Design & colour of uniform - does it influence your opinion of a school?

[foxtrot]

Just wondering really, especially when choosing a primary school.

IMO mufti days only cause the children to concentrate less because they are not used to them so it is different and therefore exciting. if they did it every day performance from them would probably be no different to if they wore a uniform.

similarly i always remember when it was mufti day you had to plan your outfit days in advance trying on various things before settling on the ultimate outfit. now at uni where i wear whatever i like everyday i just grab the first thing i can and wear that.

it is not uniform that makes a school imo. it just happens that the better schools have smarter uniforms because the schools with smarter uniforms tend to be private/c of e/rc and are more traditional.

well that's my piece said!

Dd goes to a private school with a fairly ordinary uniform apart from the fact that everything is stipulated like the exact pinafore etc. There is a blazer as part of summer uniform but it looks no different than most of the local state primaries, many of which seem to be reverting to shirt and tie (dd has elasticated one)

There are 2 other private school in the area which do the full boater/stripy blazer/tartan thing but even though I think there uniform is much nicer I prefer dd's school for other reasons.

Dd loves her uniform and takes a real pride in wearing it.

also probably not so much at primary level, but in secondary school even though we wore uniform you still knew who the chavs, greebos, trendies, skaters, goths, barbie girls were and each group got its fair share of stick from the other. uniform did nothing to stop that.

My DD's school had a proper shirt and tie from Reception and she was really proud of it - when they had learned to tie their ties they went to the headmaster for a special badge. All of them could do it by the end of the year. So much smarter than the poloshirt/fleece/trainers kit of the alternative primary, and it did influence my choice (a bit).

Now we're in France they have no uniform, and it's such a hassle for everyone. So much laundry, so expensive, so competitive. I would definitely send my kids to the only school in the area with a uniform... if there was one

Sorry but I think ties on little ones are awful.
My Mum taught in primary for years and had countless incidents of X dragging Y by their tie - or by their earring - I'm saying nothing.

My DDs (aged 5) have to wear a shirt and tie (state primary) - the tie is on elastic until they master the art of tying it, they've never complained and it looks smart.

Ds is 2 and when he starts primary he wears black pants, black shoes, shirt, green tie, green jumper, black/grey coat and a school backpack with the emblen on it!

i think they look sooo smart!

i went to the same primary school and remember loving my uniform,

DH didnt have towear a uniform stictly speaking, they did have one, but it was balck pants, white tshirt and swaetshirt, but some kids would wear jeans, man- u tops ect, when i saw the pictures of his schoolmates on photo day they just looked scruffy and missmatched,

at my primary if you didnt have FULL uniform on photo day then you didnt have your photot taken!

excuse that awful spelling, its not me my keyboards buggered after having tea spilt on it!

'smart'

they look ridiculous in my eyes

like little lord faunteleroy

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Can't believe Xenia STILL hasn't posted

I still don't understand why girls ever have to wear a tie. I can almost understand why secondary boys do - it's still acceptable formal wear for men in most cases. But why do girls have to adopt male acessories in order to get an education? I could put forward a few theories based on my 70's feminist polemic, but I will restrain myself!

I hate to see girls in ties. Even the very selective girls private school near here allows round collar open neck blouses.

My DD teaches at a primary school with a very strict uniform including ties for 4 year olds.
She thinks ties are a pain in the a###.

My 4yo managed to tie her tie for the first time on her own this morning Okay, it didn't look fab - but as most of it goes under her pinafore, who am I to knock her enthusiasm? I just pulled it more central, todying the know a little bit deiscreetly as I did so - and off she has gone, very pleased with herself!

I chose my daughter's (secondary) school partly because it didn't have a uniform at all. I hate them. When we move house, thankfully the state school near the new house also has no uniform. I feel sorry for little kids wearing ties and stiff collars and as for teenage girls having to wear those hideous long kilts... Vile.

DD's current school is going to poll the students this year to see if they want a uniform. Sounds horrid. Purple long kilt and purple jumper. I'd want to take her out if they vote it in.

I like a uniform because it means we don't have a fashion parade each morning, which we would have if my 2 dds had a free choice. They don't wear a tie, but wear trousers, shirt and jumper with logo. No blazer which is great - and it is a grammar school. I don't realy like to see large busted teenage girls with ties and short skirts!

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Just seems a shame to force kids to wear uniforms. I never had a uniform at school. In secondary we did have a dress code (no bellies showing or offensive slogans etc). I think it was good training for the real world. There was never peer pressure or a fashion parade. The fashion was dressed down so it was jeans and jumpers all the way.

It's the same in DD's secondary school, which is near Highgate so you might think there would be pressure to wear the right stuff, but there isn't. They're very chilled. The ethos of the school is great. All the kids seem to shop in New Look and wear jeans and combats to school. It's the mums at the gate who appear to be in a fashion parade.

DD has been getting herself ready for school since she was about 6 and happily gets up early to leave herself dithering time. Maybe I'm just lucky?

Orinoco-I think it must be a very small school in Darley Abbey-we see it too and are just down the road from there- although my musings have been limited to wondering where on earth they manage to get brown school shoes from.

Not going into all the reasons why I hate uniforms but just asking whether you wouldn't despair when/if you are in my situation. DS (just 6 y) keeps loosing jumpers/sweaters. Whenever I go in the (small) school to look for it I see hundreds of the same coloured clothes staring me in the face and I give up even before I have started looking for the lost item.

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he has name tags on his clothes but he is unlikely to check all jumpers that are floating around everywhere

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I expect that most people on this thread think then that they should be forced to wear a corporate uniform (yes, you teachers too) in order to do a decent day's work and behave well?

I nearly always wear a suit, or smart skirt & blouse, for work. I have specific requirements for footwear, and style of dress due tot he nature of my work.

DH has to wear a suit, shirt and tie for work.

There are lots of occupations where uniform is an essential part of the job - nurse, police, fireman, forces, traffic warden, McDonald's staff, lollipop person, etc.

Dress codes are very common nowadays for adults as well.