School Uniform - Love it or hate it.

[GrumpyOldHorsewoman]

Personally loathe uniform, probably because I always had to wear one, even in sixth form. My reasons are this:

1. Strips you of every individuality. Remonds me of old images of communist China - everyone the same.

1. When you realise at 10pm on Sunday evening that DCs have not put their uniform in the washing basket on Friday and you have to stay up late to get it washed (they can't wear it in it's disgusting food-drenched state.

1. Paying £14 (I kid you not) for DD2's logoed school polo shirt (she is in NURSERY school) and £15 for a cardigan made of sweatshirt material.

1. It's always polyester, and girls' school trousers are fucking hideous.

I don't buy that crap about not being able to differentiate between the haves and have nots if they all have to wear the same. Social divide is just as easy to spot in school uniform, and wearing the right trainers/shoes/jacket/bag is an issue even when the rest of them is clad in black and white polyester, so what's the excuse? And what has happened to non-uniform schools - where have they gone? Even all the nursery schools around here have uniforms. Urgh. Hate it.

You're brave!!! LOL!

I love school uniform. DD has a very strict uniform for school. The quality of it is generally pretty good, but it is very expensive and only available from one shop. It does however looks smart. It saves hassle chosing what to wear.

The individuality arguement doesn't wash for me at all - have taught at schools with uniforms and believe me the children had no problems asserting their personalities and individualities! Anything but.

From a teacher's point of view I always prefered uniform.

But each to their own.

Love it, although I would be pissed off at paying £14 for logo polo shirt !!

Yes you can still see social divide in school uniform but not to so much degree.

If you realise at 10pm on a Sunday night that their uniform isn't clean then thats down to you not the uniform issue.

I disagree about the social divide being as easy to spot in school uniform. I worked in an inner city school in Birmingham for 4 years and the day we had the highest absence rate was always on non uniform days. Kids can't bear days when they have to wear their own clothes if they haven't got the "right" stuff. I also reckon that kids find ways of asserting their individuality with uniform anyway. At same school it was essential to wear tie with only 4 stripes showing in order to be cool

DD starts nursery in September and will have to wear a uniform. I AM DELIGHTED! No more, "I want to wear this .." type arguments.

I'm sure she will like it too. I think she will gain a sense of 'belonging' from wearing a uniform.

I like to see them in uniform but wish the primary school here didn't go for grey trousers/shorts or dresses. Such a dull dreary colour!

Better to go for grey trousers etc as they are mass made and therefore cheaper , dont you think ?

I'm about to go and watch Waking the Dead, but yep I loathe it too. Fortunately am not afflicted by it, as DD1's school is full of slightly ragged children in jeans.

Having worked in a school where there was a great social divide I actually disagree that it is as obvious with school uniform as non-uniform. Kids don't check the labels inside clothes as they pass by each other and don't tend to notice fabrics. From the front of a classroom you really can't tell so much at all, especially as many schools also stipulate shoes not trainers. On non-uniform days you could tell very clearly on the whole.

I'd prefer Black which is also mass made by most shops! Just don't like grey!

Oh God.......as a form tutor....am so exhausted at constantly hounding about uniform every morning....[weary emoticon]

However support it as makes buying ds's clothes cheaper AND in the Observer today, whole article about new law making uniforms purchasable from anywhere, and not just people who have always supplied school in past. I think it means no school crests will be allowed but not sure.

So problem solved for exp uniforms!

I like it tbh, my DD's have a grey/burgundy uniform with a proper shirt and tie and i think they look lovely. It would be a big hassle for me to dress them in their own clothes every morning.

I like it , I don't bother about paint that doesn't come out properly or marks on their uniform (apart from the massive ones!) but I would if they were in ordinary clothes.I have a couple of proper t-shirts each and 2 cardis each but rest of stuff in from cheap range in Asda.

I hate it. teflon trousers? black shoes?

Why is the stuff always made from man-made fibres? And the school trousers (girls) make me want to vomit.

Last school the DDs went to (international school in Brussels), the school was awash with Boden...almost a uniform in itself.

love it. no arguments in the morning about what to wear. bliss

I personally don't like it and I wish DS's school was non-uniform.

However, 'shoppings' post has brought back horrible memories of 'mufty' days at school and how stupid I felt for having crap clothes to go to school in when everyone else (or so it seemed at the time) had parents who could afford stuff that didn't come from the market.

