or is the school?

[claw3]

Just had a phone call from school to say that the Head has decided to clamp down on 'incorrect' school uniform and that my ds 13 is with her in the office and they want to send him home to change his shoes.

He is wearing all black plimsoll type shoes, which up until this point have been allowed in school.

I explained that these are the only school shoes he has at the moment and that i cannot afford to buy him any different shoes until the 13th January, but would do so then.

She has told me she has been advised by the Head that he will have to stay home until the 13th.

I have told her that is ridiculous and is not acceptable to me. She is going to get back to me.

Madame, your kids still go to school in 8 inches of snow?

Its not snowing here yet, but usually as the first flake falls, all the schools shut.

"only personality is through their clothes"

I think that is a bit extreme - you can express yourself with clothing and have a personality as well.

I don't get your point awassailing

I think the OPs school is assuming responsibility where the parents are falling short.I am really struggling to believe that so many parents would buy flimsy canvas shoes for their DS's as winter school shoes.I have a DS of nearly 15 and another of nearly 12 and all the boys at their state school wear black leather lace-ups!

I am surpirsed at how this thread has gone - it is marvellous!

If the school are excluding him on teh basis of footwear, that is ridiculous and I would complain strongly.

I don't see a problem with your intention to buy shoes on the 13 Jan. The school should wait till then.

LOADS of teens will wear plimsolls and unsuitable footwear in winter! What is wrong with you all. That's what teens excel at. I could not get my 13 yr old to buy a sensible pair of winter boots for love nor money, she would rather have carried on wearing her holey fashion boots.

As claw says, if a 13 yr old would rather have cold wet feet, let him.

YANBU especially since they seem to have been acceptable between September and Christmas.

I hope you the school back down for you and all the other parents of plimsoll wearing teens, at least until you can afford them.

Nice proper winter shoes for teens are very very pricey if they are anywhere near cool enough. So glad my little one will wear what he's told for now.

Good luck!

hang on - claw hasn't said she CAN'T afford a pair of school shoes at all. She's said she can't afford it until the 13th. She had previously not known (until today), that these shoes weren't acceptable so doesn't have the money NOW to pay for it. That doesn't mean that she can't afford them at all, just not today. Just like with many things that come up unexpectedly in life often the money is there "now" - but will be in a few days/weeks time.

I need to buy DS3 some more trousers (he's grown again ), I can't afford to do so until the 24th......it's not that I don't can't afford it, it's not that I over spent at Christmas, it's just my current lot of money is already budgetted for other stuff, so they'll have to wait until I get more money in.

OOps. Ignore the first 'you'.

the op bought her son something he truly wanted to wear to school. She didn't know the school, well one berk in the school was going to become the shoes police TODAY!!

Yet, I would ring the headmaster/mistress and get the full story.

MAYBE, they were told weeks back, beofre the holidays, and ds either didn't hear or chose not too??!

never realised people could get so heated about black plimsolls.

My mum didn;t get involved in what to wear to school when I was 13, if I got stuff confiscated that was my look out.

Perhaps school could supply some really unfashionable shoes in each size and confiscate plimsoles? And Claw should perhaps be publiccally whipped for being such a terrible paretn.

Minty

I was talking about those people who complain about uniform suppressing their little darlings personality ,you always get a few on uniforms threads (grin)

Madame - Of course i buy his shoes for him, as i said earlier, i did warn him his feet would be cold and get wet (obviously i thought these were ok with the school, otherwise i wouldnt have)

I also pay for him to have his haircut, but i dont dictate how he should have it cut.

He is a teenager boy, its about making your own choices (within reason)

bruffin - Oh I see. I actually make sure mine looks quite smart really. Its the girls that roll up their skirts until you can see their knickers that worry me. What are they trying to express ?

"I actually make sure mine looks quite smart really. "

until you're out of view

My little darling can express his own personality well enough whatever he wears still hate bloody uniforms tho

Absolutely Awassailing I have to play the mean old mum role or what would she have to say to her mates.

Claw have you heard back from school yet?

lol Minty - that reminds me of what DS1 informed me that he'd told his friend at school yesterday

apparently I have called his friend silly and not very nice............

What I ACTUALLY said to him during the holidays was that his friend's behaviouris often silly and not very nice

(we have a BIG distinction in this house between someone's behaviour not being very nice, and someone not being very nice and he knows full well what I meant)

ahhhh well - never did much like the kid anyhow so no skin of my back if he doesn't like me now LOL.

Well you know Awasailing it wouldn't be cool for our childrens friends to like us anyway so it doesn't matter what we do !

yes, any news from school ?

Just phoned school, ds has been given a 'uniform pass' until the 13th hooray!

but i have been warned that under no circumstances may i go a day over the 13th boo!

Apparently, no notice was given to parents or children of this clamp down, because 'it has always been school policy'

I did ask how all the other children who wear these would know that they were no longer acceptable etc, if parents or children were not told and i was told 'it is down to the Head of each year to enforce it'!

So we will end up with some heads of year, not bothering and some who will and some children still wearing them and others being sent home etc.

Oh well, life is a bitch i suppose.

ridiculous, it should be the same rule for all years.

at least there's sales atm?

I am glad that a little sanity has prevailed, claw, but I would be tempted to contact the Headteacher and say that the uniform policy does not make it at all clear what is meant by black shoes, and that the school should inform parents clearly what is and is not considered a shoe by the school.

I would also say that whilst the uniform policy has always been in place, that the decision to crack down on the types of shoes that are or are not acceptable is a new departure and that therefore the school should be informing parents by letter.

Bloody uniform policies... I went to a very prim all-girls grammar school (Thatchers old one, she was head girl in her day, whoopdedoo) and the head of year really would measure skirts. Boots were NOT allowed nor heels. I was virtually flogged for wearing DMs. However black canvas shoes with laces and black rubber toes? Fine!
Pleased your son has a pass but how annoying that its down to the head of year so some are punished and some not.

I am smiling because the black plimsolls illustrated are the sort of shoes handed out at my teens school to anyone not wearing "proper" school shoes, as a badge of shame We are obviously very untrendy round here. YANBU ask the school to loan you the money to be repaid on the 13th if they can't wait until you can afford to replace them.

Quite frankly the money and whether or not Claw can afford new shoes (not to mention her festive fecklessness ) has bugger all to do with it. The shoes are plain and they are black and are basically fine (crap in the winter but that's for the ds to deal with - he's 13 ffs!).

The school changed the rules - they should have to wait now until the Cons are outgrown or worn out.