've never felt that the children I teach have been unable to learn because of the colour of their shoes but if the school uniform specifies black shoes then I'd expect parents not to spend £68 on shoes that have colourful branding across the back.

Are the shoes still unworn/unlabelled? I'd contact Kickers and request an exchange for a pair without the colourful branding. Lots of places are willing to exchange beyond 14 days.