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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

It's a school shoe spot the difference thread!

220 replies

TheUnstoppableWindmill · 10/09/2023 11:35

Can you work out which of these shoes is NOT an acceptable school shoe for a policy which states that students must wear black shoes of polishable leather in a non-trainer style?

I've got a year 7 child just starting secondary school. We were encouraged to email the Head of Year to check that shoes are acceptable under the school policy if we had any doubts. Thanks to a helpful Mumsnet thread I sent a handful of pictures in the style that I know if comfortable for my son. I was told these were "all perfect."

The ones I bought have now been rejected. I genuinely can't tell the difference.

So, AIBU to think that if 3 out of 4 of these shoes are perfect, then they should all be acceptable?
And can you guess which ones are too "trainer-like"?!

It's a school shoe spot the difference thread!
It's a school shoe spot the difference thread!
It's a school shoe spot the difference thread!
It's a school shoe spot the difference thread!
OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
watcherintherye · 10/09/2023 11:41

Is it the Hush Puppies? They don’t have the slightly upturned toe of the others. But I agree with you - really petty to deem them unacceptable. Literally no-one would notice. They really don’t look like trainers. Who has said they’re unsuitable?

Jojobees · 10/09/2023 11:43

If you sent a picture of the ones you intended to buy and told they were perfect, I would refer the person who has rejected them to the email.

LadyatLady82 · 10/09/2023 11:45

I’d say the Hush puppies are more trainer like

KeepOnPushingOn · 10/09/2023 11:45

The Clarks scape flare youth ones? I reckon it's the extra seams on the top that make them look a bit more trainer-like

Cheeesus · 10/09/2023 11:47

I see the start rite as more trainer.

NillyNoMates · 10/09/2023 11:47

They are all trainer-like.

Totaly · 10/09/2023 11:48

Hush Puppies?

To be honest I’m sick of this type of thing - emailing the head to check if they’re ok? Whole new level of control on children’s shoes.

Dis he/she not waiting in the shop over summer to make sure hey fit and are comfortable for the children?

Nopenopenopenopenopenope · 10/09/2023 11:48

Hush puppies because they're branded?

MusingMouser · 10/09/2023 11:48

I think it's the ones with 1 strap instead of 2. I dont see why that would be a problem but it's the only difference I can see.

villamariavintrapp · 10/09/2023 11:48

They all look similar to me, but if they're this strict then you should probably have checked the ones you actually bought?

clary · 10/09/2023 11:48

I agree they are all very similar. Tbh I would have bought one of the pairs they HoY said were ok tho.

Original poster
TheUnstoppableWindmill · 10/09/2023 11:48

Head of year said that 3 were acceptable and 1 not. I stupidly didn't send the specific shoes I wanted to buy by email to get them approved as it was a bit last minute at a hectic end of holidays. I emailed the 3 examples about a week before the start of term and didn't get a reply for 3 days so it's not as though I could check them then and there as I was buying them. I also don't expect the Head of Year to be on standby to approve shoes throughout the school holidays. I just genuinely thought that if the 3 approved were fine, the ones I bought definitely would be too.

I will say which ones I bought but I'd like to see what the guesses are from a few people first, if people are happy to share their opinion!

OP posts:
Fedupmumofadultsons · 10/09/2023 11:49

I think the best ones are engineer
But I am surprised they actually don't insist on lace ups

BoohooWoohoo · 10/09/2023 11:49

I think that they are all trainer like but my kids went to a school where Velcro wasn't allowed for secondary.
I would be pissed off that 3 out of those 4 were perfect but the other wasn't since they are very similar imo.

Whawillthefuturebring · 10/09/2023 11:50

It would be helpful if you shared the criteria the school gave you about what is acceptable and what isn’t.

AndIKnewYouMeantIt · 10/09/2023 11:51

Hush Puppies. More matte finish and trainer shaped toe. It is stupid though - if they're black and not sports branded they should pass.

Hippopotaperson · 10/09/2023 11:51

Is it the Hush Puppies as they’ve been made to look like a skater shoe?

I think this is all completely mad and a waste of everyone’s time and money. My DC go to a school with no uniform and they manage to educate the children very well. No one wears labels or Vivienne Westwood shoes. I admit there are a lot of Converse and DMs but anything sensible is ok. Basically nothing backless and no flip flops.

TidyDancer · 10/09/2023 11:51

They're all fairly casual I suppose but the hush puppie ones look very much trainer like.

TheGoogleMum · 10/09/2023 11:52

I reckon it's hush puppies or start rite. I agree they're all very similar though!

Tygertiger · 10/09/2023 11:52

I reckon it’s the Clarks ones that you bought. They do look a bit trainer-ish, so if you’d bought them without checking I can see why they’d be potentially problematic. However, I agree they look very similar to the other examples, so I’m struggling to see this as anything other than petty. I’ve worked in schools with strict shoe rules and those would all have been OK. The ones we didn’t allow were the ones that are basically black leather converse pumps or the Kickers Tovni style (I know the specific name as these were the most common ones we had problems with!)

Choux · 10/09/2023 11:53

The hush puppies are very like adidas white trainers except are black so I think those are the unacceptable ones.

However from 5-6ft up looking down at the footwear they are all very very similar and not anything like kids fashion trainers so I can't reasonably see why three are acceptable and one not.

GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 10/09/2023 11:54

I was going to say the Hush Puppies too. They are the most trainer like .

But surely if they’ve already emailed to say “all these are fine” they have to now accept them?

Original poster
TheUnstoppableWindmill · 10/09/2023 11:54

The criteria was literally "polishable leather and not trainers-like". There were pictures which were all too small to really see (couldn't enlarge the resolution) but the acceptable ones were all lace-up. Which is why I doubled checked that this velcro style is acceptable, as I was worried like a previous poster said that these would all be deemed too trainer-like. I think the "all of those are perfect" reply (verbatim) made me over-confident in thinking that I could buy in the same style without needing to check the specific pair. I am fully regretting not having done so and definitely accept that I should have! But honestly...

OP posts:
GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 10/09/2023 11:55

But I would say if you emailed the other three but then bought the hush puppies you’ve gone for a different style.

FluffyDiplodocus · 10/09/2023 11:57

I reckon it’s the Start Rite ones.

For what it’s worth, I’m a teacher and hate policing shoes. I wish we’d accept black trainers (that looked school shoes ish) with no white on them, I suspect life would be a lot easier for everybody!!!

I’d also go back to polo shirts and jumpers and ditch ties in an ideal world, much more comfy! I think schools need to move with the times a bit. I heard from a colleague that headteacher and another member of SLT in an SLT meeting were completely disbelieving when other staff present argued for a relaxing or the dress code saying that most people in professional roles have a smart casual dress code in offices and rarely wear ties and full suits nowadays. They literally did not believe that was the case!