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Original poster

Should girls be allowed to wear trousers for school uniform? Do yours?

149 replies

Legacy · 27/03/2006 13:34

Prompted by the 'school council' thread - just wanted to get some feedback & thoughts here.

The girls at our infant school have requested to be able to wear smart school trousers as part of uninform, and the parents have been asked their opinion.

I don't see why not, so long as they're proper 'uniform' ones?

Anyone feel strongly opposed to the trousers for girls thing. If so, why? What haven't I considered.

I wear trousers nearly all the time myself, so it would be a bit hypocritical for me to say no!

OP posts:

firestorm · 15/05/2006 10:08

yes my girls wear trousers at school (except in summer when they wear dresses) i wish we had been allowed to when i was at school its much better for them to be in trousers than putting themselves at risk in short skirts imo.

rustybear · 16/05/2006 23:28

At my dd's school, when she was Y5 (she's now Y11, so this was a while ago),the governors decided it would be sexist not to allow girls to wear trousers, but as the head didn't like the idea, they didn't actually tell anyone they were going to be allowed - they just appeared on the uniform list. My daughter asked if she could wear them & she & her best friend started a trend -I don't think I was very popular with the head. I now work there, and now for some reason trousers seem to be popular in Y5 and then they revert to skirts for Y6 -presumably so they can practice rolling them up for when they go to secondary school.
In fact my dd told me years later that the reason she wanted to wear trousers was that the ASD boy she had woodwind lessons with kept putting his hand up her skirt.

wysiwyg · 16/05/2006 23:58

Have to say I agree with Bozza here about boys looking smarter. I think skirts look smarter but probably only because of the only girls' school trousers I have seen are made of some awful nylon type material that looks v cheap imo (Iused to have some in the 70s but they were in then)

MarsLady · 17/05/2006 00:01

My DDs are allowed to wear trousers as part of their uniform. I get them bootleg trousers and they look very smart.

When DD1 goes to senior school though, she won't be allowed to wear trousers.

I'm not hugely bothered.... though she does have legs up to here and maybe they should be covered.

Tortington · 17/05/2006 00:17

i hate skirts in senior school - girls get down the street roll them up and look like 13 year old sluts.

my girl has always worn trousers and no school has ever pulled me on it - this is becuase she isnt rolling them up looking like some cheap tart

Blandmum · 17/05/2006 06:30

Our lot can wear skirts or trousers. thankfully, for the reason Custy mentions, they all tend to wear trousers. The only day they don't is on the last day of school, when the leavers in particular dress up like someone out of a Britany video [blerch]

The uniform is the same (except the skirt!) for the boys and the girls

emmabiscool · 17/09/2006 02:31

DD's school doesn't allow trousers for girls, they wear kilts and ankle socks. IMHO this is a good thing for several reasons. The main one being that with only one type of female uniform they look as smart as the boys, whereas in a lot of schools there are three or four different female 'uniforms' (trousers, skirt/socks, skirt/sheer tights, skirt/opaque tights).

Some people here are saying it's cold in the winter and that's true but IMHO it's good preparation for later life for a girl to get used to that as there will be times when she can't, or doesn't want, to wear trousers or thick tights, and it would be nice to be acclimatised.

geekgrrl · 17/09/2006 06:47

yeah, great preparation for going out on the lash at 17, wearing nothing but a belt and a hankie in February. Well done school!

YeahBut · 17/09/2006 07:00

At my dds' school, trousers are allowed, indeed actively encouraged on PE days because 4.5 year olds find them much easier to manage than tights. They look very smart, too.

Miaou · 17/09/2006 07:43

At our primary school the only compulsory part of the uniform is the sweatshirt. Bottom half is whatever you want, though they are encouraged to wear dark coloured trousers or skirts. Quite a lot wear jeans (fine by me). I think dd2 is the only girl in the school that ever wears a skirt! However she is often involved in the playground rough and tumble and is now getting a big self-conscious about boys seeing her pants, so wears trousers more often now.

Secondary school the girls can wear trousers, which I think is a good thing too - avoids "wide belt" syndrome!

notagrannyyet · 17/09/2006 08:04

Not read all of this but of course they should be able to wear trousers. The proper school type look very smart how could anyone object.

