Girl put in isolation for wearing Asda skirt

[ZebraDanios]

Remember the girl who got put in isolation for wearing Vivienne Westwood shoes and everyone said quite right, uniform is there to foster equality?

This girl got put in isolation for wearing a skirt from Asda rather than the (considerably more expensive) school supplier.

It looked so much like the “accepted” skirt that a teacher had to actually check the label on the skirt.

I don’t even know where to start with this.

https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/real-life/tearful-schoolgirl-12-put-isolation-27758306?fbclid=IwAR1xHZEDSoziQQZgABAyXwVxnVS0_5jYmsagX4dlokdaAH5V-i-H1AaT5gs_aem_AVe2g7zlmL1QO0M8PMPIoJcSpZNkCsCbzuXbAkVrfVrr35xE59pApNSSjTcKKFnbaZA#lmvuwx3o8t1y29p0e3x

In the 1990s my school uniform was black blazer, white shirt, black skirt or trousers, school tie. There was an "official " supplier in a posher area nearby but you weren't obliged to buy it from there. My parents bought from bhs or the market (I don't remember school uniform being available in supermarkets)
Now even the primary schools my DC went to have compulsory logoed uniform. The headteacher , when the new uniform was brought in, said it wasnt more expensive which was absolute bs. (One polo shirt was £8 v a pack of 3 for £5 from the supermarket) and that it would reduce lost property because children would take better care of their new uniform! (Also nonsense)

The school's statement:

""We work respectfully with our learners to support good habits and adherence to key policies; this is in the best interest of all members of the school community. Our schools’ uniform expectations foster equality and encourage a sense of pride and belonging in the community."

What nonsense. How is it in anyone's interests to make this sort of fuss about a school uniform skirt? How does it foster equality to send a child to isolation because their mother can't afford to buy the official but identical skirt? I'd put money on the fact that the school isn't following the guidance around the use of isolation in addition to ignoring the statutory guidance around the cost of uniform.

For a school that is making such a big thing about following the rules, disobeying the law really is not a good look.

My kids go to the worst performing school in the area, which also has the strictest uniform. There are 2 suppliers. One is opposite asda. The colour of the uniform is such that you can't get it anywhere else, which is a pain when your kid suddenly needs a new skirt and the suppliers are out of stock and waiting on a shipment from China.

These people creating that sort of uniform policy are morons. Parents should be banding together and making formal complaints about it.

There was a thread recently about school shoes and the OP had to email a tutor or HoY with a link to shoes to check they were OK.
Literally every teacher on MN is usually complaining about the hours they put in after school.and all the outside classroom tasks needed to complete. Who on earth thinks its a good use of teachers (already limited) time to reply to emails about this level of pettiness?!

No, I think the whole uniform thing at some schools (including my kids school) is absolute madness, but you said more than once about the teacher lifting the girls blouse and its just not true

There was a bit of a fuss here (Scotland) a few years ago when two catholic senior schools merged and in their wisdom they decided to consult the children on what the school colours should be. The kids chose purple, so now the official school jumper/cardigan is purple with a think gold stripe running through it. You can't get those in Asda. However, wearing of the jumper is not compulsory.

Other local schools have standard school uniform colours - black, navy, grey. The high school my kids went to the colours were black and white. Can't get simpler. The only items which were available to buy were the blazer (about £32) and a tie (£5). Nothing else on sale. All this stuff about PE uniforms and summer uniform and winter uniform and tartan skirts at £40 a pop is just nuts. Why do English parents go along with this nonsense?

The only schools in Scotland which have these silly rules are the private schools.

Dds skirt is like 28 pounds. Its just a grey pleated skirt. With a logo of course. As if that little bit of cotton justifies an extra 20 quid..

I think all logo items should just be done away with. Everything should be available in supermarkets. If people wanna spend £££ and get their stuff from John Lewis or m&s they will still be free to do so. The rest of the people who dont have more money than sense can buy the asda/tesco stuff.

Funniky enough when ya go to college you can shave your head, dye your hair, pierce every available space and the world doesn't stop turning and the work gets done.

Every child is legally entitled to education and it shouldn't cost hundreds of pounds to walk through the door. But who cares if parents cant afford to put petrol in the car to get to work just along as theres a secret hidden logo under a shirt 🙄

Dds skirt is like 28 pounds. Its just a grey pleated skirt. With a logo of course. As if that little bit of cotton justifies an extra 20 quid..

That's outrageous.

