To think school uniform has had its day

[Grumpybutfunny]

Okay I'm northern like this poor kid, tho not that close to the Scottish border. Is it unreasonable to say, when schools start saying kids should wear an inappropriate coats, just because it is school uniform that its time for parents to fight back.

I've left for work at 7:30 and it has been minus 2-3 all week. When I'm scraping ice off the car, a kid shouldn't be walking to school in a summer fleece with a rain jacket over the top. I've been freezing in my duvet coat.

Uniforms were a great leveller, but in the age of social media they still see what kids are wearing outside of school or what car the parent does the school run in. Surely what's more important is that they are comfortable and warm.

www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/jesmond-park-academys-uniform-policy-26016890

Yeah because a polo shirt and sweatshirt is exactly the same as a military uniform

I think the 12 years learning to wear uniform is actually 12 years of actively learning to dress badly. To follow a set of uniform rules without considering what is appropriate. To wear ill-fitting, poor quality clothes which just need to be present to meet the uniform requirements. To not look after clothes as the only rule is that the uniform items are present.

It is no wonder that a lot of young people entering work dont know what to wear to dress appropriately. They have never had to give it any thought. I have seen so many young new starters turn up either dressed for the weekend or dressed for school.

No child should miss out on education because of their clothes, shoes or hair. It's ludicrous.

No child should be dressed inappropriately for the weather.

My uniform included a £60 blazer that you weren't allowed to forget but you also weren't allowed to wear indoors and was so thick it was really hard get a coat over.
You weren't allowed jumpers or tracksuit bottoms for PE until it was decreed cold enough but often this didn't happen until January. Although the woman who made the decision always wore thermal layers and a tracksuit.

I remember turning up at a big 4 Christmas event - back in the day when they all wore suits. The standard of casual wear was truly awful - it’s a hard thing to get right and it takes more practice than wearing a suit. It’s hard to take pride in a school uniform that looks so badly made.
At the end of lockdown - our school were still insisting the year 13 students wore business suits for the last 2 weeks they were asked to come back - no excuses were acceptable, if your child had grown out of their suit you had to buy a new one or apply to the school’s hardship fund. Hardly a good use of resources, who wants to go cap in hand to the school to say you can’t afford to buy a suit for your child to wear for 2 weeks, it was such a waste of money - such a daft approach - I’m afraid by the time my kids left school I had lost all respect for the HT and their daft rules, there must be more important things to focus on.

I'm no fan of nasty and uncomfortable polyester clothing.

Deciding what to wear in the morning is a basic life skill that kids should be learning.

School uniform isn't the issue. The issue is impractical uniform and strict rules.

@Blip it all ties in with the argument that 'uniform prepares you for the world of work'

Firstly, workplace dress codes are changing and becoming more relaxed.
Secondly, if you work in a uniformed environment, your employer will usually provide the uniform.
Thirdly, are British kids really so stupid compared to their peers in other countries that they need to spend 12 years learning how to dress appropriately for a given situation? I don't think they are.

I absolutely hate school uniforms and I have no idea why we love them so much in the UK,
Cheap polyester clothing that will end up in landfills for the next 200 years.

I also don’t get the argument that kids who can’t afford designer clothes will be bullied, My DD is 16 and she and all her friends love shopping in charity shops. And honestly kids know who’s family is poorer than them regardless of what clothes they are wearing.
When DC high school has a non uniform day most kids wear a hoodie and jeans, you get the odd one in a ridiculous outfit but most of the kids opt for comfort.

Sorry but that doesn't make sense are you saying you can't have empathy just because you can afford a £240 coat (Xmas present maybe). I read it as the school coat is too cold for the -2 temperature and is a struggle to afford at £56 for some parents. Better costs can be cheaper, his son has a better coat it just wasn't cheaper.

YANBU.

I consider myself lucky to be living in the US and no longer stuck dealing with this kind of nonsense.

Even when my DCs were in a uniform wearing primary, weather considerations came first. They wore suitable jackets in whatever colour they wanted or came in, and the DDs wore fleece pajama pants under their skirts outdoors.

In high school, teens here wear appropriate clothes for the weather. There's precious little fuss about style.

So if the school jacket is too cold and a £20 supermarket jacket is better why did that father put his son in a £240 one, why didn't he buy the £20 jacket if warmth is the only reason for not wearing the school one? I stand by what I say the man is a hypocrite

No just the worry about some nutter going to school with a gun. I'd rather deal with school uniform 'nonsense' any day.

@OoooohMatron or you could have what you'd get in places like Germany and the Netherlands - no uniform and also not nutjobs with guns to worry about. Amazing, isn't it?

Me too.

I don’t mind not having it in primary, it’s working well. But Ds has it in private which is fine by me and I prefer and sixth form Ds no uniform and he does spend money on clothes - which he earns.

I agree with you OP!
I’m European, we never wore uniforms, it’s so old school.
Also, schools here are so strict about it.
My DD was required to wear a uniform to pre-school/ nursery. One day she decided to wear a princes dress instead. There was no way of getting her into uniform that day, she chucked the biggest tantrum. I think it’s unreasonable to force it on 3-year olds!

Kids don't wear school coats on weekends, it was cold the kid went in wearing his weekend coat.

Are you suggesting he should have bought a third coat?

I also think kids should were padded, light coloured coats in the winter as easier to see in the dark as well as warmer. DD coat is white and is much safer.

Wear not were...

They would have to if that became a concrete part of their criteria and that were allowed no discretion on the matter. Schools couldn't logically object because it would be such an easy one to comply with.

they not that - and, for further clarity, by "they" I mean Ofsted.

None of which changes the fact that the school's position is ridiculous.

Why the fuck shouldn't he pay what he likes for the coat? Presumably he'd have bought a second coat anyway because the kid is never going to wear the school coat out of school, plus it's a useless coat. It's a reasonable bet that the North Face one is even warmer than the £20 one, which is a serious concern for a child with a history of medical problems that may be exacerbated by being cold.

Yes I see your point why the fuck shouldn't his son wear a £240 coat in front of his school pals whose parents can hardly afford to pay for the school one and if you read the article the school DOES allow pupils who have a letter from a medical professional to wear different clothing so why didn't he get a letter from those 'two medical professionals'

I absolutely agree OP. My kids spent their primary years in Denmark with no school uniform. There were no issues with brands and labels and most kids wore H&M or similar. They were all comfortable and able to dress appropriately for the season.
They have found it really hard to adjust to uniform even after 4 years in the UK. It is uncomfortable, ugly and expensive.
I don't understand why most of Europe manage without uniform while it is seen as so critically important here.

Uniform has become an article of faith within British education. It is used as shorthand for a very disciplined school.

Unfortunately it doesnt really work. Schools with poor discipline use strict school uniform rules as an easy way of excluding any pupils who dont conform. It isnt dealing with low level behaviour issues it is just pushing them out of the door.

Schools are also contradictory (a polite way of saying hypocritical). On the one hand uniform is allegedly used to conceal inequality of household income. On the other hand schools will promote expensive trips only open to those who can afford them.

In my view very strict school uniforms are introduced by head teachers who are essentially quite weak.