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

But kids who wear uniform also function perfectly well in school. Maybe in other countries kids are not as bothered about brand names etc I don't know. I remember at my non uniform primary school over 30 years ago getting the piss taken out of me for my crap trainers.

They don't necessarily function perfectly well. Every year there are horror stories of idiotic schools that won't allow children to take off their blazers without permission even during heatwaves, and teachers wasting bloody hours checking on whether children are wearing the right shoes and socks. If children want to take the piss out of each other, they will do it just as much because they are wearing clothes they have grown out of or are worn out.

That would be interesting about a group of parents! I can’t see ofsted taking it on or giving requires improvement if other aspects of the school are good.

I think business wear 6th form has always been ridiculous. The majority of those kids will go to university and slob around for 3 years. I honestly have never got the point.

Blazers are largely impractical especially when you have teachers making sweaty, smelly kids wear them in 30 degree heat.

I quite like our primary uniform but again think the lives of reception teachers would probably be much easier if they were sent in with clothes that didn’t have fiddly buttons etc. I have noticed a lot of the private schools near me seem to have tracksuits on the uniform for younger kids. They also have the super smart blazer but actually seem to be in the tracksuit more often than not. My children seem to manage fine in their own clothes at summer camps so not sure why it would be any different during the rest of the year.

Whilst uniform does mitigate the obvious differences, there are a million ways of getting it 'wrong' as a teen, in the eyes of the kids who will judge you.
Wrong way of doing your hair.
Wrong style of shoes.
Wrong bag.
Wrong trainers for PE. I'm still haunted by that one. No mum, Nicks are not the same as Nike and yes, I was crucified for wearing them.

Yeah but I’d rather my kid looked smart and it pleased no one than they looked like they were in a jogging suit 5 days a week. it always looks so scruffy.

My daughter loves her uniform so the generalisation that no one likes aspects of it is widely overstated.

I agree uniform should be more relaxed. My sons primary is trousers/shorts, polo shirt and a sweatshirt which is practical and cheap to buy. DDs secondary is very strict on blazers, ties etc and I do think a polo shirt/sweatshirt would be better.

Wtf? I was responding to someone who said the school has purchased the child's uniform...which is a good supply of clothing. The only difference is that it can only be worn on school days, which wouldn't be the case if there was no money.

I used to process all the PP payments, so I know it is spent on counselling, breakfast, activities...and clothing

No uniform*

I genuinely don't know what the schools are thinking saying kids have to wear black coats when it's often dark at 3pm! It's so stupid. The entire thing is stupid.

I grew up in a village and had two miles to walk to the bus stop, part way along a rough farm track. I spent so much time in trouble for wearing boots (especially in the winter) rather than the stupid flimsy ballet flats the school wanted the girls to wear. No amount of explaining that I couldn't physically get to school in said flats made any difference - the school suggested I could wear boots to the bus then change (and carry muddy boots around in my school bag, with my books, packed lunch, pe kit and everything else I needed.)

No wonder so many kids hate school! Let them wear comfortable, practical clothes.

I didn't, most because the tie was a sensory nightmare for me. I'm convinced I'd have done better in my exams if I'd been allowed to take them wearing clothing that I was comfortable in, not a horrible itchy wool skirt, shirt and tie.

I've already said I think ties and blazers are outdated. I still agree with a more relaxed uniform though.

I worked at JPA on supply a long, long time ago- back when it was called Heaton Manor. Ignore the pp saying it’s a wanky school. They’ve done a fantastic job of going from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’ in a very short space of time. It was an extremely challenging school and I’m really pleased to see the turnaround they’ve achieved.

I think the strict uniform policy was probably a part of this. Anyone who’s worked in an inadequate school will know the lengths it can take to establish student (and parent!) compliance in order to then go onto revalue academic expectations. It’s definitely an accumulation of behaviours and the smallest things do matter. I remember one headteacher who used to quote- ‘you give them an inch and they’ll take a mile’. Now they’ve brought the kids into line and established a strong ethos, perhaps they’ll be able to relax it a little? I do strongly agree that a thin fleece and raincoat is nowhere near enough for the weather up here!

