GRRRRRRRRRRRR Really Pissed Off. (Petty uniform related issue)

[JaneBirkin]

sorry, I'm fuming so I need to post. It's probably ridiculous, but anyway.

I went to get ds1 from school today, and he appeared looking sad and worried. He was wearing his plimsolls.

I said where are your shoes? 'I don't have them'. Well where are they love? 'My teacher told me to take them off'.

We went to his classroom as he said they were in his locker, the teacher was still there. By the time we arrived he had told me that she'd asked him to remove his shoes, because they were 'not school shoes', this morning aroud breaktime, during a lesson, and put on his plimsolls instead which he then had to wear all day, meaning he had slipped over several times in the playground and got very dirty and slightly injured legs. (his plims fit, but aren't suitable for fast outdoor running I think).

I approached the teacher and asked if there was a problem with Ds's shoes. She said they were trainers. They're not - they're Geox, very expensive, orthopaedically whatever, posho proper leather shoes which look very smart (when they are polished!) and are absolutely no different in style to many made by Clarks and Startrite for boys to wear to school.

She also said that they are not black, and should be black.

I refuted this as we are still allowed last year's uniform, which states navy or black shoes (they are somewhere in between) and she then changed her line to 'he told me they weren't his school shoes' bollocks

I left it at that, saying 'well as long as he's still allowed to wear them, because he has been since I bought them 6 months ago, and no one's mentioned it'.

I then saw the HT and said what had happened. she immediately said 'we are not allowing trainers' and I had to explain again that Geox shoes aren't trainers, they're bloody expensive, very good for his feet, and I wouldn't spend £45 on trainers NOR would I make my child wear them all day.

She said there is a crossover in footwear designs these days which makes it difficult for them to discriminate. (irrelevant surely). She also said they're not black. I said that we're still wearing old uniform, it's a phasing in period, and the old uniform was black or navy. she said it was black, had always been black and I was wrong.

Anyway, got home, checked old newsletter, it says clearly black or navy (in bold print). I've sent it to her.

I'm mainly just so bloody furious that my child was approached about this, NOT ME, stigmatised for the rest of the day (ok, not a major deal but it makes him look like he's had an accident and had to change, or something) and they were utterly wrong about the shoes in the first place.

I'm so cross.

[JaneBirkin]

Teacherwith2kids - no, thanks for linking but the 'crush' ones really do look very trainery to me, I don't like them actually! Ours are far less trainer-like imo. They don't have that aggressive grippy looking sole for a start.

They have two velcro straps, yes with a small flash/logo in a different colour but nothing distasteful or flashy.

The leather is very dark blue/black and they're flat soled. I wish I could find them but bought them in the sale ages ago and they've disappeared off google images.

[JaneBirkin]

Thanks Nhamed, I appreciate it!!! That's my point really.

Brandy - I hope they don't notice, too. It just seems so petty doesn't it. I mean trainers are probably banished because they're either bad for a child's feet (making them sweat/not supportive enough/whatever) or because they're too 'trendy' and would encourage jealousy and competitive footwear issues. I don't think ds's have cause either of these problems!

[JaneBirkin]

Sorry, NhameCage

can't type tonight

[teacherwith2kids]

For simplicity's sake, at school we define 'school shoes' (to differentiate them from trainers) as being

• Black
  
• Flat soled
  
• Able to be polished all over with standard black shoe polish
  
• Without logos
  

Our main reason for not allowing trainers is the 'competitive' aspect.

[FFSEnid]

I wouldn't send my dcs out to do sport in the clarks shoe but I still think they are trainers. Ditto adidas originals or converse.

[JaneBirkin]

Thanks, Teacher, yes, that would make sense. Our school didn't bother to make those sorts of regulations though. They're just cherry picking kids to have a random shot at, which I think is awful - the other week a kid was told off for wearing red socks, or something, you couldn't even see them under his trousers. It's unfair and I don't think it's really legally or morally acceptable, is it, to penalise or punish a child for incorrect uniform?

If they would just set some proper boundaries or rules, then we could make sure our kids stayed within them, but they seem to make them up as they go along.

That's what makes me so cross. Not that they said the shoes were wrong, but that they didn't even know their own uniform code, and punished my child about it.

[JaneBirkin]

I'd class both Adidas and Converse as sports and fashion shoe brands. They make shoes primarily for sport and fashion.

I would class Geox as a serious shoe brand that is above all else, healthy for a child's feet, and good quality, not intended to be particularly fashionable or encourage competition between children.

I've bought them both Geox trainers in the past as well but even those weren't serious sportswear really. Just very decent casual wear shoes for messing about in at home.

Interesting that so many people would define those Clarks shoes as trainers, when even Clarks don't. They just call them a casual shoe for boys.

[JaneBirkin]

Thanks Shiney. Maybe she backed off because she knows I get a bit serious about uniform stuff. Last time there was an issue we went to the governors...with the backing of a large proportion of the parents! And won.

[ihearttc]

I haven't read the whole thread but my DS1 wears Geox shoes for school. He doesn't have any choice because they are literally the only brand of shoes that will go over his very high instep...and I know that sounds ridiculous but trust me I have spent many many hours trawling shoe shops and they are the only ones that will actually go on.

They are not trainers...they are proper leather school shoes which probably look a bit more casual than some of the styles from clarks/startrite but they are definitely not trainers. Trainers in my opinion are Nike/Adidas and the such like.

