Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Education

Join the discussion on our Education forum.

Original poster

Why do primary schools have such horrid uniforms ??

183 replies

mummyloveslucy · 20/09/2008 16:57

When I was at primary school, there was a quite strict uniform of a white blows (not a PE top) a navy skirt and a navy v-necked jumper with a school tie. This was very smart and reasonably cheep, as you pay loads for those sweat shirts with the logo on and they just look slouchy. Somthing you'd ware for lazing around the house in.
When my daughter starts school, she'll wear a lovely white crisp blowse and a nice pinnafore, but it will unfortunatly be ruined by a chunky sweat shirt over the top. I don't think they are any more practicle than a cheeper wool jumper that looks smart.
People always complain about the cost of uniforms but I wouldn't mind paying for the jumper if it looked smart.

OP posts:
seeker · 21/09/2008 11:24

I suspect that the school uniform haters (a group that I used to be a vociferous member of!) have never a) had to deal with the competitive label spotting of some school children and b) have never taken a group of primary children out on a school trip. It's like herding cats as it is - if they were not all wearing the same colour it would be impossible!

mabanana · 21/09/2008 13:21

I am not keen on school uniform, have helped on numerous school trips and didn't lose any kids () and have never noticed any competitive label spotting at all. HOnestly!

platypussy · 21/09/2008 13:30

Shirts and ties- yuk yuk yuk. Old fashioned and impractical. Ties - germ ridden filthy things. No wonder doctors and consultants now discouraged from wearing them.

AbbeyA · 21/09/2008 15:41

I think that you would notice the competitive label spotting mabanana if you were the one wearing the 'wrong' label.
I would hate to do a school trip without uniform if I was the one in charge, rather than a helper.

Madsometimes · 21/09/2008 18:30

Our school uniform has a button up shirt and traditional tie. It is not good at all

My dd2 is in year one and part of her homework is to practice doing up her top button and tie. Well, we have practised it and she still can't do it. In fact the feeling of her top button being done up makes her cry. Polo shirts and sweat shirts are practical and can look very smart. I, for one, wish our school had them. I love the summer when my children can wear open necked gingham dresses. I do feel sorry for the ds's. They have to wear a tie in all weathers and can only remove it with permission.

Fortunately she will be able to ditch the the tie and secondary school. None of the schools I am considering have ties for girls (even the posh private one which I am only considering a tiny bit )

Reallytired · 21/09/2008 18:40

"My dd2 is in year one and part of her homework is to practice doing up her top button and tie."

That surely must be the biggest waste of time. She could be practicing reading, writing, learning spelling or number bonds instead.

motherinferior · 21/09/2008 18:43

Oh yes, the mythical 'label spotting' always cited by people whose kids don't go to a non-uniform school.

My daughters are dressed in a tatty selection of clothes they put together themselves each night (I have absolutely no idea what they're planning to wear tomorrow, and won't till tomorrow morning). I've never noticed any label spotting whatsoever.

random · 21/09/2008 19:01

I've never noticed label spotting ..helped out on many a non uniform school trip never lost a child yet Ds [15] hates his uniform with a passion ..does not do labels and couldn't give a toss what any one else wears

AbbeyA · 21/09/2008 19:36

It always strikes me that on a non uniform day they all wear the same thing anyway. I have never seen anyone stand out with something completely different. Some won't even decide what to wear until they have worked out what their friends are wearing.

LunarSea · 21/09/2008 19:53

Our school uniform is royal blue or white polo shirts, with royal blue sweatshirts, and dark grey skirts (for the girls!) or trousers. One of the mums (who is very into her designer labels) has started sending her dd in a navy pleated kilt, frilly white blouse, navy cardigan, long navy socks and shoes with heels. I'm sure she thinks it's more stylish, but it just looks silly when everyone else is sticking to the conventional uniform.

seeker · 21/09/2008 21:20

Hmmm - what sort of school are your dcs at, MotherInferior? Not, I hazard a guess, at the primary-school-on-the-corner!

