To think asking permission to take off a blazer is utterly ridiculous?

[ShowJumpSally]

My child's school has just moved into a new trust. Clearly it's one of those trusts as the latest email announces how children will be placed in internal exclusion or be suspended if they dare to wear a coat in the building or take their blazer off without asking permission.

Schools consistently moan about funding, there's a teaching retention crisis, teachers are overworked and leaving in their hoards, TAs are underpaid and in short supply, children's mental health is worse than ever, but somehow there's time and money to dish out internal exclusions if child gets hot and dares takes their blazer off without asking?

Aibu to say schools should try focussing their time, attention and money on the real issues instead of nonsense made up ones?
^

It’s their method of discipline. Give it a go; it might be ok if DC follow the rules.

My DC's academy is like this. They just ask/tell the students to take their coat off/put their blazer on. They don't sanction for it as they would have far too many students in detention/isolation.

It’s the same at my DDs school and it was the same rule when I went there.

It’s to stop kids leaving blazers in classrooms or anywhere else. Amazing how many go missing on hot ‘blazer off’ days - they’re a nightmare to get back to the rightful owner and expensive to replace.

It’s not just because they’re being twats.

Like this at my kids school, jumpers optional, blazers compulsory. Was the same when I was in school back in the 90s.

It's quite handy to smaller/stupider rules for opinionated teens to push against. Running a tight ship pays off in the end.

@ShowJumpSally I think it is ridiculous.
Yes it's "the rules" but it's a completely stupid and pointless one.
I hate blazers full stop but if a school is going to have them the students should be allowed to decide if they are too hot or cold.
Also blazers are expensive so you will have Year 7s wearing ones too big and Year 11s wearing ones to small which will effect how they can write, move their arms etc.
This is one of the biggest time wasting pieces of crap a school can have.

I don't particularly object to it, it's the same in many high schools.

Having said that, I went to school in a hot country in Africa where we had to wear blazers all year round - that was a crazy rule!

Mumsnet love a school uniform and petty uniform rules so you are on a hiding time nothing. I fully agree with you and think it's pathetic that they bother with this stuff. Uniforms should be dropped altogether and just let kids learn. The rest of Europe manage without uniforms and get far better results than the UK.

@Tetchypants why bother with them then? If they didn't exist they wouldn't get left behind or lost.

I just used to tell students when I first started teaching them that they could take their blazers off and they didn't need to ask me once inside my classroom.

The vast majority of students always keep their blazers on (even in heat waves) because it is a glorified pencil case and if they take it off they lose their pens / phones fall out etc.

I fully support uniform but think this is stupid. Children should be able to decide what level of layers they need to be comfortable.

Same for dds school - the sheer joy at picking out a new pencil case each year has been grandfathered out I fear.

Not in France. If your school doesn’t have a uniform ( many do) everyone wears an overall , specified by the school.

This was the rule at my bog standard comp 35 years ago so sounds totally normal to me.

I don't understand how you can have a uniform without rules enforcing its use....

If the kids can just do what they want it isn't a uniform, it's a suggestion, and you'll only be waiting a short time before some entitled brat realises this and starts openly disregarding uniform policy knowing there's no comeback.

Either no uniform, or strictly enforced. There can be no middle ground.

I’m glad my school never had these ridiculous rules. Have children really changed so much since the 90s that they can’t be trusted to decide whether they’re too hot or too cold?

@FixTheBone my school uniform was trousers/skirt, shirt and jumper/cardigan.
We didn't have a blazer.
Have a uniform but it doesn't need a ruddy blazer.

It’s entirely normal. It’s your opportunity as a parent to model not getting upset about trivia @ShowJumpSally.

We had uniforms and blazers when I was at school. I was constantly getting 'pulled' for...

A) Too much makeup
B) Wearing a kipper tie
C) Not wearing a blazer
D) Hair being too 'big'
E) Wearing my shirt unbuttoned so my vest showed.
F) Purple/pink hair mascara
G) wearing a micro skirt
H) Wearing black trainers

I) - the school got over it! 90% of my cohort were doing exactly the same 😅

It is absolutely fucking bullshit.
It would be a cold day in hell before I’d allow my child to be excluded etc for taking off their blazer.

Whoever dreams this stuff up needs their arse kicked.

It wasn't a hard and fast rule at my comprehensive, but certain teachers would bitch about it. Half my school was in an older building with inadequate heating and no air conditioning. Hot summer of 2006 was the crunch point when the Psycho head of Year decided that 'proper uniforms' had to be worn despite several classrooms being sweltering hot.
It came to the crunch when one guy brought in a thermometer and a health and safety at work manual and stated that the Maths & Geography classrooms were to hot to work in, he was going to change into shorts and the local newspapers had already been contacted over the wearing uniforms in hot classrooms. Head Psycho spluttered like a boiling kettle but kept her stupid mouth shut after that. All the grass on the playing field died and they wanted us to write stuff in 94°F heat??? F*ck no!

@BIossomtoes so if a child is literally too hot that they can't concentrate that's not worth complaining about.
Or their blazer is too tight over the shoulders and they can barely move their arms?

Yeah it's stupid.
Just marks any child out who is naturally disorganised or forgetful, for a life of absolute misery. Great way to make good intelligent kids hate school and feel like a failure... just because they find things like that hard.
Rules should be for things that make sense as reasonable and necessary. Keeping safe, being kind etc.. not just for the sake of having something to berate kids about

It's the same at my DD's school. I find it bizarre. Why not let kids decide if they're too hot or cold?