“No onesies please as it makes the children in school jealous”

[Lemons1571]

A message from the head of our primary. Please could all parents at home please ensure their primary children are fully dressed in day clothes ready for their class 9am zoom. No onesies. Apparently the children actually allowed to go to school are annoyed seeing their classmates lounging at home in onesies / pj’s / loungewear.

Ummm, I’m sorry, I thought I heard you issuing instructions on what I must / must not do in my own house. What possible authority does a school have to do this? Kids forced out of face to face education. Being shown some lovely examples of the artwork done by the kids at school over zoom with the caveat “oh don’t worry I know you can’t do this at home”.

Read the room ffs. Just another request to put other people’s children before my own. As it happens my primary child gets dressed of his own accord, but if he wanted to wear a onesie then quite frankly anyone else’s opinion can fuck off.

Physically going to school = uniform worn as per school rules.
Physically barred from school = my house my rules.

No doubt I’m overreacting but it annoyed me!

Funny how other people view onesies. In our house it's definitely not nightwear, more like an indoor outfit. DD will strip of her outdoor clothes as soon as she's home and change into a onesie. Hers are all cotton lycra though, so same material as her usual shirt/legging combo, just with a looser fit.

How can schools see anyway that children are wearing onesies? Surely the top half can just look like any other hoodie.

Demanding kids wear uniform at home is madness in my opinion. As if parents don't have enough on their plates.

Put school said appropriate clothing. I get my son dressed every morning in proper clothes but if he refuses then a onesie it is.

I'm a teacher and we are really just trying to keep all of the children on an even keel at the moment.

The children at home are sad that they're not in school with their friends, so we don't talk about anything that we've done in class.

The children in school are sad that they're not at home watching tv in their pjs at 9am (their perception of what the children at home are doing).

If the school has said no pjs then some of the children at school must be getting upset about it, as they wouldn't be asking just to inconvenience you or piss you off.

So, since it's an easy fix, why would you be so angry about it, so dismissive of upset children?

In our school we've said no sleepwear as inappropriate.

Totally reasonable request, and in any event I think it’s important for the mental wellbeing of the children that they get dressed for the day.

LolaSmiles

Your goady "how will11 year old DC manage in life without live zoom lessons" are just putting you in a bad light I am afraid.

Don't pretend that all the children at school are vulnerable. We all know it's not true. Maybe you happen to work in a more deprived area, or maybe you are just hypocritical.

Most kids in my kids classes are not vulnerable, have parents who could very well keep them home but chose to use the school, because it's easier, because it's better for their children to be with teacher and friends than stuck at home - they are not wrong there.
SAH mothers who don't deny that keeping the children home would take away all their time.

I don't believe you are genuine, otherwise you would be the first to understand why keeping school ONLY for vulnerable children and critical workers is a necessity.

Too many kids increase the risk of class sent in isolation. Your vulnerable children are now sent home for 2 weeks instead of being at home. Your critical worker cannot work because their young child is at home.

If you were genuine, you would acknowledge that's it's a reality.

*instead of being at SCHOOL

@Iknowwhatudidlastsummer

LolaSmiles

Your goady "how will11 year old DC manage in life without live zoom lessons" are just putting you in a bad light I am afraid.

Don't pretend that all the children at school are vulnerable. We all know it's not true. Maybe you happen to work in a more deprived area, or maybe you are just hypocritical.

Most kids in my kids classes are not vulnerable, have parents who could very well keep them home but chose to use the school, because it's easier, because it's better for their children to be with teacher and friends than stuck at home - they are not wrong there.
SAH mothers who don't deny that keeping the children home would take away all their time.

I don't believe you are genuine, otherwise you would be the first to understand why keeping school ONLY for vulnerable children and critical workers is a necessity.

Too many kids increase the risk of class sent in isolation. Your vulnerable children are now sent home for 2 weeks instead of being at home. Your critical worker cannot work because their young child is at home.

If you were genuine, you would acknowledge that's it's a reality.

'most kids in my kids classes are not vulnerable, have parents who could very well keep them home but chose to use the school, because it's easier, because it's better for their children to be with teacher and friends than stuck at home'

This is not the reality everywhere, or in secondary.

@rawlikesushi

I'm a teacher and we are really just trying to keep all of the children on an even keel at the moment.

The children at home are sad that they're not in school with their friends, so we don't talk about anything that we've done in class.

The children in school are sad that they're not at home watching tv in their pjs at 9am (their perception of what the children at home are doing).

If the school has said no pjs then some of the children at school must be getting upset about it, as they wouldn't be asking just to inconvenience you or piss you off.

So, since it's an easy fix, why would you be so angry about it, so dismissive of upset children?

In our school we've said no sleepwear as inappropriate.

I think because when my child is upset about an aspect of homeschooling, there is no timely solution. Can’t do a maths question? Sorry no one to ask for help is free atm, we’ll get back to you sometime. Artwork - here’s what you could have made (shows an example on zoom), but sorry you can’t make that as you don’t have the stuff and you’re parents are working so they can’t help you. But yet again we are all asked to swallow our own feelings and put the feelings of others first.

This is not the reality everywhere, or in secondary.

of course not
and all schools are not similar.

but it's true in some places. Laughing at kids not even given the chance of a live lesson is rather pathetic, why are they punished because their parents didn't play the "keyworker" card. Look at the list, there's not many jobs who don't qualify.

All the children in in my school (although secondary we do have a LOT in) are vulnerable or have two critical worker parents (a lot are healthcare workers, teachers or police). No one is taking the piss.