My primary school was non-uniform and I can remember being jealous of other girls clothing even then.

DS looks dreary in uniform though, so for selfish reasons I wish it wasn't compulsory. IMO uniform puts most of the kids on the same level. Sadly the most deprived kids are still brought to school wearing tracksuit bottoms instead of trousers and any old top instead of the jumper with the school logo. It actually pisses me off that the school charge sooooo much for the crappy uniform on sale. It's shit quality and should be priced accordingly.

BTW - are any kids entitled to free school uniform if their parents claim benefits? If not, it's a bloody disgrace.

I don't like school uniform, though our school only really wants you to wear the colours - they don't insist on the sweatshirt with logo which is way overpriced tat.

I do think it is easier to dress them in uniform, if I am organised and have it all washed and put away by Saturday morning

Hate it. Really glad kids don't have one. Without school uniform they wear all their clothes, otherwise there must be so much wastage if they can only wear them on w/ends or do you make them change when they get home? I know it would be a constant panic for me to have the right thing ready each morning, I find it enough of a challenge to have clean undies for them. At secondary level uniform can add to the 'gang' mentality among kids from different schools. Not healthy imho.

I like dd school uniform, I also teach in a school where poverty is a real issue and lots of our kids just don;t attend on non uniform days as they just don't want the shame of coming to school in "crap " clothes. Their uniforms are in awful conidiotn, greying, filthy, buttonms missing and holes everywhere but thatdoesn't seem to bother them as they are just school clothes but to let every oneknow thatyour own clothes are in a similar state and way out of date is too shameful.

TS&P I can empathise with what you say about kids feeling that having a crap quality uniform is not as bad as having crap quality clothing. I think I felt the same as a teenager - "uniform is ugly and compulsory so if I look shit then blame the uniform". I'd move heaven and earth before DS ever felt that way, but then again he's autistic and I do everything I can to help him blend in, and I use a proportion of his DLA benefit to buy clothes for him.

I can't ever make a decision on anything just because it suits me - and non uniform does suit me - I prefer to think about how it affects all types of people. So, as much as I personally don't like it, I can see that it solves a problem for a lot of families and I'm happy to support it.

Stiller to your earlier question you can get a unifrim grant if on income related benefits.

I do think however that it is stull discretionary to lEAS how much the grant is and who gets it, but this may have been changed. I know there were a lot of cinplaints when I first started teaching that almost 1/3 of ( I think) LEAS were not giving out grants. We have a huge transiency issue in our twon bith within our local schools and in and out of the lEA and this can cause problems as uniform grants are only given out once a year. The school sometimes buys buts for kids as does social services.

I think the grant here is about £90 whichy would buy our uniform as we onlyhave items that can be bought in the supermarkets. WEare looking at getting a new uniform and are finding it difficult to get soemthing attractive thatour families can afford.

£90 is a generous amount of cash for buying a year's worth of uniform. DS's uniform consists of school issue sweatshirts and polo shirts (crap quality, but it helps him fit in) and M&S trousers. He has a clean uniform everyday which is probably unecessary but I find it easier to bung something in the washing machine than to sponge clean. I think it would be easily do-able on 90 quid.

I'm on Income Support and haven't been offered free school uniform - I haven't asked about it either - it worries me that some families on really low incomes struggle to buy the school issue 'logo' clothing (which is IME over-priced and bad quality).

I was really surprised to hear that DS's school don't have an official 'uniform recycle scheme'. DS has outgrown the uniform I bought him in September and it's useless to us but almost brand new. I was told to ask around in the playground to see if anyone wanted it. I think that's terrible considering I live in a really deprived area where I'm sure a good percentage of parents would appreciate almost new clothing but might feel embarrassed accepting it from another mum in the playground.

I hate them. My DD is such a pretty little girl and I hate having to put in her in an awful yellow polo shirt with an ugly sweatshirt over it for pre-school. Why can't they make them more attractive.

I never wore school uniform at all as a child. It didn't bother me in primary but in secondary I would have been grateful for it.

Personally I like school uniform and believe me when your kids reach secondary, you'll love it too! How else would I be manage to clothe them? Non-uniform day is a nightmare; if I had to go through that everyday I'd be a basket case.