Being expected to wear blazers today

[AskMeMore]

DDs school have said they still have to wear blazers to school today. It is very hot here. I have just told her to take it off if she wants to. No way am I indulging the school in this level of ridiculousness.

I've just walked past a couple of school girls - black tights, jumper and blazer on. Not in school grounds. I can only conclude teenagers have different temperature settings.

(I'm in shorts, vest and sandals)

There are still girls wearing jumpers in this weather because their white shirts are see-through.

Our local high school are like this. It’s properly bonkers and I’d like to hear the reasoning from anyone that thinks it’s a good idea.

in the past there may have been the “you’ll need to be smart at work in the future” argument but no more. My workplace and pretty much all non uniformed workplaces I know are fully casual. It’s summer dresses, shorts and flip flops all round atm

It's because they think parents like it, and it's a whole lot easier than, y'know, teaching the kids properly.

The obsession with blazers is nuts.

They are the most pointless, waste of fabric ever invented. Neither cool enough in summer or warm enough in winter.

You see kids, specially boys, wringing wet with stupid blazers in winter. Meanwhile girls are trying to huddle under umbrellas.
Meanwhile the staff all drive to school and forget that the kids get wet.

Hot weather uniform in place in my kids' school. That means no blazer or tie necessary and top button of shirt can be undone

Most work places need smart attire. Give your head a wobble.

28 here today. DS High School normally has to be cajoled into a sensible decision so it was a pleasant surprise to get a message on Sunday night saying they could wear either no blazer & tie or full PE kit which is shorts and a polo.

That excuse particularly annoys me. As you say, heads who rely on this reasoning blatantly don't know about the current world of business. And they can never account for the fact that kids in other countries that don't have this uniform obsession seem to cope perfectly well in the world of work.

It's the same at my dcs school and it pisses me off to see all the teachers walking about in summer clothing whilst the kids are melting in black blazers.

We got a letter saying they will give permission for them to take them off if gets to 26 which it will today. They said people who work have to stay dressed up but not my experience of work in an office!

DD's secondary school is uniform obsessed. But even they've said no blazers this week.

Crazy!

Our school emailed out on Sunday to say no blazers required until further notice. The kids can also switch to summer uniform of short sleeved shirt and short pants. 15 yr old DS declined this option

@ReliantRobyn
we must live in different planets, husband and I both work in professional services and have not worn smart attire for years. The odd and occasional very important client meeting aside.

I was in London recently for the first time since covid. And was shocked by how much more casual the commuters were compared with last time I went.

I'm telling my children to take it off if it's too hot and if the teachers have a problem, they can talk to me. It's downright stupid.

Most work places need smart attire. Give your head a wobble.

the last 3 places i have worked haven't required that. And 2 of them are business consultancies. The one before relaxed their rules after i'd been there about 10 years and they are still going strong.

The only time I have ever had to wear uniform was in the Army. And we had tropical dresses in summer (the men didn't - we enjoyed having better conditions during that time) with sandals and no tights. There was even a cardigan for cooler times/days. And even in the UK it was shirt-sleeve order so even if you had shitty thick boots and socks on your feet and trousers, at least your top half was ok.

Don't schools have summer uniform any more?

Do they know that the temperature in classrooms can be much hotter than outside?

Luckily, the government has provided all classrooms with CO2 monitors which include thermometers so teachers can now see exactly how hot their rooms get.

It's madness, unbelievably petty, and positively inhumane. I would report a safeguarding concern to Ofsted, because forcing children to wear clothing that risks their health is a safeguarding matter.

My girls have left school now, but their high school was absolutely ridiculous about uniform.

They had to wear their blazers unless their class teacher (who was usually attired in appropriate, cool, summer clothing) told them they could take them off. On the way to and from school and while walking around school, they had to be on and there were no exceptions.

One summer they actually had staff patrolling the neighbouring streets checking students hadn’t removed their blazers once out of sight of the school.

DD1 is now at uni and DD2 is now at college - both happily wearing appropriate summer clothing without blazers and the sky hasn’t fallen in, the world hasn’t ended and their ability to learn hasn’t been impaired in anyway.

And as for the preparing for the world of business, I’m at work - in a summer dress and sandals. None of my male colleagues are wearing blazers or ties

"Smart attire" doesn't mean "blazer and tie".

@ReliantRobyn

Most work places need smart attire. Give your head a wobble.

But none will make you wear a blazer in blistering heat.

My school was like this - the headmistress was utterly obsessed with the uniform in all weathers. We even had to have navy blue coats. I don’t think it teaches kids about authority or looking smart, just how silly the bureaucracy of some rules can be.

The Heads in these places are fucking sociopaths, seriously.

That's insane. Our school (primary) has switched now to no uniforms as it's the last two weeks of the school year. I vacuumed today and mopped floors and I was drenched in sweat afterwards. It was like I'd been exercising. No way could anyone be reasonably expected to wear a blazer

Yanbu. I emailed the school yesterday about this. Adults have a choice of clothing or air con in most jobs. It's futile trying to teach over hot children.