To think school uniform policy should be enforced?

[Runoverbyllamas]

Otherwise what’s the point?
Why bother to have a uniform, state it in detail online and in welcome packs, and then say nothing when kids aren’t wearing correct uniform?
We’re talking a state school with nothing needing to be logo, supermarket brands are fine and the colours are easily available.

A friend has had enough because she made sure her kids were dressed correctly and then others in the class were wearing leggings, trainers, wrong colours etc, and her kids were getting cross about it. On approaching the Head all she got was ‘be glad you can afford to get the correct uniform’. The kids who hadn’t were in premium brands ffs! Plus my friend actually saved to make sure she had the right things, she doesn’t have a lot of money to spare.
The school PTA also does preloved at very small cost to parents, so there’s just no excuse.
One of the more annoying parents of the kids in trainers told her that ‘PFB doesn’t like school shoes’ as if that’s a good enough reason.
This has been going on for at least a year now, and friend is getting more and more frustrated that nothing is being addressed.

AIBU?

Having these rules in place also helps DC to understand how to follow rules that they don’t necessarily like and is good discipline.

Children can and do learn that absolutely fine without uniforms. Forcing them to follow rules that have no logical justification doesn't help them to learn, if anything it encourages them to try to find ways round them.

Having a uniform makes everyone equal

Really, @chocolateorangeinhaler? Do you imagine that the pupils who have to wear shabby hand-downs because of the cost feel equal to the kids who get shiny new uniforms every year? Or the pupil with sensory problems who can't cope with a tie done up to the neck or stiff textiles?

And instead of going around the houses making every child in the country wear school uniform in an attempt to shove the problem under the carpet and make everyone “appear equal” - why don’t we focus on dealing with child poverty and focusing on teaching our kids to be kind on difference and not encouraging teachers to bully kids for not having the correct uniform.

@Naptimenow

And instead of going around the houses making every child in the country wear school uniform in an attempt to shove the problem under the carpet and make everyone “appear equal” - why don’t we focus on dealing with child poverty and focusing on teaching our kids to be kind on difference and not encouraging teachers to bully kids for not having the correct uniform.

That's the thing, isn't it? Uniform is a big cover up for socio-economic inequality - which is higher in the UK than it is in other western European countries. Instead of worshipping uniform and conformity, we should be getting angry about the levels of poverty that exist in the UK.

*That's the thing, isn't it? Uniform is a big cover up for socio-economic inequality - which is higher in the UK than it is in other western European countries.^

Is it really much of a cover up? This justification for uniform seems a bit of an afterthought. I first heard it at my grammar school (very expensive uniform) in the 1960s and it didn’t ring true then so it certainly doesn’t now. It pre-supposes pupils don’t see each other out of school, go to each other’s houses, or at least know where others live. I went to a very socially diverse primary school in west London and saw great opulence (state till 8 pupils) and corresponding squalor. Non-uniform school and this wasn’t necessarily reflected in pupils clothes as most were reasonably turned out. Except where clothes were somewhat threadbare but that would be just as likely with a uniform or not.

CecilyP you may be right, but there's an interesting correlation between the increase in inequality in the UK and the increase in the obsession with ever more logo covered private school wannabe style uniforms.

I spent a year at school in the UK in the late 70s and there was no uniform in my primary. Uniform in the secondary I might have gone to had my family stayed in the UK was pretty standard stuff, none of this obsession with logos, colours and so on. It seems to have got worse, and that deterioration has accelerated in the past 10 years.

Yes definitely think it’s got more extreme; more prescriptive. We had a rather distinctive blazer with embroidered badge, but one I’ve no idea where logoed everything started. Half the time they’d be covered up anyway. Private school wannabe really does sum it up.

I think the reason for having school logos on all uniform is quite clear. It minimises any designer items brought into school.

It also looks very smart imo with all DC dressed the same way.

The DCs’ schools all have compulsory logo coats, bags and PE kit etc- not a problem at all.

It also looks very smart imo with all DC dressed the same way.

Style over substance. Appearance over merit. The UK obsession in a nutshell.

Designer items will not be banished unless schools start demanding everyone wear the same shoes from the same supplier, use the same pencilcases and contents, the same backpacks, the same coats, scarves etc. No, this isn't me giving you ideas - this is me illustrating how stupidly controlling you'd have to be.

@pointythings

Actually the DC’s school do have compulsory logo backpacks, PE bags etc. Shoes can only come from an approved list.

Not a problem at all.

GreenLakes does your school have shoe exemptions for children whose feet do not fit the prescribed shoes?#

And all of this may not be a problem for your DC, but put yourself in the shoes of a family with multiple children at that school and not much money to go round. (Unless of course your DC's school is a private school, in which case you need to check your privilege).

@Jemand

Having these rules in place also helps DC to understand how to follow rules that they don’t necessarily like and is good discipline.

Children can and do learn that absolutely fine without uniforms. Forcing them to follow rules that have no logical justification doesn't help them to learn, if anything it encourages them to try to find ways round them.

Agreed. And of all the things I'm concerned with my children learning... following rules that have no explanation and not questioning that is not one of them

@GreenLakes

I think the reason for having school logos on all uniform is quite clear. It minimises any designer items brought into school.

It also looks very smart imo with all DC dressed the same way.

The DCs’ schools all have compulsory logo coats, bags and PE kit etc- not a problem at all.

What if a child’s family doesn’t have the money to pay for the logo-d items?

What if they’re too tall/short/underweight/overweight for the standardised uniform?

I think the reason for having school logos on all uniform is quite clear. It minimises any designer items brought into school.

It also looks very smart imo with all DC dressed the same way.

Not sure there is much difference between a logoed polo and a plain white one. Especially under a sweatshirt! And then there are those that are pristine and those that have obviously been washed with coloureds.

The DCs’ schools all have compulsory logo coats, bags and PE kit etc- not a problem at all.

Probably not a problem for you but it does imply extra unwelcome cost for many families.

My kids were introduced to logos via school uniform. Designer logos/school logos it's all bullshit branding. The reasons for school uniform on this thread change with the wind and one justification contradicts the next. It's all about faux private school branding, they don't look smart in their tatty polyester - ever driven past a group of school kids - they look scruffy as hell - they take no pride in looking good in their uniforms - why would they?

@Naptimenow

My kids were introduced to logos via school uniform. Designer logos/school logos it's all bullshit branding. The reasons for school uniform on this thread change with the wind and one justification contradicts the next. It's all about faux private school branding, they don't look smart in their tatty polyester - ever driven past a group of school kids - they look scruffy as hell - they take no pride in looking good in their uniforms - why would they?

One of the things I really liked to see when mine started 6th form was how comfortable they looked in their own skin - how at ease, how relaxed, how ready to focus on what mattered - learning. No estate agent wannabe 'tailored suits' - just a bunch of 16, 17 and 18 year olds being themselves. Contrast that with the uniformed kids that walked past my house every day - the difference was stark.