To think that if the school uniform states black shoes the kids should be wearing black shoes?

[Annabella92]

I probably am being unreasonable. I'm just frustrated by a daily battle I have with my child. The school dress code is black shoes with black or white socks. Every quarter the newsletter reiterates this and seeks to remind parents. So I make sure my child has black shoes, two pairs actually, one waterproof more expensive pair as they sometimes have to go through long wet grass to get to school. And every morning is a battle to get them to wear black shoes with black or white socks (which I bought plenty of too). They say everyone just wears their normal coloured trainers and whatever socks and when I go to school pickup, they're not wrong. So it seems this is voluntary in practice and next year i can save £100 on shoes and socks and not have to deal with the drama every morning. I'm.a natural rule follower but feel like an idiot

TLDR: if something is part of school dress code it should be enforced, or just dropped altogether?

If the school doesn't care, I wouldn't have the battle.

Lol I had one of these also. Most expensive bit of uniform and coat more than blazer. By the time he got to year 10 I passed it onto a friend with one going into year 7. It then proceeded to be unworn by her child also. Total waste of money

You seriously believe that kids in previous generations didn’t question school uniform? 🤣🤣🤣

We definitely had kids in my secondary school who’d stretch the uniform rules and turn up to class wearing non-uniform items, or wearing the correct uniform clothes incorrectly. It’s not a new thing!

Frankly a school that appoints a head boy and head girl who do not wear correct uniform is not one I’d be sending my DC to. All schools should have strict uniforms which are properly enforced and there should be daily checks.

Wow, isn't it amazing how places like Germany and the Netherlands manage to produce functioning and well adjusted adults who cope in the real world? They don't have uniform.

Honestly, this is the most pathetic argument for uniform ever.

I agree with you in principle, my child always had school shoes, so did I and it makes sense because there's no competition. Those schools enforced that so everyone complied.

However if your child's school is casual about that and you see most of the other kids wearing whatever they want on their feet, you are fighting a losing battle. Let your child choose what they wear and wait and see what happens.

Eh?
It's not the armed forces.

We're in an area of the UK with no uniform either. We manage also to produce mostly functioning adults.

But those are OTHER countries (of which I have no experience beyond 2 weeks holiday)! Our children are DIFFERENT (in ways I can’t specify)!

And LOOK at this article from 5 years ago where a FN-controller school district in France briefly considered introducing school uniforms! That PROOVES that they’re better!

You’re going to have a real problem if you ever relocate somewhere with no uniform with that kind of rigid thinking.

@Ithinkyou have you worked in any non-uniform schools to compare though? If your only comparison point is the mayhem of a non-uniform day then you can’t really stare that uniform has any benefits, either in terms of equality or discipline.

Many of us have been brought up in systems without uniform and find the uniform obsession in U.K. schools utterly baffling - it just seems a huge amount of stress for teachers who have to enforce it, students who push against it, and parents caught in the middle of it. Add to that the fact that many uniforms are impractical, poorly made and expensive for what they are.

The fact that schools impose draconian punishments like isolation for forgetting a tie, a non-functional clothing item that very few wear in the real world, makes it even worse.

Head boys/girls/simikarcrokes are meant to be setting a good example for the rest of the school. A school where even they can’t be bothered to wear correct uniform and the school allows this is going to be lazy and low-aspiration in other areas.

Exactly. In fact, I think it’s high time we required everyone to wear a uniform when they go out. Studies show that it will do wonders for public order.

Also, am I the only one who’s tired of seeing people who think they can just take their jackets off on a whim? How will they function in the real world, where everyone wears jackets?

Don't be ridiculous.

There’s a reason the head boys/girls of the best schools in the U.K. will not be allowed to wear trainers.

Not necessarily a good reason.

I think school uniform rules will have to change and adapt, as working clothing has also changed and adapted. The days of stuffy shirts and scratchy blazers was thought to prepare people for a working world where that was what all office workers wore. Nowadays, with flexible working etc., you are much more likely to find people wearing less formal clothing. And before any MNs come at me with "well at my job everyone wears a full ball gown or tuxedo everyday", I'm not saying suits have disappeared completely, but at a recent big partnership event with LEA + private shareholding staff, there was a lack of ties etc.
Maybe it's time to rethink secondary uniform, make it a little more practical, comfier and warmer.

Our school gives uniform awards every so often, for ex if lots of children forget their PE kits regularly, the ones who have it don’t will get an award. Same with not wearing their blazers. So not consequences but a way for pupils to want to wear the right things.
Could you suggest that to your school?

Sorry, I wouldn’t send my DC to a secondary that had a tracksuit and polo uniform, and I suspect most parents with any sense or aspiration would be similar.

There’s a reason the vast majority of the best schools in this country have all DC in blazer and tie style uniforms.

Yep. It's adherence to tradition. It's all about style over substance and selling the brand.

Let's remember that lots of things used to be traditional: slavery, women not having the vote, no ordinatino of women in the C of E.

Tradition is not always good and should always be held up to scrutiny.

Yes, you’ve figured it out. All the parents whose children attend schools without uniforms lack aspiration.

Which is to say, they don’t aspire to the level of arrogant idiocy you have somehow achieved.

Another ridiculous reply.
What would you do if you lived somewhere that only has a few secondary schools, and none have a uniform? We're not all feral you know.

I sometimes have issues with school and will say my piece. I buy the black shoes and ds often wears black trainers. That's up to him. Their school gives lunchtime detentions if they get seen. .
He once asked me to say his injured foot (true) meant it was better to wear trainers (not true). Told him I wouldn't lie for him.
I leave it till him now. his choice his consequence

It's annoying esp if you've bought the required shoes BUT pick your battles. Is this really something to get het up about? Let the school enforce their own rules and don't bring unnecessary stress over things that ultimately don't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Of course they should comply with uniform.