The ones DS1 has got are called Savage...can't do links Im afraid but they have been fantastic and are black(just in case you need to actually get black ones). They have lasted far far longer than any pair of other shoes his friends have got so are definitely worth the money.

Luckily school haven't said anything about him wearing them but even if they did his footwear is the one thing I would never budge on. He has huge huge feet (he's 6 and takes a size 3 shoe) and even if he could fit into clarks etc they only really do what I call proper smart school shoes in that size which are more appropriate to much older children.

Don't know what my point is really apart from to let you know that your DS is not alone in wearing Geox to school!

[tethersjinglebellend]

It's a well-known fact that children wearing trainers grow up to fail their GCSEs and generally become the scourge of society.

I'd get him some Start-Rite, quick smart.

[teacherwith2kids]

tethers, it is however a fact that trainers in the area I work in are seen as a status symbol and define 'which group you belong to'. The 'desirable' trainers are extremely expensive, and as the school has a very mixed social base, the divide between the 'haves' and 'have nots' in financial terms could quickly become very apparent. So we ask children to wear school shoes, in the same way as we ask them to wear school uniform (and clothe many children for free from the second hand uniform box) to keep those visible differences to the minimum.

[teacherwith2kids]

(I agree that the shoes the OP describes are not these 'high fashion' trainersd - but we find that defining the line between trainers and school shoes in the very simple terms set out above creates the clearest and most easily enforced demarcation)

[tethersjinglebellend]

Having taught in uniformed and non-uniform schools, on balance, I disagree with uniform.

To be fair to the OP though, that's probably another thread...

[JaneBirkin]

Arf at your name Tethers I think it's the best I've seen yet.

iheart - thankyouuuu! Glad to know I'm not alone - I was so chuffed when I found Geox shoes for the boys. I think they are amazing - the crappy 'formal' black school shoes I got last year were worn to pieces, and the clarks ones don't last long either. the Geox though starting to look scruffy, are SO storng and he puts them through hell, and have lasted 6 months.

I'm impressed with them and I will keep buying them.
Especially now the HT has backed down and said 'As you say they're not trainers, then he can wear them.' Which really is all I needed to hear - apart from an apology from his class teacher for making him wear plimsolls all day, and feel upset, and be worried I'd be cross with him.

She really is a bit cruel sometimes but she's leaving in a week so that's something that can be left for now.

I understand totally the issues fashionable trainers can raise in schools and I so didn't want to contribute to that problem - if I had, I'd have bought him something fashionable! I don't think any of the other kids have even heard of Geox.

Many thanks for the support.

[JaneBirkin]

Tethers I'd love to hear why you think uniform isn't the best option, I've always hated it, though I did like dressing up in it as a kid, it felt somehow wrong as a concept.

So anything you have to back that instinctual feeling would be great to hear...please fire away if you want to! Or PM me...or yes, another thread...

[ihearttc]

Lol...I don't think any of my DS's friends had heard of them either! He has got some gorgeous brown/orange Geox shoes which he wears out of school as well and they are the only ones I have purchased full price in 3 years. I usually get him measured and then buy last years colour for much less on e-bay (all new I might add!). Yes they cost a lot of money but he gets so much wear out of them and they have lasted such a long time...compared to his friends who has had 4 pairs in the time he's had 1 pair!

His feet are so big that the smarter type of shoe just looks ridiculous on him...like a little boy dressing for a job interview if that makes sense?!

[tethersjinglebellend]

cheers Jane- what's yours going to be?

I will explain all my deep and fascinating thoughts on why uniform is ultimately A Bad Thing, but I am so tired right now I can only post inanities and links to nice shoes.

I'll dust down my soapbox tomorrow

[JaneBirkin]

I know what you mean IHTC and i hope the school never has a go at you (or him!) about it. Children need good, sensible shoes and if they have them, that's not something the school ought to be getting in a state about imo. Better things to do I think.

Tethers - I'll look forward to it whenever you get the urge to rant!!

[sashh]

They look like trainers = they are trainers, cost is irrelevant.

[JaneBirkin]

But they don't, and the HT agrees with me that they're not.

Trainers = training shoes. It depends what you call trainers of course.

Show me a pair of Nikes that look anything like those.

[JaneBirkin]

It's weird isn't it - I started a thread against the school, the school then agreed with me but now half of MN doesn't.

It was supposed to be about the bizarre method of punishment, really, in any case, and the fact they didn't know their own uniform code - 'I have so many things to think about on an everyday basis that I can't be expected to know the rules' is a bit poor isn't it? Coming from the hT who hands out the punishments in the first place, directly or indirectly.

It's like a policeman saying 'Surely you don't expect me to know what the law is, I'm only arresting you because you look guilty'

[FFSEnid]

Ricosta school shoes are brilliant compared to startrite and clarks. Ds has had a pair for 2 full years (he doesn't grow) and they are still ok.

[themightyfandango]

Our school is fairly lax about footwear providing it is navy or black.

I know I have it coming in high school though as ds2 (asd) has a thing about feet and will only wear old worn in trainers. The misery when he has to break in a new pair is legendary. I dread to think what will happen if proper shoes are forced upon him.

[themightyfandango]

That and proper shirts. Starchy collars and ties...makes me want to hide under the duvet just thinking about it!