mabanana · 21/09/2008 22:01

non uniform days at a school where they all wear uniform are entirely different to day to day life in a non-uniform school. Of course they pay attention to their clothes if it's a novelty! Lol at my son's 'cool labels' - eg Sainsburys, H&M, M&S and Primark .
And my ds's son is absolutely the primary-school-on-the-corner. Very mixed London primary school.
And they've never lost a child on a school trip yet. HOnestly, it's really not so difficult.

sunnydelight · 22/09/2008 02:31

I love the Aussie system where kids wear sports uniform on the days that they're doing sport/PE so there is no hassle about getting changed. DS2 is very slow and clumsy getting dressed so I am really glad he doesn't have to struggle with buttons/tie/laces. His last teacher in the UK made him get out of the pool ten minutes earlier than all the others during swimming lessons (a one term a year treat) as it took him so long to change

FAQ · 22/09/2008 02:52

I@m glad of uniform - when I was in infants and primary school there was no uniform, I was bullied and teased from as young as I could remember because of the clothes I wore. It was awful.

Even as I got older - and had a uniform, my parents (despite having the money to do so at the point in my life) opted for the cheaper, non logoed stuff - again - I was bullied because of it.

Hence the reason I've just recently spent a bloody fortune buying new logoed stuff for DS1 and 2- both starting new schools (none of DS1's old clothes - that were still usable - fitted DS2...) - ok it doesn't meant that they won't be picked on for something, but it takes away one possible thing......

AbbeyA · 22/09/2008 07:48

I am glad that I am not the only one FAQ, I was very grateful for a uniform; there was a world of difference between what my mother thought a 13yr old should wear and what 13yr olds were actually wearing!
My DSs have had uniforms from the age of 5 but I know full well, from the area that we live in, that what you wear matters and a uniform solves the problems.The pressure to buy the 'in gear' would have been tremendous.
If you are at a school where you can wear any old thing without comment then make the most of it, it isn't the case everywhere.
I expect that as a helper on a trip it wouldn't worry me whether they were in uniform or not, but as the teacher with ultimate responsibility it just makes the job much easier to have a uniform.

roisin · 22/09/2008 08:05

I love uniform.

motherinferior · 22/09/2008 09:28

Seeker - are you implying that I send my kids to some rather precious private academy ? They do, as it happens, go to a pretty bog-standard state primary with a fair number of middle class kids but lots of kids from a whole range of socioeconomic backgrounds (also ethnicity and, interestingly, disability too). It's not the one directly round the corner from us; it's the one round the corner from that. You don't get posh state schools in my bit of south-east London.

motherinferior · 22/09/2008 09:29

Actually I'd quite like an apology for that implication .

MaloryDontDiveItsShallow · 22/09/2008 09:34

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

motherinferior · 22/09/2008 09:40

Really? Can you show me, please, evidence of that link - I mean not just anecdotally, obviously, but proper evidence drawn from a good numerical basis?

ByTheSea · 22/09/2008 09:44

I love the uniforms. They're nice and easy, quite inexpensive, and there are no arguments about what to wear every day.

MaloryDontDiveItsShallow · 22/09/2008 09:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

frogs · 22/09/2008 09:50

Er Malory...

I offer you:

Camden School for Girls (state)
St Paul's Girls (private)
Sundry high-performing primary schools in inner-London boroughs (Islington, Camden, Wandsworth)

These are schools that parents choose at least in part because they don't have a uniform -- it's part of the ethos. Because most other schools are in polo-shirt and logo'd sweatshirt land, not having a uniform is distinctive by itself.

frogs · 22/09/2008 09:52

Admittedly you then end up with an unofficial uniform of H&M/Mini-boden for desirable primaries and skinny jeans/converse for desirable secondaries.

But the principle is sound -- it's not the uniform per se that makes the difference.

snowleopard · 22/09/2008 09:55

I hate uniform, and especially for primary school children. Of course I'm aware of all the advantages but it still depresses me to see 200 5-10 yos dressed like little businesspeople in miserable grey or navy and all looking the same. Grim. BUT if you have to have it, I would put children's comfort and ease of movement first - so I would be much happier with polo shirts and sweatshirts than stiff ironed shirts and blazers.

I can see there might be a link to performance, but surely that only applies in countries where school uniform is quite normal, so therefore schools that apply strict standards to uniform probably have quite strict standards anyway. In countries where they don't have it at all, it's not an issue.