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.

If I had my way I would abolish school uniforms. Most countries don't have them and I don't understand why we continue to do so.

I loved my blazer at secondary, loads of hidden pockets to stash stuff in

Not sure exactly how you got that from my post. (Though actually I would have been fine without the kids that were using 'fuck off' in reception being there)

It does sound snobby to be fair.

Why would you bin them?
Surely you'd donate them to a uniform exchange?

It sounds like there's a kind of snobbery in the OP, with the assumption that 'affluent areas' = smarter uniform and so switching to polos makes the school seem like 'low rent'.

Locally this is very much the case - doubtless my view would be different if the local context was different

@Byetoshirts
i disagree. I wish all kids would wear something comfortable and 100% cotton.

why do the girls learn better in skirst - private schools?

why do they wear pollycotton shirts? The sweating is worst in them and they incomfortable.

why do they need a tie and a blazer for for some a hat? Again private schools!

my husband work in finance and he hasnt worn a tie for 20+ yrs.
i dress very smartly when on clients meetings then i have my sites outfits - comfy warm and hard wearing and boots.

i still learn and i am pretty good at what i do.

children need to learn when to be comfy and when to dress smartly.
but for primary schools, you want them run and play.
they ll learn much better than in those stuffy old school uniforms

Gosh my DC’s infant school doesn’t even have a uniform (thank goodness) so good to know we’re considered even worse than “low rent” 😂 DC1’s school must be slightly higher class as they wear polo shirts.

This country has a weird obsession with school uniform. I didn’t wear one for the whole of primary but still coped with a shirt, blazer and tie at secondary, despite the impracticality of them. The only time I’ve ever worn a suit in corporate life has been for a job interview.

Our school are all polo shirts - you always know what school kids come from when they're in the parks after school. The secondary thankfully started a relaxed uniform policy a couple years ago - black leggings/ joggers, black or white t-shirt, school hoodie or plain black one (and they all get a free hoodie on day 1 of high school)

We live in a very mixed catchment so I'm sure cost was a driver, but it's lovely that the primary kids can play outside at any time, they have a huge focus on outside learning and the kids are always warm / cool and comfortable throughout the day.

I grew up in a country without school uniform so instinctively didn't like the idea when my kids started school but I'm a total convert now! So easy in the mornings and incredibly easy to do the back to school shopping in the summer - 5 sets of joggers / leggings / tops and some shoes and you're done. I remember the endless, endless arguing and conversations and faff around school clothes growing up.

Sorry I meant more as in we can't benefit from them any more. I wouldn't literally throw them away.

Me too. Cost far too much and wastes so much energy on having the right shoes or coat to ‘comply’. All the arguments for uniform are about behaviour and belonging which is nonsense. In company’s that have dress codes it is about professionalism and branding. We don’t need that for kids. We need them to be comfortable.
People claim its bad for poorer kids, but give it a couple of months and all the kids will end up wearing jeans and a hoody because they’ll be bored of trying and it wont be cool to dress up for school.

My DC wore polo shirts for school uniform back in the 90s. It's much more practical for primary age children.
And it hasn't affected their abilities to dress appropriately in their chosen workplaces, which are all varied with very different dress codes.

100% agree!

I think they look so chavvy.

I hated this element of DS's school uniform.

Not as bad as the sweatshirts though. They're so bad. I refused to buy one and put DS in a school colours jumper over winter instead. Most parents did, to be fair.

Oh God, the PE fleece as well! Shudder.

I had terrible trouble with my youngest ND as he was fine with a shirt but hated polo shirts, the school catered for him for a year but then it was ‘tough’. ☹️

@Byetoshirts how many children do you have to have 25+ shirts??

i was with you because in france we dont have them. But my kids have been schooled in the english system and wear them.
now i am convinced because oh my it makes the mornings so much easier. They moan about it but i couldnt care less and there are no arguments - from
my side anyway 😝 any breach and it is their problem only even if detention. I buy what they need and if they CHOOSE not to wear them, they pay their time.

i just wish uniforms were design with comfort in mind and breathable fabrics

@JustSawJohnny do you think the millions of employees required to wear a polo are chavvy? also standard police uniform now.

I agree, it was never a thing when we were young
it looks scruffy

Why do you want them to look more affluent? They're children, not a status symbol.

My sons wear polo shirts, one is in their final year. I think they look fairly smart, certainly not scruffier than their older sibling who wears a shirt and tie.
Their polos aren’t white, they are a dark colour with school badge on, wash pretty well and withstand the football playing/grime of forest school etc
I’d personally prefer secondary schools to wear them instead of the shirt, tie and blazer, a more gender neutral option that’s fairly smart, practical and comfortable.
There aren’t many professions that wear a shirt, tie, blazer combo these days.
My son’s paediatric consultant wears chinos and a smart polo shirt as it puts children more at ease, if it’s good enough for him I don’t see it as ‘low rent’

Yeah but coppers get to top them off with those stab vest things and they're hot 😂

I don't think they look smart on anyone, TBH.

Maybe paired with chinos and boat shoes, and with a jumper draped over the shoulders 😁

I would more judge a primary school who wanted to put 4 year olds in shirts.

Let kids be comfortable. It’s also more reflective of much adult working life now.

A local private secondary to me also lets kids wear chinos instead of the typical crap school trousers. Much better idea IMO.

Interestingly it’s the exact opposite around here - the outstanding need-to-live-within-500m-of-the-gate-to-get-in state secondaries and half the private schools are polo shirts and jumpers, whereas the requires-improvement academies with metal detectors on the gates are all shiny polyester blazers, ties, and shoe arguments (all the primaries, state and private, have polo shirts).

So ties and blazers gives me “we run a boot camp for delinquents” vibes personally (as in, that is the school ethos, not that the kids are actually delinquent).

Oh, belt up. What an utter bunch of snobby, ableist nonsense.

Our secondary school has gone the other way - from blue polos & sweatshirt to white shirts, ties & blazers and not one person is happy about it! The kids hate it as they are uncomfortable to wear, cant take their blazer off without permission, feel restricted all the time & just generally dont like it. Parents hate it as the polos were quick & easy to wash & dry & didnt need to be ironed.

It was also a lot cheaper to buy 5 polos & 5 sweatshirts so they could wear a clean one every day & just wash them altogether at the weekend. Now, with the price of the blazer, most only get 5 shirts & 1 blazer which is incredibly hard to wash & dry quickly & is made of such a material that it smells most of the time due to sweat being imbedded in it.

Most kids ride their bikes to school (& have to wear their blazer on the journey as they are 'representing the school' unless its the height of summer & they have been given permission to not have to wear it). Most ride between 1 - 5 miles to school every morning & then back again that day. Thats a lot of sweat from hormonal teenagers & as I said the blazer cant be washed & dried every night & most cant afford to buy more than 1 so the smell isn't pleasant!

There is absolutely no love at all for shirts & blazers here & the parents are hoping that it soon reverts back to the common sense uniform they had before.