Just read the bloody uniform policy!!!

[flingoringo]

I've just read an article about a school in Gateshead where lots of kids were sent home or out in isolation on day one of term because they were wearing the wrong shoes. The offending shoes seem to be mainly a Vivienne Westwood ballet flat (with a big silver VW emblem on the front) and a Nike walking boots. Lots of kids wearing the same, from yr7 to yr11.
Parents are up in arms, obviously. One mentions the CoL crisis so the need to scrimp and save to spend A HUNDRED QUID on the Nike shoes. One mum said her yr7 daughter won't be going back she's finding her a new school.

The school (taken over by an academy in 2019) says the policy is clear, plain black shoes with no logos. That they have done their best to help yr6 parents understand what was to be expected once on yr7.

Now I don't necessarily agree with schools being overly strict with uniform policy. But I do accept that I have to agree to follow the rules at the schools that I chose to send my kids to and if we chose not to then of course they'll be consequences.

AIBU to think it's it's completely ridiculous that this happens every bloody year?!

We get sent, at the end of summer term and twice in the school hols, reminders about uniform in particular shoes. They send pictures of unsuitable shoes. There is no excuse. Fortunately most girls (and indeed boys) wear either docs or kickers.
But indeed there is always someone kicking off about shoes. The ones they bought cost the same or more than shoes that are allowed.

...are we basically teaching our adolescents that it's absolutely ok to ignore any rule about anything and that it's fine to just do your own thing? To me, it's not so much about the school's policies but rather the inference that it's fine to do just do your own thing. These teens are going to struggle in the working world if that's the case.

Do you honestly believe that students who are used to expressing themselves freely through clothing and piercings and hairstyle and colour all through their school years are unable to cope with the workplace when that time comes?

How do you imagine young people fresh out of university manage in the US, Canada, and most of continental Europe?

It's heartening that 80% in your village support the woman's petition. I hope the daughter with the pierced nose goes on to achieve great things despite the refusal of the school she's enrolled in to allow her the educational opportunity she is entitled to. Having a pierced nose and a sensible parent isn't a reason to doubt she has a solid future ahead of her.

I think it would all be fine if there was actual choice in any element of this- but there isn’t.

Most academies have copy cat pointlessly strict uniform policies. It is rare to find a non-uniform school today, especially at secondary.

Most parents don’t really have a choice of school- and uniform preference isn’t recognised as a valid criteria if you do manage to get an older sibling into an out of catchment school.

Many shoe- and clothes- shopping experiences these days boil down to ‘here is what we have in stock in/close to your size.’ When it’s take it or leave it, you are likely to bend on the football-embossed Velcro strap or the diamanté detail on the toe of the shoe even if you feel a bit uncertain that it’s ‘plain black.’

Even non-uniform schools often don’t allow boots, which is puzzling when they are a sensible choice for winter and for ankle support. ‘School shoe’ retailers seem to be incapable of manufacturing or stocking supportive, weatherproof shoes for girls.

So it’s basically all a stitch up in multiple directions. Definitely none of it is a good reason to withhold a child’s education.

as I was bullied in year 7-9 after a video of me having sec went around

If "sec" was meant to be "sex", you had bigger problems than trousers and shoes, like being the victim of statutory rape aged no more than 11 and the subject of child pornography. Every child who distributed that video committed a criminal offence, as did the man or boy who raped you and should have been jailed. Every child who bullied you should hang their head in shame for bullying a rape victim.

I am very sorry that that happened to you and furious that your parents' didn't support you to report it to the school and the police and, if necessary, move you to another school.

The issue is that many parents either

1. Can't face standing up to their kids and saying no. They therefore buy the Nikes when they know they are not allowed.
2. Don't bother to read the information or go to the new starters evenings. They are then shocked when they don't know something.

Fair enough, I didn’t google the actual school. Other schools do allow ballet pumps but not trainers which would be more practical.

There's nothing unjust about having a rule of no nose piercing. That is standard almost everywhere.

What it teaches is that children and parents don't have to take responsibility. They don't have to plan appropriately, or think ahead. That girl had been in high school for a couple of years, she MUST HAVE known nose piercings are not acceptable. Getting a nose piercing two weeks before school starts shows a profound lack of planning.

It’s the same every year, some chavvy or ‘cool’ or artsy MC parent whining about their child having to ‘conform’, Daily Fail loves these no- stories as they really divide opinion.

Nose piercings are standard where I live, as are all sorts of hairstyles and colours, facial hair, etc. The students whose noses are pierced, with the blue hair and the nail polish and even the odd tattoo are also welcome in Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. Funny that.

Her reason being that her 14 year old DD had her nose pierced a couple of weeks ago and can't take the stud out yet

I don't know much about these things but isn't that correct? Bad timing of course not to have done it at the start of the holiday.

You and I might want that, but our political masters and those who shill for them don't. They want a population full of controllable robots who don't question things and don't challenge power structures.

It’s really disappointing that this has to be ‘a thing’ to stop bullying. I went to 3 different schools and no kid gave a single flying fuck about what shoes anyone else was wearing. I often found school shoes would take the skin of my heels, so I mostly wore ankle boots for comfort.

Genuine question as I only have a 2 year old - apart from shoes like those air force ones i’ve heard about, is it really true that branding means more expensive? I’m asking this as my son currently wears addidas from Schuh, and they are half the price of the stuff in Clarks.

Lots of parent feel the need to push uniform boundaries. I really don't blame schools for not bending or they'll be stuck in bargaining territory for weeks.

The logo on those Westwood pumps is so blatant! As were the big old Nike ticks!

How hard is it to find plain, black shoes?!

I can recognise that getting the piercing so late was poor planning and at the same time believe that the policy banning them is unnecessary.

I looked it up when reading the news article earlier as I noticed some quotes from parents saying "well it was never in the policy" which I thought was weird!

Yeah it’s maybe schools enforcing a rule they haven’t bothered to before

Whatever happened to good old Clark’s and Start Rite school shoes. £100 Vivienne Westwood ffs ! Ridiculous. If everyone stuck to the uniform list properly there would be no bullying and showing off with clothes and shoes, they’d all be wearing the same. It’s not really difficult is it ? God help all these little darlings in the real world of work ?

Thankfully much of civilised society doesn't have the low standards Canada and particularly America has. To me it's just more proof how tacky, trashy and low standards America is. It's nothing to boast about. It's something to be ashamed about.

Getting the nose piercing was silly. I'll agree there.

My comment was in response to the comment on people signing the petition. They're signing to say that they think the rule is stupid and should be removed. They're expressing civil opposition to a rule they consider to be unreasonable. This is perfectly standard behaviour and a good model for the adolescents.

The issue of the nose piercing in itself and the issue of petitions going around about the appropriateness of uniform rules are two separate issues.

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@fliptopbin that is disgusting and pure bullying from the school No wonder these schools dont want to sort bullying issues out when they are doing it themselves!

@Itwasntmeguv

We must live close by. guv - I too live in a village near to the town/school so saw the post she made on Facebook with the jewellery petition.

I didn't agree with her stance either.

I think the policy banning them is very necessary. I cannot imagine what sort of 'school' would allow nose piercings. Probably in a very rough area, but not one I'd want my child to attend. And I as a parent would never allow a nose piercing, I'd probably rip it out of them myself.

Surely Nike trainers are just as safe as other shoes. Flip flops and crocs not so much!