What do you wear to a school open day?

[upsidaisie]

We are off to an open day for an independent school at the weekend and I have no idea if you need to be dressed in casual or smart clothes for these things . It only really occurred to me last night when DH asked if he needed to wear a shirt and tie, adding that he hoped not!! A recent episode of Eastenders springs to mind when Ian made a total prat of himself and I am keen to avoid standing out for being different/stupid!! My feeling was smart casual probably, but if anyone else knows different I'd appreciate some input.
Thanks

I teach in a state school. And I wear jeans to my kids private school parent evenings!

They don't care what I wear. They are more interested in my dd/ds than in what I'm wearing. And if they are foolish enough to think less of me for my choice of clothing, they would probably change their minds after the first round of questioning

Nothing like being a teacher yourself to help come out with the total PITA questions[ grin]

blu - t-shirt - SNIGGER

lol by weekend scruffs I mena those really comfy, perhaps well worn and now shapeless, clothes you just throw on when you aren't planning to go out and run into anyone you know !

At our son's prep school mothers wear everything from jeans and fleeces to skirts and boots to open days, etc. I wore a denim skirt, flat shoes and a woolly top. Really don't worry too much.

Ok Ok, I agree. Private schools mirror society,
and are full to bursting with children on full bursaries provided out of sheer charitable spirit by their Heads who are not even remotely interested in running their schools as profitable businesses. It's absolutely OK for a school to select pupils based on their parent's knowledge of the Boden catalogue. The moon is made of green cheese. Prince Philip personally murdered Lady Diana. The Moon landing is a myth and Loch Ness has a resident diplodocus.

Smart casual - save the glad rags for Speech Day.

seeker, my children have a bursery to attend their school. It is very generous, and I am very happy that they have it.

The school they attend is an educational charity in the truest sense of the word.

parents and children who attend and not dressed from the boden catalogue. neither, for that matter, are the staff.

surely the ones who dress in jeans are the cool rich parents with own hugely successful businesses that they just check in on after lunch?

the ones in suits/sensible skirts have to work too hard?

OMG - you lot are all barking lovely - but you have all given me a huge laugh! I never imagined that I would have such a response to this. I posted this morning and have come back tonight to find 109 posts!!! Thanks for all the replies and I have decided for sure that we are not going as the posh well dressed types (coz we're not), just looking respectable in smart casual as I first thought and feeling comfortable with it.

martianbishop - I am absolutely delighted that there are some like that - but I am pretty sure it is the exception rather than the rule. And I am absolutely sure (based on what I know of you from your posts on this forum) that your motives and personal philosophy are both egalitarian and and entirely praisworthy. Trouble is, I suspect that you and your dcs school are both exceptions to the rule too.

seeker - My sons' school is interested in providing an excellent education and excellent pastoral care and turning out fine and responsile young men and women (they admit girls in the sixth form). They are a non-profit making charity.

We have our open day Saturday and hadn't given much thought to what we were going to wear, I may check what dp is wearing though.

We are getting fed though, my mum keeps asking if we are dressing for dinner!

Have only got half way through the thread and am amused that people are falling put over this. Whether my dd went to as state or private school I would try to look smart for dd really.

seeker - there was no need for sarcasm

oh my god, why so chippy about private education!

LadySanders - anything relating to private school on here always gets the odd person ready to have a pop, regardless of the nature of the thread.

IME the ones with the most money seem to be the ones who dress down most earlier in the school years. Rest of us just catching up with the idea, lol!

And yes, as I said before, when we were doing the initial Open Days and school visits, prior to DD going to school, both DH and I - and DD (who came along to all of them with us as I was intersted to see how the staff interacted with her way more than with me) - were dressed smartly, but not too formal or OTT. And that was regardless of whether the school was independnent or state.

And no, I guess DD's school doesn't offer the widest range of social backgrounds. It does offer a fantastic education and pastoral setting for a wide range of pupils, covering many nationalities and cultures. It also takes in children without English as Foriegn Langauge etc - one Greek girl came to school with no English, was oput in year below her chronological age (more flexibility than in state for this I know) and she is now doing fantastically well. But yes, somewhere along the line parents do need to be able to fund the £2.5k termly fee (Sheffield so a bit cheaper) - but they are not all rich. Some have grandparents paying, some godparents, some just have the cash, some are scrimping to afford it, and some are in the middle of all that. DD's school doesn't have busaries and scholarships until the final years IIRR.

But thereagain the first state secondary school I worked in had even less of a social mix. It was in a very middle class area, where house prices were very high and the catchment not huge. It was to all intents and purposes quite selective in that sense.

I went to a parents' social evening last night (wine, peanuts and crisps in the library) at my sons' independent school. It was for first form parents to get to know one another and chat to some of the teachers and the headmaster. I had a very good look at what people were wearing and there were lots of jeans, a few suits (only one with a tie). Oh and there were a lot of ladies in suede boots but, sadly, still no sign of a cravat.
I spoke to about 4 sets of parents and they could not have all been more different from one another.
I discussed it with DP on the way home and we were agreed that the people at my son's State primary (which he has just left) were much wealthier and less diverse as a group and often in full Boden.

Batters - I go to Ikea in full Abba costume - doesn't everybody?

Sorry about the sarcasm. I think everyone has the right to spend their money the way the want to spend it. I really do. And if people want to spend it on private education that's fine. I don't agree with them, but they probably don't agree with what I spend my money on. But I do get a little peeved when people try to tell me that the clientele at a private school costing 3K a term are a far more diverse bunch than those at a local comprehensive school. It's just not true! Spend your money as you choose, but don't try to pretend that you are not buying privilege that isn't available to the vast majority of the population. My daughter goes to a grammar school, and I openly admit that her family background has got her access to an education much better than that available to most of her peers. I don't like it - I have betrayed my own principles to send her there, but I don't pretend that it's not true and that anyone could go there if they wanted to.

"Private schools mirror society,
and are full to bursting with children on full bursaries provided out of sheer charitable spirit by their Heads who are not even remotely interested in running their schools as profitable businesses"
The majority of "private" schools are non profit making charitable trusts.

What do they do with all the money then? If I have my figures right 70% of private school pupils across the country are on full fees, and most of the other 30% only have partial bursaries.