School should have optional school coat, fleeces and more

[Schooldinners1]

We are moving this summer to a new area so new schools.

Our current school has opinions of school branded cardigan, jumpers, fleeces, a school coat, backpack and other bits.

You can wear your own coat though that's fine.

The new school doesn't have all these options to make it “accessible for all” and you can also wear supermarket options.

Is it only me who finds it really smart to have all the matching options, I love my kids in them currently. I don't know why they can't just start making them for those of us happy to purchase these.

I saw they currently have the fleeces for teachers and their staff. Surely they can make miniature versions for the kids.

They're not compulsory to buy but parents can if they want. Those who don't want to/struggle to afford aren't required.

As for ‘it costs less than designer wear’…well, neither of my DSs wear it (DS1 is autistic and considers it ‘a waste of money, they’re just showing off’ (I have told him to keep this opinion firmly to himself) and DS2 is far too little (7) for it to be on his radar). They’re both currently in the garden in supermarket shorts and T-shirts and I wish they could dress like this every day.

I don’t mind a uniform. Our primary school is fairly lax. Most parents stop buying school jumpers / fleeces around p.2 as they never seem to come home. It’s less painful if it’s from Tesco. There’s always loads of spare uniform on the help yourself table at school events. Eco friendly to reuse etc.

The person who thought white polo shirts were a good idea should be shot though. Always horribly stained. I gave up and started buying them in the same colour as the school jumper.

All it does is add extra pressure to parents to pay for things they don’t need.

and having all children in school having the same coat is a pain for staff trying to reunite the right cost with the right child when half don’t have names in!

@Schooldinners1 you would weep for joy at DDs uniform: check skirt, mandatory house wool jumper, mandatory school coat.
All yours for £600.............and that's the reason why state schools don't mandate!
The school coat itself is over £60, that isn't affordable for many families.

Our state infants has all of those as options.
You can buy branded Ines from the online uniform supplies or children can wear non branded uniform. We have a complete mix, as well as a handful who never wear uniform at all, they don't even follow the colour dress code let alone uniform items.

Erm if the other kids aren't wearing them don't make your kids wear them!

Sounds like ours, totally mixed, pretty laid back, kids coming in in all sorts of jackets and trainers so nothing is enforced strictly and no snobbery when it comes to the uniform 😄. Think it's fantastic.

And how are checked skirts and pinafores (are we still in the 1900’s!) practical for racing around the playground, playing football or doing handstands let alone comfortable for sitting in lessons all day?

Wearing a dress and/or skirt never prevented dd from doing any of those things. As an adult I find a dress much more comfortable than trousers, so not sure why they'd be less comfortable for sitting in lesson. 🤷‍♀️

At my school the children can wear trousers, shorts, leggings, skirts, culottes, pinafores, dresses - and there is now a play suit option I've seen some girls wearing. None of those are branded items - all available in plain or checked in a range of schools from most supermarkets.
The girls at my school mostly opt for the dresses or play suits in the summer, all entirely optional. They could wear trousers, shorts or leggings if they prefer. It's not once stopped any of them racing around manically at playtime or spinning round the bars, climbing the climbing wall, using the climbing frames, hanging upside down from the wooden rungs, etc.

Most schools don't enforced a gendered uniform now, it's all unisex.

Skirts are an option for girls, or pinafores and even shorts and leggings.

It's good to have the choice as all kids have their preference of what's comfortable.

I know my daughter was happy in jumpers and leggings, her mum on the other hand liked cardigans and pinafores.

So we would always mix it up depending on the weather.

YABU

Our HT when she took the job said one of the biggest bug bears of when her children where at primary school was the pressure to buy logoed everything or to buy everything from the uniform shop.

She ditched logoed items completely from our school apart from on school trips and then it's just a logoed jumper (although if children have the old logoed cardigans we accept those on trips to) the uniform shop literally just sells a jumper for our school now.

Yep-nothing better than outward markers of economic status.

I don’t understand at all really, I don’t think I know a single person who has to dress that smartly for work as an adult. I am still 😵‍💫 about ‘having’ to wear our school blazers to and from school in scorching summers… we didn’t , no one past the school gates made us, no one cared but the line was that we’re ‘representing the school’. Anyway, already dreading if my kids’ secondary is the same 😄

Also you’re obviously not worried about the uniformity side of things as you don’t mind if all the kids don’t match.

So I don’t get it! 😄

DC primary has logo sweaters/cardigans.

All they ask otherwise is children are in grey trousers/pinafore/skirt/shorts or girls can wear checked dress in school colours.

On none uniform days it is easy to see who are more well off then others. Luckily majority of pupils are inclusive and understanding of others.

I prefer uniform for this reason however none branded makes it more accessible to all.

Shirts with logos for my DS's school cost around £12.50 minimum, whereas I can get the same ones without a logo in supermarkets for around £5. You can't see the logo when they wear a fleece, so the matchy-matchy stuff doesn't work. I really don't understand what you like about that system.

Surely this is what most schools do.

Our last primary was a mix of logo and non jumpers and cardigans. Polos were available but very few wore them. Current primary the majority are in logo'd cardigans/ jumpers and polos but it is a less standard colour and the uniform shop is very reasonable. There is also a weekly uniform 2nd hand shop.

I am also fortunate that the secondary only has the blazer, jumper, tie and pe shirt that are compulsory, anything else is just standard supermarket items.

I'm ASD so maybe it makes things easier for me in some way. I like it all matching, planned and organised 😂

So we have the school clothes and other clothes for the rest of the time.

It is highly likely that your child having their own logoised fleece when no other child does will lead to bullying. Kids have the brands because they are "cool" the school logo - when no one else has it, is not "cool" and I can't believe you would do this to your daughter

I am for generic items that can be bought at a range of places, and that the options include trousers for all.

I wonder if those who want to have a stricter school uniform don't dress smartly themselves. As the vast majority of adults in the UK don't.

@WhiteFire - I wonder why schools decided on blazers? They serve no purpose - the children look ridiculous in them (who wants to look like a mini Jacob Rees-Mogg!) and they are usually uncomfortable fabric. Some schools have draconian rules whereby children have to ask permission to take them off regardless of whether they are hot or not.

I didn't see any bullying in the current school over wearing school branding things which are optional, which less children did. Don't know about where you live.

Dont think I have seen a poster overuse the word cute so much before 🤦🏻‍♀️

Surely you can understand that even though a school coat might "only" be £25, some people cant afford to buy both a coat for school and a coat for outside every year. It is much more important to be inclusive than "cute".

And once again you miss your privilege - not all families can afford two sets of clothes never mind branded which limits use.

You have ignored every single poster who is saying WHY schools don't (and shouldn't) offer these things.

You're very goady.

That’s what name labels are for. Everyone at my daughter’s school has the same book bag and coat and mix ups are relatively rare.

I’ll have to take your word on that as I’ve no experience of attending/having my kids attend a school with no mandated uniform at all, but I have to say that knowing how teens and tweens behave I’m sceptical.

Anyway, I don’t think OP’s suggestion is that ridiculous - my kids’ school (state primary) has an optional branded fleece. Some kids wear it, some don’t (mine don’t, mostly because I don’t love the colour). The PTA runs a secondhand uniform shop where you can get the fleeces and other uniform items for £1 each. It doesn’t seem to cause an issue.