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?!

@WeWereInParis Also regarding the blazer thing, my school had that rule too and it wasn't half as 'draconian' as it sounds. In the Summer they didn't actually enforce it and there came a time around June usually when they said you can just leave your blazer at home. It was fine.

@MariaVT65 I agree that some rules are weird/ not useful/ inappropriate

But just as people are frustrated at some rules that don’t need to be there, there are many that are useful or necessary but people choose not to see it when they are on their “Uniform is outdated” rampage.

Parents should, on the whole, respect the school rules and leave them to it. It's a very confusing message for kids if parents are on a different page to their school.

This. So many people essentially tell their children not to listen to the school and then are quick blame the school for their child’s failings. They are setting their children up to fail/ for a difficult school life IMO

Oh FFS, the point is they were NOT allowed to take them off in the classroom. It was high 20s where I was yesterday. Don't be so ridiculous.

Luckily my DCs school allowed blazers and ties to be removed yesterday.

I think there could be a good compromise though. If many uniform rules weren’t so stupid, fewer people would have a problem with them, along with general cost issues and extra task of washing ironing specific clothes.

As I’ve said in a previous post, I don’t think that logo/brand is indicative of cost/‘hey look at my expensive shoes’. My son is only 2, but the addidas trainers i get for him from Schuh are half the price of the stuff he’s had in Clarks.

I just think stressing of a logo is ridiculous and should be way down the list of priorities compared to all the other horrendous school issues

Also anothet thing I think is ridiculous is uniform in preschool at the age of 3! My son will still be in nappies at 3, wants to play with paint and spills food down himself. One of the many reasons i’ve chosen nursery instead of preschool. Totally impractical to uniform at that age.

@SoupDragon I don't think it was as strict though. We had to wear ties etc and shoes had to be black but as for being sent home or isolation for not being the exact shoes, it certainly never happened at my school.

I get the point of school uniforms even if I don’t really think it's necessary. And I agree that it's not that difficult to just follow the clear uniform policy the school has put out.

What I really don’t agree with is sending children home/to isolation on their first day at school because they have shoes the school don’t like. Especially when it is highly unlikely an 11 year old has bought her own uniform. That's punishing a child for the actions of their parent and I am 100% against that. Also, it prevents them from learning - which is sort of the entire reason you go to school - and is probably pretty upsetting when it's your first day and you're already terrified. I wouldn't want to go back to the school either.

I also don’t think uniforms do prevent rivalry between the "haves and the have nots". The catchment area of my school (Scotland so all the children in the catchment attend the same school) included one of the poorest parts of town as well as the richest part where people live in mansions. And wearing a uniform didn’t stop us knowing who lived in the council flats and who lived in the million pound houses.

Well said. How schools deal with the shoe issue is the main problem. Sending a kid to isolation because they have a logo on their schools is the most ridiculous thing ever, especially when the child didn’t not purchase the shoes.

I am fine with uniforms, don't have an issue but some of the heads in my area are getting ridiculous. The bullying/behaviour in those schools is horrendous and they do fuck all about it but they'll send someone home whose shoes are not quite the exact ones they have decided in this years policy.

I'm actually annoyed that the uniform policy at DD's new secondary doesn't allow ankle boots but does allow ballet flats.

What's the problem with them having warm dry feet?!

Agree. No reason whatsoever that ankle boots should not be allowed.

It is madness.

I would love a teacher who lines kids up to inspect the trouser style, the skirt length, the shoe logo to actually come on here and explain why on earth they think what they are doing is ok. Just tell the Head it's 2023 not the 50s. Black trousers, white shirt and tie really should suffice.

Put as much effort into teaching as into draconian skirt inspection fgs.

Are you sure? Would you really notice if the trainers were black?

Your wedding argument is ridiculous. You don’t expect girls to turn up at school in high heels which are commonly worn be women at weddings.

@CecilyP exactly, you dress appropriately for the situation. I’m not saying dc should go to school like a wedding guest. In my workplace uniform has relaxed (men no longer wear ties) but they wouldn’t wear black trainers. It would raise eyebrows. They are not “smart”.

There's 101 reasons why this isn't always a good idea. Not least that it's making a teacher's working day a bloody nightmare. Teachers don't set the rules, they're just the poor sods that have to live with the consequences of parents kids believing those policies don't apply to them. Of course everyone should have the right to challenge situations, but there's ways and means of going about it that don't result in making someone else's life difficult.

Fwiw, the young girl in question and her family KNEW the school's policy on piercings, and the timing of her having the piercing was to purposely to coincide with the start of the new school term. The parent said that she was fully supporting her DDs right to individuality and how she chooses to endorse that. My point is, children DO have to know that they can't just turn up to school and do what the hell they want. I can't imagine the chaos if every school child adopted the same attitude with every element of school life.

Yabu on the grounds that the school you send your children to isn't a free choice. There are very few schools without uniform policies and some of those policies are absolutely ridiculous.
Children are in school to learn - they don't need every aspect of their physical appearance to be controlled, in order to do so effectively.
Now I get that shoes should be practical but if schools generally weren't so difficult about tiny, inconsequential things, maybe parents would respect the rules that actually matter.

@NotAMug

I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the expectation to be that blazers are worn at all times during the day. Obviously exceptions should be made if a particular classroom is absolutely boiling.

At the DC’s school, some teachers are allowing removal of blazers at their discretion. Others are expecting normal uniform- for example, year 7 haven’t been allowed to take their blazers off as teachers need to establish authority with their new classes before loosening rules.

I have no issue with it- they are allowed to leave their jumpers off until after October half term.

A link might be useful OP.

But the teacher outside in the hat presumably was stood out there all morning as pupils arrived. The pupils will be in the warm very soon if they're pretty much at school.

OTOH, the pupils could have walked a considerable distance to the school and the teacher could have driven before being consigned to hat duty, so the time spent outside could have been pretty similar.

Yes to all of this.

I don't mind a uniform generally, ambivalent really. Just as well, since there's no local school that doesn't have one. But the imbecile policies of some schools, academy trusts and heads erode support.

It was 28° yesterday, I wouldn't even wear a coat on my way to work let alone in it so yes it's absolutely unreasonable. If they insist on them wearing them walking in and out of school then fine but in classrooms in this heat, my DC had to wear blazers and ties to go into the school (obv they didnt on their 50 mun walk in as was too hot) then were told they can remove them, you know in order to learn in a comfortable environment🙄 they still had smart trousers, white shirt and shoes on so hardly an issue its it.

Your post is actually ridiculous. Loosening the rules? It's nearly 30° and you don't think it's a bit warm for blazers as it would be loosening the rules. Your poor kids.

I doubt any child walked so far over such tough ground that they needed boots !

The excuses are hilarious

The thing is there is no real excuse for wearing boots when the policy clearly says shoes, the parent knows full well it wouldn't be allowed so the excuses are pathetic. Obv if half way through the year and shoes break the day before and they need them in an emergency fine.

I think the issue most people have is that there is no reason not to wear ankle boots if they are smart so it could be on the policy however there are loads of shoes available so it's a non issue really.

Seriously how are people defending teachers forcing pupils to wear blazers in these temperatures?