To think Teenage boy school shoes aren’t fit for purpose?

[Obeseandashamed]

I have a 13 year old with size 9/10 feet. A few of the boys in his class also have similar sized feet so he’s not a complete anomaly. We’ve been looking for school shoes and there seems to be nothing age appropriate out there in his size. Clarks only had one style available in his size and they were too narrow on the toe so not ideal. The other styles were far too grown up for a 13 year old. Everything in schuh, office & next wouldn’t suit a teenage boy who loves to play sport at break/lunch times either as they didn’t seem durable and/or were too grown up. His school won’t allow anything that looks anything remotely like trainers so I will have to resign myself to buying him dress shoes that I know will have to be replaced on a monthly basis 😅 I probably am being unreasonable and probably also exaggerating with envisaging monthly shoe purchases but I needed a rant as it’s a bone of contention in our household at the moment. If anybody had any recommendations for trendy but long lasting shoes suitable for school, please share them!

Hard agree. It drives me bananas.

When I was at school loads of boys just carried trainers in their backpack to play footie at lunch. I don't see why this isn't an option.

The focus of school shoes for teens is not for them to hone their football skills, its for them to be tidy/presentable and relatively consistent in style so that you don't get hideous competing for who can have the most expensive Nikes.

Glad you have found Start Rite. They do hardy boys' school shoes up to a 12.

If it makes you feel better, it's even worse when it's your daughter who has the size 9 feet in KS3. This is the last year she'll be able to wear 'girls' school shoes if she keeps growing - Start Rite girls' go up to a 43. From next year she'll have to wear boys' shoes or something from a specialist retailer costing £££.

Last year for Y11 school shirts (impossible to find in stock in the usual places) we found Matalan had a ‘Ready for College’ range of plain shirts and trousers in adult sizes, I think from memory they were around £10 each for short sleeves. More expensive than a multi pack of school shirts, but better than ‘dress’ shirts.

I used to get my sons school shoes from deichmamm.... they used to last for ages and looked smart. There are some sites on line that do mens shoes.

I generally agree with you. DS has massive feet and I've been buying the below for the last few years. Comfy and pretty durable for playing football at break

https://www.next.co.uk/style/su071678/415831#415831

Ours are allowed black trainers. I'm not aware it creates any bullying issues and the kids have practical footwear. School uniforms really need to relax a bit and change with the times. How many people go to work in shirt, tie and jacket these days?

My 11 year old is already in size 6, and has a predicted growth rate of a size 14 shoe by the time he is 14.
As a chiropodist I don’t believe in children wearing none supportive shoes, so it’s always Hush Puppies or Geox. As for trainers for PE, I encourage my sons to take the in every day and change their shoes before going out to play. They are only allowed sketchers trainers, as other brands of shoe are just not good enough.
I have also been known to give the school a proper tongue lashing over their restrictive shoe policy, and forcibly changed our primary schools policy of no trainers, to appropriately coloured, supportive trainers. Which is better for growing feet anyway.
But then I am a little bit obsessed with shoes!!

Dms. Ds is nearly 16. 5,10 and size 8 feet, so not massive really. He's fairly slim, but batters his shoes. Kickers lasted 4 months. And he doesn't play football, just walks to and from school. Dms have been amazing for him.

It's school trousers that have pissed me off. You pay VAT on 30 waist, because they're adult sizes.

And girl shoes. They're worse. Although that's partly because dd insists on wearing loafers, which wear out ridiculously quickly. She won't wear dm ones.

Dear shops, some school kids walk a lot. Make your shoes fit for purpose.

School rules can be a pain in the arse. My son’s school specified, must be black, no trainers, must be leather, no boots. Yet surprisingly permitted Air Force One - leather but what I’d class as a trainer, these seemed to be the go too for most of the boys at the school but by lord they aren’t cheap.

My DS school allow plain black Air Force 1 or similar (with all tags removed) and the vast majority of boys wear them. I resisted for two years and DS had DMs, which were pretty much demolished by the end of a school year. Last year I caved and allowed the £££ Air Force but, honestly, they have been the most hardwearing shoes he has ever owned. We bought them a bit on the big side and they are going strong into their second year. I was also quite surprised when DS tried them on the first time - I thought they looked more like a grandad shoe than a trainer 😂OP, can you present an argument to the school based on a value for money/grandad basis? What are they afraid might happen if the kids wear a plain black trainer-style shoe?

