To think school uniform is a bunch of crap?

[Ahurricaneofjacarandas]

So to be clear, I don't think the principle of uniform itself is crap. However why are we allowing our primary aged kids especially to spend the majority of their childhood in such restrictive clothing?! It's almost always restrictive trousers/dresses at least and some in my area even proper shirts and ties. We have evidence in the importance of learning by moving in this age group. Most kids this age have a degree of sensory processing immaturity. Many even have spd and this is arguably discriminating against these kids. I do understand the importance of uniform and learning to adhere to uniform standards but can anyone give me a reason why the uniform isn't just a simple pair of leggings/joggers and a tshirt and hoodie? Maybe I've overlooked something but it seems to me it's entirely for the benefit of the school and their pockets not the children.. why do we accept this?

Erm children aren't paid to be at school. You wear the suit/uniform at work in order to get paid.
Besides that, a lot of offices don't have a dress code of suits these days. My husband wears jeans and T-shirts to the office!

I agree that office wear is more casual these days. I can't remember the last time I saw someone wearing a tie at work.

Yes that is the same as where I live. In fact great swathes of the world manage beautifully without school uniform, it is a bizarre British obsession

Perhaps they deal with the bullying? Instead of just constantly removing what they feel is the opportunity then realising that shock horror that bullies bully and if they'd dealt with it when they were younger they'd not still be dealing with it now.

I never had a uniform or a dress code at school and it was completely fine. It took away so many issues. Girls school uniform is nothing like work wear, unless you work in the porn industry.

Bloody secondary logoed PE kit. Looking for Summer kit for ds. (Yep two lots of logoed kit)

School coats sounds crazy. So when your DC loses their coat you have to search through lots of identical ones to find theirs!

Put the kids in overalls, color coded as to what year they are in, simple and effective.

No

Secondary school uniforms are enforcing the sort of dress code that very few adults abide by anymore. DH works in the city and the men all just wear smart trousers and shirts - no one wears ties or full suits anymore unless they have a very formal meeting or a job interview to attend.

My DD will find secondary school uniform very difficult, she's autistic with sensory issues and hates anything stiff and inflexible. She's going to really struggle with a blazer and tie. And i know at least one local school that doesn't allow boots, and that's all she wears, other than crocs in very hot weather. Why no boots FFS?! What's so wrong with kids having warm, dry feet?

The rest of the world must look on in bemusement as to why the U.K. dress their school children like bank managers from the 50s.

And that's the boys. Christ knows what girls uniforms are supposed to be about.

We’re in the U.K. but DT’s went to an international school with no uniform. They wore shorts and T-shirts in the warmer weather and jeans and hoodies the rest of the year. No bullying, time wasted or competition on what to wear.
It also saved money as they didn’t need separate clothes for school and out of school hours.

I agree with what @Veol says...the typical girls uniform for secondary of kilt style skirts etc has become (and infact has been for years) very much a sexual fetish thing. Why schools want their female pupils dressed like a porn stereotype I really don't know.

One thing I like about our primary school is that the uniform is very relaxed. Black bottoms / joggers/leggings white polo and choice of 5 different coloured school branded jumpers. (Red yellow, blue green or purple). Plus they wear trainers all the time ( hooray no more school shoes!) and no changing for pe ( change of clothes for forest school if wet)
They spend a lot of time outside and being active doing sport and forest school at all ages.

This is a very small under subscribed rural village school. I love that we dont have a seperate pe kit, that they are encouraged to be active throughout the day and wearing trainers all time is much easier. The secondary school here is a polo type one and although I had reservations when we moved here ( I went to a private school with a ridiculous uniform) it's actually great for my boys who play football every break and would trash a polyester blazer in about a week!

My 15 yo doesn't have to wear uniform - he is autistic and wouldn't be able to tolerate it, anyway. He wears jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie every day. All from Primark and H&M. It isn't a novelty like when schools have non uniform day.

School prepares us for work. At work we can't wear what we want.

@UndertheCedartree my almost 14 year old is autistic too. She has just started at a SEN School and today went in jeans, t-shirt and hoodie with (Primark) converse shoes.
She was up and dressed by 6am and made her own lunch. She has never done this. Ever. After years of anxiety based school refusal part of which was due to uniform and being out of school for months and months I want to cry with happiness.

School prepares us for work. At work we can't wear what we want.

The vast, vast majority don't wear anything remotely resembling a
school uniform for work. The idea that they prepare people for work is ludicrous.

@thebeespyjamas adults choose their jobs so can choose what they wear. Very few jobs actually require blazer/tie etc.
If an adult has an issue with a work uniform (allergic to the material, need to wear giant maternity trousers, has issues with the cold so needs a cardigan.....or whatever) they can talk to their managers and unless it is safety wear (ie steel boots) most managers are fine with it.

It's also got massively more formal in recent years. When my eldest started primary in 2007 it was polo shirts for everyone, but by the time she left they had to wear shirts and ties from Y1. Also blazers seem to be standard at all secondaries now, in a way that they certainly weren't when I was at school in the 80s and 90s.

I agree with you @TheKeatingFive

absolutely ludicrous notion that children should dress as small accountants. And besides, school is much more than preparation for work, it occurs during childhood. Why do we always have to push children to be mini adults? Let them be little and wear their own clothes. It’s hardly a big ask.

YABU

Anything that helps prevent a hierarchy based on perceived fashion sense and cost of clothes ( embarrassing and humiliating kids on lower incomes etc) is a good thing.

Also, comprehensive age kids can be poorly behaved outside the school premises due to showing off and peer pressure, and having them in uniform at least lets shopkeepers, bus drivers and the general public identify which school they are from .

I agree that some sort of fund should be available for low income families to afford them, and that they should all be of the same quality ( otherwise it's pointless, as school pupils will know who's got the budget line compared with the top of the range )

Lets also not go down that idiotic argument that the clothes you wear or the haircut you have don't affect your learning. Of course they don't. Uniform - including haircuts, make up etc - prepare kids for dress codes in the work place and prevent show offs and another layer of hierarchy.

Kids can be individuals outside school hours, in their own personal time.

schoolwearassociation.co.uk/the-benefits-of-school-specific-uniform/#:~:text=School%20uniform%20plays%20a%20key,the%20expectations%20of%20their%20peers.

Uniform is some sort of holy grail in the UK. I don't understand it. I grew up in the Netherlands where there's no school uniform and there wasn't a massive disastrous breakdown of law anud order. In fact the Netherlands rank above the UK in terms of educational outcomes. Yes, we had cliques based on fashion, but everyone found their tribe. Bullying took place because bullies will always bully, but my school was hard on it.

Many children across Europe and elsewhere don't wear uniform and yet manage to integrate into the world of work without needing to spend 12 years in blazers and ties. Are British kids really so different?

Because you're sending them to an institution that prepares them for uniformity; the 9-5, doing what you are told, being part of the workforce and removing individuality.

I'm not sure the Schoolwear association (whoever they are) are exactly an unbiased source here.

The rest of the world copes perfectly well without them