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?!

TBH the ‘fuming mum’ who sent her 11 year old to school in Vivienne Westwood slip ons and threatening to pull her kid out of the school has done them a right favour.
She sounds a right nightmare and thick as mince.

Zimunya
We need to teach our kids the correct way to challenge authority. Kids who are taught to disregard rules and just do what they want are unlikely to become functioning members of society.

Agree! Reminds me of the would-be rebels in my classes who claimed they were questioning rules/authority. I used to give them 2 sheets of A4 and say 'Great - write me a well-argued essay on these points which you clearly feel so passionate about.' Needless to say - they declined the opportunity.

In this case, it seems parents rather than students are to blame. I bet they all nodded when asked to support the school and its rules when trying to get a place for their children.

They don't allow ballet pumps at all. The uniform code says "Shoes with distinctive fashion features such as buckles and coloured stitching, tags or logos are not permitted, and neither are boots, training shoes or ballet style shoes." The VW ones contravene two of those.

A pair of VW ballet flats costs £100. So those who have bought them must have the money to do so. I think ballet flats are problematic, because I’ve seen them worn down at the back so they become a bit like sliders. Probably has the potential for tripping perhaps.

It doesn’t really matter whether you agree with the rules or not. If you send your child to a school that has those rules, you sign up to agree to them. I can understand that sensory issues or orthotic issues make a difference, but surely a compromise can be reached. There must be a middle ground.

I can't believe teachers are wasting education time on this shit.

Yanbu.

Any parent who doesn't read their school uniform policy is either daft or one of 'those' parents. Most schools are happy with black leather lace ups or loafers, which are waterproof, supportive for growing feet, and easy to find without logos. Our small town centre has five shops selling basic school shoes. (Just been round them all in search of size 12s 😀)

It's really not difficult. All those parents who think VW or Nike logos are important clearly don't understand bullying, or don't care.

My ds' school doesn't allow any logos at all. If you don't like it, you don't join the school. Maybe that is a bit harsh, but there is very little bullying because everyone has the same from day 1. And it makes my life as a parent much easier.

I’m not naive I’ve been physically disabled all my life, and I volunteer with various disability charities, so please don’t try to tell me I’m unaware of the issues. I’m not fundamentally against making school uniform, or anything else as inclusive as possible, but I struggle to see how it would work in the case of school uniform because the nature and effect of disability is so diverse.

That’s why the Equality Act exists - to level the playing field for disabled people by enshrining their rights in law. If schools are not adhering to the Act, then parents should be advocating for their children and insisting on whatever adjustment is appropriate for their child - and reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act doesn’t require parents to evidence gather, as a formal diagnosis is not required - there just needs to be a significant and relevant difficulty eligible under the Act.

Those shoes actually look well made and with a good sole for ballet flats

By the time my son was in year 11 he took size 14 shoes, which are quite difficult to find in shops. When one of his shoes broke midweek he had to spend two days in isolation while I ordered him some new ones online, because his other pair of black shoes had a tiny kickers logo on them. And before you say we should have checked, they were not bought to be school shoes.

Greensleeves
Of course the VW ballet flats are preposterous. But schools aren't helping with the crazy pettiness, us-and-them attitude and utter lack of regard for families' financial reality. Uniform has become another pointless battleground and another reason for kids and parents to loathe the years their children spend in school.

I don't like over-fussiness regarding uniform either, but I think that, without it, parents would be spending much more and there'd be obvious haves and have-nots in evidence, along with the predictable bullying.

They don’t allow them - brogue type shoes are what they want. If you choose a school and it has a uniform, your kid wears the uniform! Pick your battles, FFS, or your precious offspring aren’t going to be able to cope with any kind of authority.

friend sent her kid to the shitter secondary by us because it’s a polo and jumper uniform rather than blazer tie. Bizarre call, but her choice ( even though she works in a profession that requires a lot of conformity!) - MC mum trying to seem cool I think.