Kids in secondary school really, really wish they could be at home. They're not getting teaching, they're getting supervision. They're freezing cold because it's January and the windows are wide open. They have to wear masks. They can't use their phones during the day (obviously, but all the kids at home can and are throughout all the live lessons - and how can we stop them - so they're actually missing out on all the socialising which their friends at home are carrying on all day). They're crying because they have to wear earphones in their ears all day because they're all in different lessons (kids at home don't have to). They have to wear full proper uniform. They get break time but they have to spend it on the freezing cold playground whereas in normal times they could go to the library or a different indoor space or to a club. They can't sack off any lessons and go bake a cake or go for a walk (which, within reason, their friends at home can.)

It's not black and white, is my point. I can imagine that in primary school, some kids are upset are seeing their friends at home in their warm homes, wearing comfy clothes and being with their parents. It cuts both ways.

@Iknowwhatudidlastsummer

This is not the reality everywhere, or in secondary.

of course not
and all schools are not similar.

but it's true in some places. Laughing at kids not even given the chance of a live lesson is rather pathetic, why are they punished because their parents didn't play the "keyworker" card. Look at the list, there's not many jobs who don't qualify.

Again not the same everywhere.

I didn't see that interaction but it's not true to say that most kids are in.

Oh, and a last one:

If the kids at home have got even vaguely okay wifi, then they're getting better lessons than the ones at school as the school infrastructure is so absolutely terrible, that they can't even hear/see half of the lessons.

We had to agree with school’s contract over use of live streaming, including dress code and suitable locations - needed to be fully dressed in suitable clothing in a public room of the house with an adult nearby. So no onesies, no revealing clothing, no nightwear and no tech in bedrooms or bathrooms.

@RandomGrammarPun

All the children in in my school (although secondary we do have a LOT in) are vulnerable or have two critical worker parents (a lot are healthcare workers, teachers or police). No one is taking the piss.

Kids in secondary school really, really wish they could be at home. They're not getting teaching, they're getting supervision. They're freezing cold because it's January and the windows are wide open. They have to wear masks. They can't use their phones during the day (obviously, but all the kids at home can and are throughout all the live lessons - and how can we stop them - so they're actually missing out on all the socialising which their friends at home are carrying on all day). They're crying because they have to wear earphones in their ears all day because they're all in different lessons (kids at home don't have to). They have to wear full proper uniform. They get break time but they have to spend it on the freezing cold playground whereas in normal times they could go to the library or a different indoor space or to a club. They can't sack off any lessons and go bake a cake or go for a walk (which, within reason, their friends at home can.)

It's not black and white, is my point. I can imagine that in primary school, some kids are upset are seeing their friends at home in their warm homes, wearing comfy clothes and being with their parents. It cuts both ways.

100000 percent this.

Wow. My two (year 5 and reception) have no live sessions at all. Just a few tasks to do each day and submit via teams. It can be fitted in round the family's needs rather than timetabled by school. And obviously no one is bothered about clothes. I'm reading so many cases of schools being very prescriptive and full on and I'm so glad our two schools are not.

Ridiculous request. My DC homeschool class recently did a video link with the class "the children have all got in from playtime, they got extra time for being superstars."

I mean that's lovely but a group of 5 year olds dont always understand why half the class can play with friends as normal while they sit alone letting mummy work.

If a onesie makes things a bit more fun, bloody let them wear one!

This would have pissed me off too. My kids can wear what they want in their own home. DD's Keyworker classmates are in school being taught by their usual teacher while she struggles at home alone with us helping her where we can between working. Her morning video from the teacher, where she talks about what she is going to do with the children in school that day, is like a slap in the face every time. She's going to be a mile behind them by the time she's back.

I always wonder how these kids grow up.

Will they be turning up on work zooms in their pjs, arguing they can do whatever the hell they want in their own homes?

What’s wrong with putting on clothes to participate in a school lesson?

They will have to go back to school soon enough, get up,early, get showered, but on a school uniform. Why not try and keep some semblance of a routine?

Of course the keyworker/home divide is very different for secondary. OP's child is in primary so an age where kids can't meet up for exercise with a friend nor find being at home alone preferable to being at school alone (no friends) Our secondary has a no camera rule. They've told the kids that it's for safeguarding reasons and so that they aren't hogging the family Internet bandwidth. I'm relieved that there's no uniform requirement and I'm sure that the kids are too.

Assuming that the kids are sat still with the camera showing head and shoulders, it's hard to imagine how they'd know if children at home are wearing pjs or day clothes. My kids tend to wear tshirts, hoodies and sweatshirts that could pass for either.

It's good that some of the teachers on this thread are sensitive to the kids at home but I've seen threads where schools are telling the kids at home about the activities that they've missed and some kids have been unable to access online lessons as the jealousy of kids at school
are too much for them to handle.

It's definitely not on for schools or teachers to be making a point of mentioning fun things the kids in school are doing that those at home can't.

I am a teacher. Our expectations are that pupils will appropriately dressed, sitting in a sensible place to learn and that cameras absolutely must be turned on. Refusal to turn on the camera will result in the pupil being removed from the meeting for safeguarding reasons. We have already had 2 incidences of pupils saying that they were having technical problems with their cameras when in reality they were using their mobile phones to film the meeting.

Caaarrrl

What if kids don’t have a camera?

I was going to say the same. One of my kids has a gaming desktop with no webcam.

The only thing that strikes me here is I don’t think all the kids at school prefers to be there. One of my DC has two friends going in so she’s happy. The other has a friend in for two days a week but she’s content to play on her own. The older one told me the other class in her year only has one girl with 4 or 5 boys everyday. The girl is miserable and can’t wait till break time to join them. Problem with small classes now are that your child might not get along with any that goes in.