It's a school shoe spot the difference thread!

[TheUnstoppableWindmill]

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"?!

I think they saw your pictures and realised they were being irrational and decided not to let their argument get unpicked any further.

Good to hear is sorted @TheUnstoppableWindmill

I feel your pain - I used to be a secondary maths teacher and we were supposed to check all kid’s shoes as they entered our classroom and send them to HOY office if not suitable - I felt this was a ridiculous waste of valuable teaching time so never bothered unless they were obviously white or brightly coloured- head of behaviour loved to strut around classrooms picking out kids who had vaguely unsuitable shoes then make a big song and dance about removing them - telling me off in front of the kids - and wasting 20 minutes of the lesson - so much time is taken up in school enforcing ridiculously strict uniform rules instead of instilling hood behaviour . They wouldn’t remove a kid who told me to f* off- I had to deal with that in the classroom but if they had the wrong shoes or an earring then that was treated as deeply serious!! Utter nonsense 😡

"students must wear black shoes of polishable leather" WTAF, not everyone can afford real leather shoes, especially these days, and on top of that, vegans and some vegetarians will not buy or wear leather. I honestly don't believe they can dictate that kids must wear "polished leather". That said, I think all are perfectly acceptable, and meet the criteria you laid out!

Read the full thread before you start with your judgemental comments. What difference does it make to you if the OP’s ND son has velcro shoes. Get a grip of yourself. Bullies start with parent’s like you

I'd say the Hush Puppies due to the flat but quite doorstep sole. To be honest, the largest pic with orthopedic sole isn't great either but I would guess a school would just about accept it. I'd really try and avoid this style of shoe generally as it's very contentious in schools. As a Form Tutor, the only ones I'd be querying with Senior Leadership would be the Hush Puppies.

Oh...and on the ASD front, make sure he can still heel-toe when he walks as flat soles can cause people, especially those with motor skill issues, to walk like a duck... And make them trip over more frequently. Glad they agreed to them. I remember my Mum having to get permission for me to wear burgundy patent shoes because they were the only ones to fit my feet. It was a village primary school which had quite a relaxed uniform policy so they just changed the shoe policy to include burgundy... Our uniform was anything black, grey, burgundy, yellow or white so they just extended that to the shoes.

Can I ask why you would query a show with SLT what postive outcome are you expecting? Do you thinking a parent spending another £40 on new shoes will improve educational outcomes for the child?

Please don't be so rude. And I'm not a bully. My husband who is a secondary school teacher has seen many a children being bullied for the shoes they wear and they are the ones that the op posted. He doesn't condone it and he has brought those said children to book . What I was trying to say is I don't want her son to be in that situation.
I wouldn't expect a child of 11/13 to be wearing Velcro shoes.
My son who is in the spectrum never wore those shoes as I had to quickly teach him to tie a shoe lace.
The op child may have difficulties also but I wish parents wouldn't put their children in a situation where they are open to those nasty children.

You do you! If secondary pupils wouldn’t wear them, do you really think big shoe manufacturers like Clark’s, Hush Puppies and Start Right would make them up to an adult size 8?

You're supposed to check uniform and send kids to isolation (or the Hall on the first day back). You can get some shoes approved on an instant decision as a query item so of course I'd do that rather than saying they don't meet uniform policy so you're going to be sent home 🤦‍♀️.

If a kid is wearing obvious trainers or Kickers, if their skirt or trousers are too short or they're wearing white socks, it's easy to send them straight away. Other, less obvious, things such as a borderline skirt ("I think you must have grown") or trainer-style shoes might just be a case of SLT saying actually it's ok or we'll email home and say you need to get a new skirt or trousers soon.

Good grief, that really is batshit, they're the same type of shoe! Ours have a similar policy, but really it just means shoes like all of your pictures OP rather than Air Force ones or similar.

Happily our school seem to have somehow achieved a kinder atmosphere. DS just looked perplexed when I asked if anyone had ever said anything to him about having velcro. As it should be. He's y10 and has always picked velcro for school shoes (& laces for trainers) so plenty of time for issue to be taken if anyone was going to.

I think really people bully because they're bullies. What "reason" they hook it on is kind of immaterial, everyone has something different about them a bully can home in on if they want to. Nobody can achieve being such a clone they're un-bully-able, the best you can do is have self confidence, surround yourself with nice friends, laugh off and tease back with the small things and be prepared to get adult help with any big ones.

I absolutely agree. Both my sons went to non uniform schools throughout their education. There was no problem with designer clothes etc and staff were freed up from having to police uniform infringements all the time.

Bloody hell, I didn't pay much attention to the OP and thought the pictures were all of the same shoes! None of which look particularly trainer-like to me. How ridiculous and petty this all is.

In my DDs school, despite specifying no trainers, shoes that look like trainers, or trainers that look like shoes, about 90% of the students - male and female - wear black Nike air force 1's. The rest wear a looky-likey. School no longer cares. Why should they? The shoes are practical and comfortable.

As a Form Tutor, the only ones I'd be querying with Senior Leadership would be the Hush Puppies.

So even as a form tutor, you are not fully versed in what shoes are acceptable and have to defer to higher authority. How are parents supposed to know?

Upthread, OP was asked why she didn't buy any of the 3 styles deemed acceptable. Not sure she answered, but a possible reason is that not every shoe shop has all shoes in every size and width fitting, so shoes actually bought could be similar but different.

...and considering all the other things expected of teachers and form tutors I can't see how checking shoes for minor differences is a good use of anyones time!
Trainer style shoes are way more practical imo than some styles that are allowed

Thanks for the update, OP. I actually think the Hush Puppies look smarter than the next ones, but what do I know?

Clearly you never worked in a secondary school?

personally if they want youre children to have a specific shoe let them get their hand in their pocket at junior and secondary as long as the shoes were plain black it didnt matter , heel, no heel lace up velcro slip on etc