The VW shoes are hideous and I'd never buy them for my own DC. Not appropriate and even many employers now want people to wear shoes that fully cover feet for H&S reasons.

I don't understand the news going on about it every year. I left school 15 years ago and we weren't allowed them then, we also would have been sent home. Not that it happened to me as I prefer comfortable shoes over whatever hideous ones are in fashion that year. I used to work in a shoe shop and encouraged parents not to buy the silly pump types or trainers.

My own child is in an SEN setting and wears joggers and trainers as standard, boy am I glad. If this should ever change, they will be following guidelines.

If you choose a school and it has a uniform, your kid wears the uniform!

Conversely, if I don't get my choice of school for my kid, does that mean that they don't have to wear the uniform?

Our school is the same and the moaners about cost etc are all moaning that the air force ones are not allowed - just get fecking school shoes - your kid does not need £115 shoes.

I get Nike air 90s because I don’t know what else would fit. None of the other kids at the school wear proper shoes anyway

I agree with this. Uniforms seem to be a way of schools competing with each other. It's so ridiculous. No logos on shoes allowed and yet we have to get 4 bits of PE kit all with the embroidered school logo at significant cost. Brilliant.

1. It is making already-overloaded parents hoop-jump.
2. It makes the disabled kids stand out as disabled because they are the only ones not in the strict uniform, increasing bullying.
3. Not every child who should have a SEND statement of needs / EHCP / whatever it's called now has one. At least with a flexible uniform policy, the undiagnosed child can try to wangle a uniform that doesn't make her want to claw her own skin off.

Worked example of (3) from my own experience:
My school at first had a fairly relaxed uniform policy, offering several styles of skirt and with blazers optional. During the summer uniform shop, I was able to pick a skirt that was soft, lined, and low-waisted with a length that finished a little above the knee. I could pick a jumper that didn't itch through my shirt and I didn't wear the blazer.
Then a new head started. The uniform rules changed overnight to a specific Trutex skirt in a specific length that finished exactly on the knee, a specific jumper, and a forced blazer.

I have sensory processing problems as part of my autism. When I walked, the Trutex skirt hit the back of my knee where the skin is really sensitive and felt like sandpaper. The higher waist cut into me when I sat down and made me feel like I couldn't breathe properly. The jumper itched through my shirt and the blazer felt like I was wearing platemail, it bunched up inside my elbow when I bent my arms and the collar was like sandpaper on my neck.

But I didn't have a SEND diagnosis until I attempted suicide, so my protests were met with "well you'll just have to put up with it". And when I did attempt suicide, I was diagnosed with depression, which wasn't even what was wrong...

@midgemadgemodge - the vast majority of students in the US and Canada do not wear school uniform at any point in their education. There is usually a dress code, which can vary from 'no speedos or bikinis in school' to 'students must be covered from ankle to neck'. My own local HS mandates closed toe shoes for lab sciences and forbids offensive slogans on clothing (defined as racist, misogynist, hate speech, or goady, and the opinion that matters on definition of those qualities is that of the dean of discipline). Students in continental Europe also tend to have a dress code and not a uniform.

Last time I looked, the UK was geographically, economically, and culturally firmly a part of what can loosely be called 'the West', which includes the vast majority of those countries whose students do not wear school uniform.

Yep. Plain black shoes tend to be priced highly, exactly because retailers know that parents have to buy them for school.

So the kids were sent home for being fat? That’s not very nice!

Two days in isolation for something that he couldn't help.

JFC what is wrong with this country?

A lot of schools don't have lockers.

Well quite! Why do they do them?

Re the small logo on Kickers - easy to remove with nail scissors!

The fact is that the Equality Act is simply not adhered to by many schools, in many ways, that is where you are being naive. You are quoting the law as if I (disabled, with a disabled child) am also unaware. Schools just need to try harder. It shouldn't be on us to need to advocate in that way.

Schools could make school uniform more inclusive very simply by offering a range of simple options in plain colours (eg any plain shirt, polo shirt, t shirt) and not being so damn fussy about it.