School "Culture Day' - why didn't school see this coming?

[mids2019]

https://www.joe.co.uk/news/school-issues-statement-after-sending-girl-home-for-wearing-union-jack-dress-496690?fbclid=IwY2xjawLkEB9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHmXD4szLMfsqNubbE12kCn_Noe5jb2VGlNFVU0_IUIevHxzByCQ-5GXFN8F8_aem_P-q7I_yFCq82TY-Qr8mGdw

A local school state d a huge debate by sending a girl home on school culture day for wearing a union Jack dress. The question is why the school should have naively held an event which actually least a to more division than unity?

My daughter (white British) attended a similar event, for which she paid a pound, and dressed in jeans and t shirt. I asked how she had decided upon the attire and she stated 'well I don't have a culture'. I then had to explain that she did have a culture and even the jeans and t shirt were a product of fashion changes in western liberal society. We had a discussion about all the great products of white British culture, the music,science, results of the industrial revolution, shared experience in great wars, monarchy etc.

There is a white British culture but going into detail about this obviously brings into focus cultural divide and opens up divisive areas whether white British culture benefited from colonialism and past oppression.

Of course culture day probably was meant to highlight minority cultures and act to promote dress etc. from ethnic minorities as a welcoming inclusive gesture but by allowing all pupils to think about their culture we have to define 'white British' culture and by defining 'white British' culture schools have inadvertently started a discussion they didn't intend.

The school and teachers appear to have acted like complete muppets about the whole thing.

I agree. Our school held a similar event out of good intentions and though we didn't have a national headline grabbing event of certainly provoked discussion about cultures. As I said once you start talking about white British culture and it's various strands you are going down a rabbit hole as you then start defining British culture as mainly dependent on White British culture and all its political challenges. Just seems silly for schools not to have foreseen this.

But why focus on ‘White British culture and its political challenges’. You aren’t focussing on ‘the political challenges’ of other cultures.

I genuinely don't understand why it's not been allowed - I figured there would be a back story, but there doesn't appear to be.

I run a culture day at our school - there's flags, normal own clothes, cultural dress, scout uniforms, football shirts a plenty. It's absolutely great and it all gets celebrated.

We do think more work needs to be done on white British culture and what that looks like though.

It’s a Catch 22:

If the girl had worn a traditional dress from India, China etc., she would have been slammed for cultural appropriation.

If she wears traditional British clothes, she’s slammed for that too!

What was she meant to do?

I’m glad the school have apologized, but that won’t undo the damage this has done. Reform will use stories like this in the next election.

I'd read about this when an online newspaper article cropped up in my google feed.

Such a stupid decision from the school. They don't seem to have been able to give any reason for the way they treated the girl.

The article I read included the speech that she had written about British culture and which she had intended to read aloud in class. It was really lovely - talked about valuing British traditions but how Britain had also been enriched by having so many different different cultures here.

The school were utterly ridiculous in this situation. We have sometimes held a culture day like this at the school I work at. As PP said, the kids without an obvious "national dress" to wear (majority of them!) wear football shirts, tartan, drape themselves in flags etc. Once one of them did wear a geri halliwell style dress and was asked to put her PE leggings on underneath as it was incredibly short (thanks Geri!) but from the photos the girl's dress in this story wasn't short. People in Britain do have massive hang ups about the English flag, but it was a union jack which makes event less sense.

You do see it a lot in schools where someone fundamentally quite stupid and culturally/historically/common sense deficient becomes head and then surrounds themself with similarly idiotic people in management who confirm their silly decisions!

How strange. The Union Jack is a big part of British culture, whether we like it or not. Arguably the spice girls are also a big part of British culture! I can't see how they came to the conclusion she couldn't wear the dress.

Yes, the school should have handled it better. But bloody hell, the parents were dicks for setting the poor kid up like that. And on the off chance it genuinely was entirely the child’s idea, they were dicks for parading her in front of the media like that.

Reading the school statement, its still not clear exactly why the girl was sent home.

Its speculation but it seems they only wanted different cultures to British to take part, but again, not clear why.

And reading her speech, its sweet and well written.

What a shame the school have acted so negatively and turned a day which could have been so positive, educational and interesting for students into something it isnt (for reasons unknown) and I can't see them doing the day next year after this

Setting her up how? What problem could they have forseen...the dess is not obscene or revealing to make it inappropriate.

Read her speech, its well written. She just wanted to take part in the day

I don't agree. The theme of the day was to celebrate your culture. Other kids came in Welsh flags and St George's cross and were sent home too. According to the article a kid came dressed as a farmer and was sent home. I don't think the parents 'set her up'. It seems like the day was interpreted that way by quite a few people. I do wonder what they expected white British kids to wear? If you're encouraging national dress or culturally typical clothing, it leaves many kids without a lot of options if they aren't allowed to reference the flag or overt symbols of Britain!

Having read the speech I can’t put my finger on it but I didn’t like it and it didn’t sound like it was written by a child. They probably know exactly what the parents are and exactly what the motivation was and have Tommy Robinson on speed dial ready to launch, Unfortunately, the school took the bait

Setting her up how?

what should she have dressed up in?

These schools don't do themselves any favours with this sort of nonsense. What happened to just having non school uniform days?

They were misguided to have held such an event without clear guidelines.

British culture is largely an embarrassment.

British culture is largely an embarrassment.

That’s an asinine statement.

Whoever proposed and agree this girl was to be sent home should be sacked. They are clearly incompetent.

Our school has International Day, and kids are told to come dressed either in clothes from another country or the colours of a flag (any flag). Most kids have at least one parent from another country but if they don’t or can’t be bothered dressing up that leaves plenty of options. And no drama.

This is exactly the problem imo and also speaks to why the school made a kneejerk reaction to the flag dress.

News flash, the UK isn't evil! Just because you've been conditioned to think it is because of some aspects of our history.

Some people need to grow up.

“But sometimes at school, we only hear about other cultures — which is great because learning about different countries is interesting and important. But it can feel like being British doesn’t count as a culture, just because it’s the majority.”

Yep. A “straight A” 12 year old definitely wrote that. Definitely.

Thank you. I was trying to articulate what I was thinking.

Oh and even if she did write the speech (did other children have speeches?) fish and chips are a Jewish invention.

A very good example of something from one culture spreading through the numerous cultures we have in the UK

@CrazyOldMe Is dressing head to toe in the Union Jack traditional British Dress?!

Theres something hugely off about this whole story!

My dc have three cultural heritages and I would have sent her in a Union Jack dress if I’d had one and it was cultural day. Like a previous poster, I thought there was going to be a back story to this, like it was a hot day and they were having a picnic and they had been told they had to wear someone with sleeves, or something along those lines. But there doesn’t seem to be.

The school are ridiculous.

Same type of people who would ban the word Christmas, and only allow kids to make ‘happy holidays’ cards.

I’m glad they’re getting bad press, and totally unsurprising that there are people sticking up for them.

And then wonder why ‘community cohesion’ is shit.