I raised the compulsory supplier issue on a local parents forum years ago. I was in the minority, everyone else was saying it was good to support a local family run business, and they had fond memories of getting their own uniform there...🙄 And basically the shop was an institution because it had been there so many years! (I wasn't suggesting closing the shop I just thought parents should have alternative options to suit their budget) It's a fairly affluent area so a lot of people literally wouldn't consider that not everyone finds £100 for a blazer or £40 for a skirt affordable.

Interesting they don't mention the sex of the teacher who lined all the schoolgirls up and asked them to lift up their clothes. If this was my daughter someone at that school would be having their fucking throat ripped out tbh.

This is the skirt on the supplier's website - Pleated Black Skirt - Rawcliffes Schoolwear - Hull.

The smallest size is 24" waist.

However, as I say, arguments about size are irrelevant. The issue is that this school is enforcing a policy that appears to be unlawful, requiring parents to purchase skirts (but not trousers) from the school's official uniform supplier.

Its all pure snobbery. If schools went back to a basic uniform of say black skirt and trousers. White shirt. And a generic black jumper or blazer how would anyone know that little tarquin went to the nice posh grammar school as opposed to the shit hole academy down the road.

That's why parents want it.

Oh fair enough. I’m just so cross about the whole thing. I don’t see how the teacher would be able to see the label just by the child lifting their shirt up though - surely the label would be on the inside of the skirt?

Three pages into this thread and you’re the first person to say this. Surely this is the first thing that comes into your head when you read this story?

Because it is much more likely to be a female teacher, it is had been a make teacher it would have been mentioned

I've done this ... official Banner skirt in Davenport Knife Pleat is £25 from either of the official uniform providers. Asda version £12 for two. Design and colour identical. Length is slightly (1cm) longer on the Asda version and you can adjust the waist. Asda material is thinner but you'd only know if you were up close.

I wrote to the school to tell them that their insistence of the Banner skirt fell foul of the legislation and was told it wasn't a "school branded" skirt and could be purchased anywhere. Totally missing the fact it was the same cost everywhere.

School has a parent forum on uniform this week. I'm taking an example with me in the hope they'll change the rules to say Davenport Knife Pleat or identical design, which at least allows parents to shop around.

"This year, teachers have been asking pupils to lift up their blouses so they can see the label in the waistband. When Lilly was found to have an Asda skirt, she was put in isolation and came home very upset."

If this really happened, the teacher would be very upset when I saw them!

But, is this even a thing?! We can purchase uniform anywhere. Is it a private school….

But, is this even a thing?! We can purchase uniform anywhere. Is it a private school….

As many pps have said loads of schools insist that certain aspects of uniform must come from the official supplier. All the secondary schools in my area do it and DC primary were introducing it as my younger child left

What a ludicrous waste of teaching time. I think if I were a teacher in that school, I'd just ignore the whole thing and tell the Head that everyone was wearing the right uniform.

How is it remotely sensible to take a child out of class and punish her for something her parent has done?

It's a "weird English thing" @Fizbosshoes , I can't understand how they get away with it. No schools do it in Scotland, apart from the private ones. But then again, we don't have grammars, or academies. (Well, we do have schools called X Academy, but they are not academies in the sense of independent from local authority control as they are in England, it's just the name).

How is that significantly better though? Any teacher asking any child to lift their shirt up is a massive safeguarding concern.

More to the point - the child is being punished for something no-one would even have noticed had she not been asked to lift her shirt up.

@Whatwouldscullydo a logo on the skirt is against the uniform law that was introduced a couple of years ago (someone linked further up). Logos should not be on items that require regular replacement, and you'd argue that a skirt would need replacing 2-3 times during secondary school. Blazers/jumpers you can size up at the start and the kid looks a bit ridiculous but it's still wearable and all the year 7s are wearing sizes too big. But you can't size up a skirt because it would fall off!

Fortunately I’m long past the school uniform stage with DS but I remember the jumper debacle in his second year at secondary school. I’d initially bought him a few good quality cotton jumpers in the school colour from M&S which washed really well and lasted the entire year.

Then the school decided jumpers had to be from their official supplier with the logo on which were twice the price. The quality was abysmal, after the first wash they went out of shape. By the first half term they were more bobble than jumper and looked awful.

I ended up cutting the school badge off and stitching it to M&S ones, sending a letter to the school saying I had no issue with buying the official jumpers if they improved the quality. Never heard a word back from them.