The things that should be banned are those horrible thick tights that some little girls wear in the winter.They make it hard for them to change for PE and they're a nightmare after school swimming lessons.I help yr1 & yr2 girls to change after swimming and none of them seem to be able to cope with tights.Trousers & socks would be much quicker.

calebsmummy · 17/09/2006 11:33

I have 3 boys, so maybe I shouldn't be commenting on this thread but I don't like seeing girls in school trousers. I think the skirt looks so much nicer and just...well, right. If I had a girl I would encourage her to wear a skirt, but I don't so perheaps I would feel differently.

I would also never send my children to a 'no uniform' school. I feel the uniform is great for eliminating peer pressure through clothes etc. Certainly in my DS's school in London, it would have been a nightmare if there was no uniform as they would all have had labelled clothing and DS wouldn't (because I hate it)

We've now moved to Hants and I love his uniform (secondary school...Blazer, tie etc) it reminds me of his first school in Somerset where they wore shirt, tie and shorts (not a Montessori) and he looked sooooo sweet. They changed it in his last year there to trousers though (I was probably one of the very few parents who complained about the change )

calebsmummy · 17/09/2006 11:35

BTW, DS's secondary school, the girls can only wear a skirt. But fantastic school so even if I did think trousers were ok, it wouldn't stop me sending my daughter there (if I had one)

juuule · 17/09/2006 11:44

Our primary and secondary school uniforms include trousers for girls. They are so much better in winter than tights. I don't mind skirts or trousers and my girls swap between them depending on how they feel or what the weather is like.

motherinferior · 17/09/2006 12:07

I cannot think of a single occasion on which an adult woman does not have the option of trousers.

FlipFloppinRubyRioja · 17/09/2006 12:09

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

motherinferior · 17/09/2006 12:09

Ah. I stand corrected

Cannot see the Inferiorettes at Sandhurst, somehow.

FlipFloppinRubyRioja · 17/09/2006 12:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

FillyjonktheBananaEater · 17/09/2006 12:17

um...

aren't they there to...well...learn?

If my dd wasn't allowed to wear trousers when boys were...my god the fus I would kick up.

Schools are for learning, and kids should be warm and able to stand on their heads without anyone making knicker jokes.

serenity · 17/09/2006 12:17

emmabiscool - I'm sorry, but that has to be one of the silliest reasons yet on this thread!

Most of the arguments seem to be about personal taste rather than practicality, or what would be sensible. So what if it doesn't look as smart, or you really think little girls look nicer in skirts. If you think it's that great then I suggest you tailor your wardrobe that way. I dress my children to reflect the weather, or what they are doing, surely that's more important than how they look?

Can I add to the list?

So - things that adults dress their children in which annoy me

skirts and socks/shorts when it's cold (even worse when it's not necessary)
skirts and dresses on non walking girls (watching crawling girls put their knees on the hem, and fall forward onto their faces. Hmmm sensible)
Overdressed children who can't play, because they might get dirty, which is similar to
girls in heels, who then can't run

I'm sure there's more but I feel better now, so I'll go and bathe the DCs

FillyjonktheBananaEater · 17/09/2006 12:18

and there is plenty of time for dd to wear skirts and dresses and whatever she wants really, once she's got her M.D.

FlipFloppinRubyRioja · 17/09/2006 12:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

kando · 17/09/2006 12:26

Yes she is allowed to wear trousers, but she does like her skirts. Much prefer to see her in trousers, particularly when she's hanging off the bars upside down flashing her knickers at everyone!

MoreSpamThanGlam · 17/09/2006 12:36

In our primary school it is shorts for boys all year round, but they can wear tracky bottoms on way to and from school over the top and at playtime in winter, and its skirts or tunics for girls with tights or socks. Looks really smart and I like it, as do the kids. The shorts are a godsend, as ds is football mad and I would have gone through a pair of trousers a week if it were not for the odd grazed knee.
DD has just moved to senior school and the skirts have to be a certain length from the school shop, as they have a split in the back, so if they roll them up, like the other schools locally seem to do them it would show their drawers off. They also have to wear blazer at all times around the school, but can take it off for lessons.

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