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

This story was on the BBC news site a week or so ago. Their article includes a photo showing the Asda skirt alongside the official skirt - Holderness Academy pupil put in isolation over wrong skirt brand - BBC News

Thank you @prh47bridge.

"It was horrible because the other people started making fun of me saying I could not afford one."

And I keep being told that uniform rules exist to stop this happening…

The picture in the BBC article linked to by @prh47bridge just shows the school are at it. Those two skirts are identical.

@prh47bridge
The 2 skirts next to each other show how pointless and petty the rule is.
In fact I'd rather schools were upfront and said please buy from the school supplier because its a source of revenue for the school, instead of saying it "encourages unity/represents the values of the school" or other wordy but nonsense reasons!
And why are skirts always the sticking point. Several schools including my DC own have a uniform that allows parents to buy generic school trousers from wherever they want....but skirts have to come from the supplier?? I know there are way more variations of skirts but looking at the pic in the bbc article there's literally no good reason why the asda skirt is inappropriate

the article says “near identical”

I wouldn't say it was near identical. It's similar, but the pleats on the school one don't go right up to the waistband. The supermarket one does look cheaper.

Sounds like parents should start cutting labels out of the skirts or uniform in general to stop this madness

The supermarket one does look cheaper.

Why does that matter though?

I'm not saying it matters, just that they aren't 'near identical.'

You said its similar. Similar is a synonym for near identical.

The hair-splitting in this thread is unbelievable. Every other school I know is struggling massively with school avoidance right now and people are defending this school for putting a girl in isolation because she was “found to be wearing a skirt from Asda”. Because obviously drawing attention to the fact that a child is wearing a cheaper skirt than her peers is crucial for fostering unity and promoting equality…

I agree. And arguing whether it's "near identical" or just "similar" is ridiculous. They are the same colour, the same length with the same width pleats and the same shape. Some people are just contrary for the sake of it.

And that's ignoring the comments of what the poor should be spending their money on...

I thought the idea of uniform was for a) identity - being recognised as a pupil from x school and b) sameness (for want of a better word) and unity in photos for example.
The Asda skirt doesn't prevent either of the above principles being met. The fact that that it was so close a match that they needed to look at a label surely proves that?

The argument that keeps getting put forward for uniform is that it prevents bullying because if everyone wears the same thing then kids who don’t wear the latest stuff don’t get picked on.

The child in the article @prh47bridge linked to says herself that the others started laughing at her for not being able to afford the regulation skirt. Had she not been picked out of the label-checking line up no-one would ever have known.

And don't forget the comments about the mum having the temerity to be overweight as if that somehow makes her opinion less worthy

The shirt could well be a cheaper knock-off, too. Or it could have been given to her. It's irrelevant either way.

I volunteer at an event with multiple schools — you'd tell if a child was separated from their school much faster if they were one blue jumper in amongst the red. Much easier for everybody to see where they should be too.

Yet schools in Europe with no uniform somehow manage these events fine.

It would be fascinating to do a Freedom of Information Act search on information about what if any procurement exercise this Academy went through before deciding on its preferred supplier, and for full information about any arrangements between them.

The argument that keeps getting put forward for uniform is that it prevents bullying because if everyone wears the same thing then kids who don’t wear the latest stuff don’t get picked on.

That is the biggest lie that parents have been sold.

If that was the case schools wouldn't have awkward colours that you can only buy in a few retailers, they wouldn't have so many logoed mandatory pieces of uniform, and the cost wouldn't be so ridiculous.

It's also incredibly naive to think poverty doesn't show. It shows plenty of times, wrong shoes because the proper school ones broke and parents can't replace them, or worse worn out shoes, with holes in them, soles hanging off etc. Uniform that is stained, too small, with holes (patched or not) , ill fitting uniform, second hand uniform with other children's name in them and so on. It's naive to think it doesn't show, that kids aren't aware of it or that bullying won't happen if it is to happen.

I remember on the other thread someone giving DM's at £100 and trainers at £150 as an example of bog standard, everyone has them foot wear. As if.

Absolutely agree. It's completely bonkers and totally unrelated to learning!

I don't understand why school staff go along with this. Is this what they went to teacher training college for? To rummage through girls' clothes looking for a label? It's nothing but sadistic bullying of children and the poor.

It's all nuts - do they think that children who go to schools without a uniform learn less?

Because they don't have a choice or say really. Uniform and uniform policies get decided by SLT (and sometimes governors). If teachers don't follow that policy, they can actually be pulled up on it and even flagged as an issue during their performance management for being unable/unwilling to follow school policies.

Plus, tbh it ends up being even more unfair of the pupils if they think x is acceptable because teacher A doesn't say anything /doesn't think it's an issue and then end up in detention because teacher B does.

I’m so glad my DD had just started sixth form college (a fantastic one) to to do her A levels where funnily enough the very important reasons stated on here about why having a school uniform is so incredibly vital have evaporated as they let let students wear what they like now. In my DD’s case, a load of brilliant bargains mainly from Vinted.

Why do they cope just fine doing their A levels in regular clothes but GCSEs must be in a uniform?

I don't know, I've been in the Netherlands at Efteling at the end of term when they've had school groups there and they had them in matching t-shirts.

The only school without uniform near me has them going on school trips in their PE tracksuit (which is uniform, I presume to make playing matches easier?).

Yes of course you can do it without, but it does make it quicker to spot people. Hen and stag dos do it for a similar reason!

But the skirt did conform to the colour (black) style (pleated) and length....how would this not be apparent that she was with her school group