To think it's too cold for school uniform shorts?

[frostytimes]

Two DS's, both in nursery. Nursery have said summer uniform starting from today. Which means shorts for boys. U.K. based, feels a bit too cold to me!
But then again I thought, girls always wear dresses (though with tights I suppose).
AIBU to think it's too cold?

My ds is in shorts now. It’s around 18 degrees here by the middle of the day - warm enough for shorts.

Good for you; here the maximum temperature is 12C.

Yabu.Mine chose to wear shorts all year round. Children run around a lot, especially at that age.

Could you not pop them in long grey socks so their legs are covered? I'm sure little boys won't notice at all though!

DS wears shorts most of the year. We've got a pic of him in shorts on Xmas day! He's at secondary school now so has to wear trousers (much to his disappointment) but he puts shorts on as soon as he comes in from school and wears them for after school (outdoor) activities.

I assume the girls will now be in summer dresses, if the school has a strict uniform policy.

DS went to a pre-school attached to a private school. Their uniform policy for boys was shorts all year round until secondary school.

Our local secondary school added shorts to their uniform list. Some boys wore shorts all year all the way through to Y11

@Parker231 why did they need to wear shorts on “colder” days?! There are no days cold enough in this country that shorts aren’t an option. And of course parents can’t override uniform policy 🙄. If only we could!

I assume it's an independent school's nursery - did you know about the uniform requirements beforehand?

Fwiw my nephew, and also several boys and a couple of girls I teach, all chose to wear school shorts all year round.

My first question would be is, is the classroom warm? The local primary here continues to ventilate as before and I do wonder if the children have been warm enough. Being an independent, I imagine your ds’s school is fee paying, in which case it should be warm. But that would be my criterion tbh.

But presumably the op agreed to the school uniform rules signing them up?

Max temp here is around 11 degrees . I have bought school shorts for ds , but think it is too chilly for hime
to wear at the moment .

Schools are warm and he'll likely run about a lot at play etc so nice and warm! I'd say shorts are fine. Presumably they have quite long socks on offer, too? So not really much exposed to the elements? I've known a few boys stay in shorts year round from choice.

You get used to it; I was in a summer dress from the first day of summer term until October half term in the next academic year, always with socks (from choice) unless a blizzard blew in from the Urals, every school year from ages 4-16, despite it being optional. It was never unpleasant- you could wear a jumper or jacket and nude tights if needed and the school had heating. My mother wanted her moneys worth out of the uniform and I wanted out of my horrid kilt as soon as it was mild enough. Many others were similar. None of us froze or died- we were mostly indoors.

thank goodness DT’s went to a non uniform school where they could dress dependant upon the weather and not a ridiculous school rule which benefits no one.

Our uniform rules are girls in dresses after Easter and boys in shorts, until October half term. Totally normal here all the schools are the same.

Why do independent schools so often have archaic uniform rules (such as this one that you must wear summer uniform because it's "summer" regardless of temperature; see also complicated and uncomfortable items for 4 year olds)? Do any parents really want this?

Many independent schools are deliberately archaic, it is one of the appeals. Many of the parents who send their children there are drawn by the archaic rules/practices.

If an independent school was not 'different' in some way from a state school, how would they justify the rip off fees?

One near us has a very peculiar uniform - the parents want to dress their kids like twats because it shows the status they buying.

%Our uniform rules are girls in dresses after Easter and boys in shorts, until October half term. Totally normal here all the schools are the same.^

Weird! We’re not seeing many adult women in summer dresses at the moment!

It’s strange as Easter was pretty late this year so you’d expect the summer term to be a bit more summery than usual.

Yes - in my experience, parents do want it. A school with strict dress codes and other strictly enforced behaviour codes is part of the appeal for many people.

I went to an independent school with a fairly old fashioned uniform (ankle length kilts!) but we always laughed at the rival school who had the most hideous yellow and brown striped blazers

They were also pretty hot on what they considered anti-social behaviour and I know of more than one person expelled for smoking on school property as well as one girl who was "asked to leave" when it was revealed she was pregnant!

It'd probably be OK if the shorts were relatively long and were worn with a polo and jumper

My DD is year 6 and she wore knee length socks with her skirt right up till Christmas. It was absolutely freezing at that point and I had to plead with her to wear tights, she just hates tights but equally won’t wear trousers. She’s back to the socks now it’s getting slightly warmer. We’re in Yorkshire and it’s chilly in the morning but picks up by 10/11am, it was quite warm on the walk home from school yesterday.

I’d say your DS will probably be fine unless you’re walking miles to school in the morning when it’s only 4/5 degrees.

My 10 year old has never worn trousers to school - only shorts (and short sleeved polos/shirts) since he started nursery the week after his third birthday. I offered trousers to start with but haven’t actually bought them since reception. He wear long socks and a coat when it gets cold

Can you put him in thick knee length socks so at least its only really his knee that's bare?

Shorts and knee socks is warm.

Prep round here has that as winter uniform too (until 8+ when they go in to long trousers)

Shorts and knee length socks is warm

The prep near here has that as winter uniform too for boys until 8+ when they go in to long trousers

One of mine sons loves shorts. He’s choosing to wear them this week. He never seems to feel cold.

My other son hates shorts and wears trousers most of the time.

I just let them choose. They’re 9 and 7

DS has never worn school trousers as he prefers shorts. I used to buy him trousers and he would never wear them. We walk a mile to school in all weathers and he always has bare legs.