To think that switching to polo shirts makes the school uniform look low-rent?

[Byetoshirts]

My kids' primary has announced a change from shirts to polo shirts (previously just KS1) for all years except year 6.

I just think it looks a bit rubbish - all the other (in the main more affluent) local primaries have kids that look smart, and ours now get to look like they've just rolled out of bed. My DC are annoyed as they enjoy looking smart at school.

I associate polos in school uniform with young children and others who struggle with buttons and spilling stuff on themselves.

They also wash and wear badly (as stains kind embed themselves in polos) and the collar doesn't sit properly when open so a lot of (KS1) kids wear them tightly buttoned up to the neck, which doesn't exactly seem comfortable.

Our primary wear them and they all look
smart, as long as they’re washed and ironed. They are so much comfier as well.

I work at a luxury product, large corporate and you should see the way some people turn up to the office these days.

I agree, I think a shirt and tie looks smart, and my dc never say they feel uncomfortable- i think they're thinner than polo's so better in summer.

Many of the central London preps wear variations on a polo shirt and they look very smart - nothing low rent about them!

I think polos at primary are far more practical.

Changing just for year 6 sounds like a waste of money (unless you are saying it is a whole school change but new y6 will be exempted which sounds very sensible?).

Polos are the norm round me.

Our local primary changed (after my DCs left) to sports wear as the main uniform. They have trainers, jogging bottoms, t shirt and hoodie as the main uniform and don't change for PE. I think that looks scruffy and absolutely doesn't prepare them for going to any of the local comps who all have blazer, shirt, tie and proper shoes.

I think you might need to work on your internalised sense of class shame.

Polo shirts are the way forward. Take your point about stains, so a darker colour is better - burgundy, blue - than white

This

Children go to school to learn, not to look smart.

Polo shirts are absolutely fine and preferred over shirt and tie.

Nah, let the primary kids be comfortable - they'll have plenty of 'opportunities' when they're older to have to wear uncomfortable and impractical clothes that are deemed to 'look more professional'.

The whole point of uniforms is to promote unified identity and sense of belonging and to prevent poorer/nerdier pupils from being marked out or bullied if they can't afford/don't know or care about the latest fashions. All of the kids wearing the same polo shirt fulfils that function exactly the same as all of the kids wearing scratchy shirts/blouses and/or ties.

As a teacher, I would see PE type uniforms (polo shirts and joggers, leggings or shorts) for all primary aged children tbh.

When most adults aren't required to wear shirts and ties all day for work, I don't see why they are forced on young children.

I agree that shirts and ties look nice and smart but it's not all about aesthetics.

Primary teachers are usually allowed to wear more casual clothes for work precisely because of the nature of the job. It would seem fitting that children can do the same.

Christ. Who cares? Comfortable is best as far as I’m concerned.

Meh. A lot of uniforms look cheap because they are made with low quality materials. They don't magically look better because they are all wearing ties IMHO.

I think if schools are going to insist on uniforms it's a lot nicer if kids are given something comfortable to wear.

Polo shirts wash so well and are very durable, dd's are blue and come up perfectly. Also, if you hang them up straight away there is no ironing required., which is a bonus. There's really no need for children to be in starchy shirts and the polos are light and breathable.

I definitely wouldn't want mine wearing a tie, most corporate offices don't even require that nowadays so I really don't think young children should.

The next things that need to be removed are the ridiculous blazers in secondary schools- horrible.

Small children don’t need to be restricted with a shirt and tie (well neither do teenagers). I don’t think a uniform is a bad idea but it’s important children can be comfortable to play and learn. I’s choose polo shirts over shirt and tie. And many children do feel uncomfortable in a shirt and tie. It looks ridiculous on a 4 year old when very few working people dress like that now.

I don't see the issue. Seems more practical and comfortable to me which should be the priority but then I also hate how popular blazer and shirts with ties are with a lot of high schools now.

The high school my son will probably end up at is polo shirts too and no blazers. The only one in the area that doesn't have bloody blazers.

Can't you have a choice of either?? I would stick to shirts

I think polos look smarter than crushed half hanging out shirts with collars all over the place

Never really thought about it. It's just school uniform. I always think the scruffier they look at 3pm, the more fun they've had at school 🤣

Honestly I feel the opposite. When I was young it was polo shirts, stretchy trousers and nice warm jumpers all the way from primary to secondary.. the year after I left they swapped to shirts and ties and I was so glad I missed it.

Uniform should be about practicality and not getting in the way of learning. In my experience now in education, the more formal you make the uniforms the more potential for problems.

E.g. a tie does nothing to make a kid learn better, but now they get in trouble if they forget them. The blazers aren't as warm as jumpers.. shirts tucked in is another rule that causes hassle but does nothing to help their education.

It is simply a trickle down effect of state schools and academies copying private schools and trying to get a quick win by showing the parents how "smart and professional" their kids look, so that they may think the school is smart and professional too... A lot easier to do that than actually improve your education offering.

Functional uniforms over smart all day long.

(And considering the reduction in the number of workplaces requiring suits and ties, the argument that it is preparing them for their future is nonsense)

My dc’s secondary jus switched from blazers and ties to polos and jumpers. Honestly, they loll
less smart, but much more importantly the children are more comfortable, happier and warmer. They’ll
learn better because of it, so I don’t care. If you are more concerned about appearances, that’s a you thing.

Our previous primary wore navy blue (not white!) polos and it was best thing since sliced bread. No separation for washing, they never stained, it was the best.

I think it’s the way most schools are moving and it’s sensible. Our secondary is now polos (still white 😩) and cotton jumpers instead of blazers. I think they look nice and not as chaavy as the old uniform. Primary school can be dress shirts or polos, but with tie and cotton jumper instead of knit. It looks fine.

Our primary has polos and it is practical and sensible. I want my kids to be comfortable in the classroom and active at playtime.

Our school allows either white polos or the school colour (bottle green). The green ones don't stain.

I hate the British obsession with dressing small children up in a miniature version of old fashioned adult workwear (which few adults even wear nowadays). Then we wonder why active play is on the decline when kids are made to wear starched shirts and ties with restrictive blazers, and polished shoes they can't run and climb in!

I can't remember the last time I worked in a school that still had shirts. The agony of trying to help little ones fasten buttons on stiff collars!

Polo shirts are far better but then I never cared if the school was "affluent!.

It's a bit difficult if it's a uniform, though, as they look noticeably different - you do really have to go for one or the other.

Plus I could well imagine it becoming a social class distinguishing thing, whereby a shirt is seen as a marker of a 'decent, well-brought-up child from a good home'; whereas only the 'chavs' turn up in a polo shirt.