Ascent footwear UK site

DS has had shoes from here the last couple of years - wide toe box and he finds them comfortable.

Just take care to check whether you are looking at US or UK sizes on the Ascent site

Yanbu.
Schools need to come into the 20th century and let kids wear trainers to school. They're better for walking in and kicking a ball at breaktime.

No one in my office wears shoes. All in smart trainers, even for meetings.

Nike courts. They are made of leather so no one can tell me they are trainers.
I am not putting him in a pair of ridiculous dress shoes or a pair of oversized little boy Clark’s/start-rite shoes. He will wear shoes befitting of a teenage boy in 2025 - ones that don’t make him look a knob.

Not to alarm you but my son was in size 14 shoes and 6'4 by the time he left school, year 11 was...interesting.
At a size 10 I would have thought there should be plenty of choice for your son but you will struggle if you are trying to find him something suitable to play football in! If he wants to play he would be better taking some trainers in to wear at lunchtime so his shoes are just shoes.

13 year old boy can't change his shoes for football at lunch? No wonder the country is such a mess

Hush puppies

I'm with you. Size 10 football mad 12 year old here. He got through 3 pairs last year, and that was wearing them until the soles were literally hanging off. This year I've bought Kickers for £32 from Sports Direct. They're a bit trainer-like so school might not like them but I can't go on replacing shoes every term.

Our school doesn't allow any visible branding, which rules out all decent brands, DS is dyspraxic so laces should be avoided and he is a size 11 with really wide feet. He also cycles to school and plays football at lunchtimes. Shoes are a nightmare, in the end last year I had to buy cheap shoes from Shoe Zone as the only thing that worked, and have actually lasted better than expected.

DS wore Dr Martens service shoes (no yellow stitching or visible branding plus cheaper) all through secondary school. He is not easy on shoes at all and still never wore them out, just outgrew them

Most secondary schools don't have lockers any more as they take up too much space so it isn't always practical to carry an extra pair of shoes.

No they don't carry a spare pair of shoes around all day generally!

My 15 year old has these for school, they seem to be cheap and comfy and meet all the school's rules.
https://www.sportsdirect.com/kangol-harrow-leather-mens-shoes-112081#colcode=11208103

My son is 14, size 11 and pretty narrow to boot, and we’ve experienced this issue. We tend to buy shoes from Deichmann’s leather range.
fortunately, he’s not sporty so at least that’s easier?!

https://www.mandmdirect.com/01/details/BS30055?istCompanyId=9f9ff470-bcac-401b-814f-8f12edbd3b8b&istFeedId=d66f05e8-0145-4833-93eb-995bd3c15e0b&istItemId=pwrtiplil&istBid=t&gclsrc=aw.ds&&campaignid=21448490360&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21448490360&gbraid=0AAAAAD5OKP2rAnFa-mGmNplO9dzgLIeov&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_L_FBhDmARIsAItqgt7di8mpNHM0LlTt0PmKu_QK_pfAr94pFjVFz3Cv7ZYGgKzxw9OntJgaAv08EALw_wcB

https://www.schuh.co.uk/mens/schuh-reed-lace-up-black-shoes/3170237060/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces-across-google&utm_campaign=organic-shopping&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21842383142&gbraid=0AAAAAD4NavfNoU3FpA5OTy0UgqKu6yyH-&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_L_FBhDmARIsAItqgt5U_okWoYb3FYXICrQUugKFagQnNEov100xvUPPorBfy_MLK74CMgcaAp87EALw_wcB

https://www.schuh.co.uk/mens/schuh-reece-moccasin-lace-up-black-shoes/3170217060/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=surfaces-across-google&utm_campaign=organic-shopping&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20480134934&gbraid=0AAAAACRNgjgeZ7GEg5KiIvZMgjZt76_v7&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_L_FBhDmARIsAItqgt79ww8Dv4tu-aZwXL5CDV42dXwL7SdSQnjUr7rgDKLP99c3BtqJVrUaAqQmEALw_wcB

some of the options I looked at for my 14 year old?

Geox here too, we order a few pairs 'try before you pay' on Amazon and send back what we don't want. Last 2 pairs have lasted a full school year each. Not cheap but they're worth it.