Uniforms

[Haberdashery]

I'm curious to know what others think of uniforms for primary school children. Does it make your life easier? Do your children like wearing a uniform? Is there a downside? Has it proved expensive for you? And how strictly is your school uniform enforced? Or do your children attend a school without a uniform?

The reason I ask is that our local school which has always been non-uniform is thinking of introducing one and I am quite against it (it's one of the reasons I picked this school).

It seems to me that lots of countries get by fine without uniforms and there doesn't seem to be any sensible evidence that they improve academic outcomes (which I think may be where the school is coming from). I also think that it's nice for children to wear their own comfortable and colourful clothes at school.

But I'm interested to hear from other parents as I've never had a child at a school with a uniform so I don't know what the reality of it is like.

My DD is 3 months old and I am already dreading the issue of clothing for school. Here in the US only private schools have school uniform. I think I have seen it all and it isn't pretty.

Call me old fashioned but I think there is something to be said for wearing a shirt and tie to school. When I go to work I would never wear a polo shirt so why should going to school be any different? Polo shirts and sweatshirts are sportswear and, in my opinion, should be worn on the playing fields, not in the classroom.

Boffin I think most uniforms are meant to be as ugly as possible. I think the people who put them together (would never call them designers!) work with the concept of clothing as a form of birth control!

Supermum,

Round here, primary (elementary) school children wear polo shirts / sweatshirts - almost exactly the type of clothes they would be running around in at home, just in a uniform colour.

Secondary school children wear a proper shirt, tie and jacket (blazer) - moving towards the type of 'office clothes' that most of them will wear as adults (though why ties for girls?? No woman EVER wears a tie. Smart 'work' blouses would strike me as a more appropriate ooption).

I come from a country without school uniform and can't see a point in having them. Competition about brands are just pushed to either bags/watches/sport shoes or to non-school time.

But: I also don't have a problem with DD (4, just started reception) wearing one. Her's is pinoforte, polo shirt and cardigan, all without school logo.

What I really don't like are the school shoes. I can't see why open-toe sandals are a health hazard, my daughter never had any problems wearing them. I also prefer her to wear warm shoes in autumn and boots in winter. She will have to wear them on the way to/from school and change at school. We have a 20 minute walk to school.

I was against school uniform, seems wrong for infant school, but its turned out to be the easiest option. Especially as DD (5yo) is very vain picky about clothes, which leads to lots of arguments. Very easy to chuck the same clothes on every day of the week, and then have some twirly impractical dresses (DDs favourite) on the weekend.

Open toe shoes are a disaster, as a scientist, I have dropped lots of things on my feet, and closed toe shoes are highly preferable. Also small people step on each other and your feet a lot.

Don't like uniforms!
Am prepared to change my oppinion if the kids say they love it, but as it stands, they don't. DD1 hates it and would love to go to a school with no uniform, even though her current school is quite relaxed about it - ie jumper in the right colour plus something grey/black. DS is at a secondary with no uniform and it makes things a lot easier - and cheaper as well. The thing is, even if uniform is cheap, they still need other clothes - so for me uniform is an annoying extra expense.

I love uniform, we need far fewer normal clothes now, it washes easily, stuff sponges off it, love the white polo shirts (as someone else said, you can bleach them and hang them on the line to brighten up). I think the kids look really smart in them too.

I wouldn't let them wear sandals to school even on mufti day (scientist here too), they are much more likely to trip up in them as well as drop stuff on their toes. Our school allows boots in winter.

Very pro-uniform here. Dd has one, strictly enforced and quite expensive but because it is good quality is is also very low maintenance (and can buy from second-hand shop in school.)

No hassles or arguing in the morning.

Safety issue of easier to identify group when out and about on school trips in the city.

Enhances feeling of being part of a big group.

Helps with feeling of "I am here to work now"

Btw - to maintain whiteness it is best to wash at low temps (30°) not high (although do white cotton sheets on 90°C + ). If you wash white shirts and socks at very high temps they have a tendency to become grey.

OP - am I right in thinking that you seem to have made up your mind against? I think the majority of the posts on here are pro? Will that influence your decision?

hate them with a passion for any school aged child.

why stifle their creativity and homogonise them.

really pisses me off that so much school time is taken up by whether top button is done up or not, if trousers are regulation or skirts too short or long, insane, teachers should be left to concentrate on what is important, attendance, discipline, cooperation, results etc.

have 4 dcs, 2 at uni now and 2 at school so have spent hours on pointless shopping for vile blouses and trousers. yeuk!!

most offices are casual dress now anyway so schools need to keep up with the changing times.

loved seeing my kids go through the 'emo' phase and the 'goth' phase and emerge as sensible dressers after all.

i would ban uniform tomorrow if i could at my kids schools but each to their own

I hate it at primary, think it looks miserable, though I can see the utility of it. I think kids should be able to choose their own clothes, learn to use common sense, and issues of bullying/exclusion around clothes should be properly dealt with if they arise. I especially hate the polyester school trouser, shirt and tie look at primary - primary should be about learning through play and creativity, and what they wear shoudl reflect that. I also hate the insistence in secondaries on wearing blazers all the time whatever the weather. They aren't adults yet or they'd be at work. And my aspirations for mine involve not wearing a uniform, but going to university (where they certainly don't wear shirts and ties) and then a profession that does not involve uniform. I also don't like the idea of teflon coated clothes, and polyester, and I would prefer to support a fair trade supplier than the ones we are tied to. However - we don't have a choice, very few urban schools especially resist uniform now.

Dc creativity stifled by what they wear?? Seriously???? (genuine question - not being snippy)

Not my experience at all. Creativity shouldn't depend on what you are wearing should it? Thought true creativity was above all that sort of thing.