Some schools need to take a long look at these policies they are enforcing. Teachers wearing warm coats taking a warm coat off a pupil who has been unwell enough to be hospitalised. Putting a child who is having chemo in isolation for having a shaved head - absolutely disgusting.

Our secondary school has strict uniform rules, blazer, skirt and pe kit all has to have the logo. I think someone priced the full uniform at £185 recently. This is in an average northern town with mixed incomes.

Having read the thread yesterday about the man dressing in girls school uniforms and hanging around outside schools I do think it’s time to change. As well as for the students comfort. A logo jumper and choice of joggers or smarter trousers would still be a school identifying uniform but would be both comfortable and difficult to sexualise by adults.

And sensible shoes or boots. No ballet flats in winter.

@EndersGame you do know it's not the teachers who make up uniform rules and fines for taking time off, right?

And ....Teachers are striking about conditions which will make life better for YOUR children.

Yes that’s what I meant. I’m not that close to scouts etc, but I meant like T-shirts, fleeces, cargo type trousers. Comfy and practical.

I'm in Ireland and my kids school uniform(secondary) is really relaxed. Trousers(no girls wear skirts even though you can, everyone wears trousers), polo shirt or shirt, jumper. Black trainers with no obvious branding and black or navy coat again no obvious branding, every kid pretty much without exception wears a black puffer jacket. Hair how you like, whatever colour you like, piercings or make up of you like.
For me it's a nice balance. They can still express themselves to a certain degree while being comfortable. They aren't all brand crazy though so don't really care what trainers or jacket they have.

I am a fan of uniform. In primary on non uniform days the clothes were frankly ridiculous, turning up in cycling shorts and crop tops in snow.

DD won’t wear a coat as there are no lockers anymore. The idea of carrying it puts her off. Hers is slightly flexible - but I hate blazers, they are ridiculous.

I have worked for a school trust that had that strict policy (including checking socks but I hear that’s been relaxed). I can see the benefit. Children would turn up in dirty/torn clothes and someone would just swop them without much of a fuss. Lots of the students/parents would have made non uniform an issue for sure.

See as a driver and teacher I think this is really dangerous unless the black coat has bright bits that are clear in headlights. It's OK again now but from November to last week kids will be travelling in the dark at least one way, where I live there are no pavements either.

I like a sensible school uniform. I'm not a fan of blazers and the wanky rules surrounding them and this school has obviously gone a step further but there is nothing wrong with a sensible school uniform.

I am really against uniform. Observed teachers getting at kids for their parent's choices. It seems to bring out the control freakery in teachers. It's expensive to have to buy your child clothes for school and clothes for home and they grow so quickly. It looks really horrible - all that poorly fitting polyester, I really don't understand the need to dress our kids like poorly paid office workers - even the teachers have a slacker dress code. And don't get me started on people thinking kids need to wear uniform for 12 years so they can learn how to wear uniform to work - really 12 years to learn something like that? How on earth do the kids in Europe and America manage it - brighter perhaps?

Most countries don't have school uniform and I wish they would scrap it in the UK. School is not a military academy.

All the arguments made for school uniform are clearly false given that other countries are managing fine without them.

I think a practical school uniform of trousers, a polo shirt and a sweatshirt at a reasonable price is fine. I like that it takes any thinking out of it in the morning.

Anything above this is excessive and not necessary IMO. Don't even get me started on blazers....

There was a different version of this story reported in other media and if its true the Father is a fucking hypocrite, in the other versions the North face jacket the boy was wearing £240 looking at their website I can well believe it yet he has the cheek to pretend he has empathy with struggling parents, why if there are parents at the school who are struggling to to even afford the school one does he send his son to school wearing a jacket they have no hope of being able to afford, and if they should be able to buy a £20 warmer jacket from a supermarket why isn't his son wearing a £20 jacket. from a supermarket instead of such an expensive one.