School Uniform policy

[PerturbedCitizen]

Hello,

Long time lurker, first time poster. I'm hoping to both spread the word of a government petition and discuss it here.

School Uniform policy. What are you opinions on it? and how it should be enforced? What has your experience been?

There is a petition 'Prevent schools isolating or excluding students to enforce school uniform policy' on the Parliament website.

If you agree, it would be great if you could sign it, if you don't agree it would be good to hear your take on it.

Thank you.

This depends on whether the uniform policy is reasonable and proportionate. If its not, that’s the point to be argued. Some Dc should be subject to discipline if the policy meets all legal, reasonable and proportionate requirements. Otherwise school discipline and the uniform policy mean little.

So you propose we do away with school uniforms entirely ? Or just have one but do nothing about it being broken? If the latter- how do you think that culture might replicate?

Uniform is a good thing, IMO. No one gets isolated or excluded for a first-time offence either.

Just wear the uniform and get on with your life and get an education. It’s never the quiet, well-behaved students causing the fuss. Just another disruption to learning for the ones who want to be there.

Nothing ever happens on the back of these petitions anyway.

school uniform options need to be suitable for 4 seasons based on temperature not calendar dates. Blazers, long sleeved shirts, and ties are not suitable on 25+C temp.
brand and fit choice needs to be suitable for different body shapes.
I like the concept of a uniform, believe options need to be available and suitable.

Schools need to have rules to maintain order. Having a uniform is part of that. Schools also need to be able to reinforce rules, isolation may be part of that. I don’t think isolation is a particularly harsh consequence.

I’ll not be supporting that. If a school has a rule, even if it seems silly, then it’s OK for there to be consequences for breaching it.

@HongKongGarden There is no reason for any school to have silly rules. The legal requirement for a uniform policy is that it’s reasonable. So why can’t they have an extreme heat uniform? Other areas of the world do. Except we don’t like paying for it.

Proportionate means changes must be sensible and thought out. The difficulty that these requirements bring is a need for a cheap uniform that covers all bases. Except that is impossible if you want it cheap. It ends up being one uniform for the whole year. Few schools seem to have a summer uniform. We had cotton dresses with short sleeves. My DDs had short sleeves open neck shirts and a skirt. Decent winter coats. Wool pullovers for the winter. No polyester trousers or blazers. No ties. But, we paid quite a lot for the uniform. Others cannot so it ends up being unfit for the weather and uncomfortable.

But I didn’t say they should have silly rules, I said if they seem silly.

Let’s be honest here, many parents just object to anyone setting any rules at all, and complain about the most reasonable ones.

No they don't cause a fuss in school they come home and crumble into a heap due to unmet sensory needs sometimes scratching their own arms and faces in distress. But that's ok because they are no trouble.

No I don’t agree. As a parent when you sign an agreement with school you have to make sure you buy the correct items.

If there is something you disagree with with uniform, price, choice of suppliers, poor fit, summer options etc then you are better campaigning to the school with other parents to change that, rather than simply not complying. If it’s just a case your child wants to wear branded trainers or logo items then yes they should be made to follow the rules.

If a child has sensory needs then schools should be making reasonable adjustments and working with those individual students and their families to come up with a solution.

I don't agree with the weather thing. A tie really isn't making a difference to someone feeling hot or cold. Blazers can come off in the summer and shorts can be worn. Equally in winter vests and cardigans/ jumpers. It's really not difficult.

I agree with the petition OP. I think isolating a student is ridiculous for wearing something slightly ‘wrong’. Unless they are wearing unsafe or too revealing for example, there’s no need. And I’ve certainly read a lot of threads on MN about how ridiculous school rules can be, such as not allowing blazers to be taken off during hot weather. School uniform rules are too strict.

Shorts? What schools have shorts in their uniform policy? They do in South Africa! I would think we need a more flexible approach and shorts are great but (snd I can hear it now!) just wait for the howls of protest on cost grounds. We end up with dreadful uniforms.

Loads of Dc “amend” their uniforms but I cannot remember such angst about uniform years ago. We just wore it.