That's why I like uniform tbh - it 'releases' the dc from thinking about trivial stuff (such as what to wear) and focus on the things that matter (learning)

Agree about teflon plated trousers and polyester though

And I think a lot more school time could potentially be taken up by dc wearing completely unsuitable 'mufti' clothing to school - at least uniform is likely to start off being within a certain range of practicality/appropriateness

I am glad of your post, thebody, as I thought it might be easy for me to be anti because I only had one DS who went to non-uniform schools and I can't really say that deciding what to wear posed any problems in the morning. Perhaps it is harder with girls. I can't see how it is cheaper, as you still have to have enough other clothes to take you through the holidays. I don't know how teacherwith2kids manages with just 2 sets on non-uniform clothes, although, perhaps, she doesn't live in rainy Scotland as I do. Also when DS started school, he was still in age 3-4 so I didn't actually have to buy anything.

When I was young, few state primary schools had uniforms - it has just seemed to creep in gradually. And now you even see nursery tots in uniform.

However, if OP's school has to have a uniform, I would go with red polos with royal blue sweatshirts as a school my town has thwm and it does look nice. Our local school has white polos and bright red sweatshirts and it does not look smart at all.

We have shirts and ties at the age of 4 which I dislike - as does DD - along with stiff acrylic cardigans - I am for, but for practical and comfortable.

Holidays .. well, they are a bit of a stretch BUT nobody minds wearing slightly grubby clothes on holiday and I'm certainly not on for buying more clothes just to get through the holiday. Just do a wash midweek as well as at the weekends during holiday weeks...

To be fair, DS has 3 sets of non-uniform clothes as he wears football kit pretty much all day for 1 day every weekend, and DD's a pretty 'clean' child, the only time we have a problem for her is when she goes camping with Cubs. then we raid her school PE kit for her tracksuit just to give us another pair of trousers!

DS attends a special school where there is no compulsory uniform - a lot of the pupils have physical disabilities so wear what they can manage, or are comfy in wheelchairs.

I will usually buy him supermarket school polo shirts , just because he needs so much stuff; or he will wear a t shirt and jeans. We can get items with a logo through school once a year so he has fleece jackets and a couple of Polo shirts which he loves wearing.

To answer the question about non uniform days - they tend to set a "theme" such as wearing pyjamas, or a particular colour so that the day is a bit different! (although once a year I have to pay for him to wear his jeans which he would be wearing anyway )

Now people are raising my pet peeves - nasty cheap fabrics and clothes which restrict what DC can do. My DC's uniform does not involve any of the above (independent school so most of it sourced through school-run secondhand shop), which probably colours my view. If I was trying to force my 4yo into a stiff-collared shirt and a tie my view would probably be very different!

To whoever said red polo shirts - noooooo - hard to source (so school supplier or nothing) and they fade - so each individual child looks smart, yes, but put them in a group and you would see as many shades of red as there are children. White ones are so much easier.

@ mummytime: my DD survived 3 summers at nursery in open toe sandals. We never had any issues with her toes.

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I do think creativity is affected by what you wear, actually. Mine is anyway and I don't think clothes are trivial at all (poss am too obsessed with them though). I work much better in comfortable clothes that don't make me sweat or constrain me, and I think experimenting with how to present oneself is part of life, and a fun part too. I also really resent the push towards having all girls in skirts all the time and boys in trousers, making kids constantly aware of gender. That's not to say that all in own clothes would be ideal at all - much of what's available cheaply is more horrible than cheap uniform anyway.

for me it makes my life a bit better the clothes stay nice and tidy. my dd s uniforms not that expensive but i bet it is if your going to a privateschool and there uniform policy is a lot stricter. my dd like's it and thinks she's all grown up. its good for them all to be wearing the same if there's a child who could be poorer they will blend in and not be picked on.

Pro.
It makes life easier, and dress-wise puts the children on an equal footing.
It must be practical though, just for dressing/undressing purposes I would shudder if my 5yo dd had to struggle with a formal shirt, tie and blazer - (twice a week for PE and again for dance club).

I like uniforms, I think that however individual we want our kids to be there are some times in life where we all have to conform like it or not and so I think it's a good lesson to learn. Also means that the clothes they choose and like don't get ruined at school and those children from less well off families don't have to suffer any stigma from wearing out of fashion hand me downs, in fact in many schools in my area it seems to be a competition between parents to see who can get the best value/cheapest uniform as most schools near me only have colour schemes there's no pressure to buy expensive labeled uniform though it is available if you want it.

DD has a strict uniform and we all love it, except the initial expense as main bits can only be bought from one shop (although second hand shop for PTA is popular). The advantages are:

Everybody wears the same so no concept of fashion which, particularly with girls, could be an issue (and expense)
Getting ready is the morning is totally hassle free (although choice this half term is either Summer dress or Winter shirt/tie and skirt with blazer).
She has now gone up to Yr 4 so girls wear plaid skirts in Winter (rather than pinifores) and boys can wear long trousers - they love this rite of passage.
Makes DD proud to wear it on behalf of her school
Makes them easy to identify on school trips

We've got Jeans for Genes day on Friday which is always a hassle - DD changes her outfit half a dozen times and is never satisfied that she is as cool as her friends.

Don't mind the uniform, do hate the nylon. I send mine in a non-uniform cotton jumper as they get eczema if too sweaty, no-one has told me off yet.

My son's school has a school uniform, its not expensive to buy as the trousers/dresses can be bought in Asda/Tescos and the jumpers with the school logo can be bought either from school or at a local uniform shop.

I prefer my ds to wear a uniform, in 2 years' time he will be going to high school where he will have to wear one so am getting him used to wearing one now with proper Clark's shoes and trainers only for P.E.

pro uniform, I AM!