Uniform for girls who live in leggings

[oneplustwoplustwoplusone]

My nearly 4yo starts school in Sept. She is quite fussy about clothes, only really wearing leggings or cycling shorts and a T-shirt.

For those with less ‘girly’ girls what did you go for with uniform. I’ve not no chance in getting her in a dress/skirt/pinafore now. Jersey trousers should be OK but what if it is still warm in Sept?

Did you find that they changed their view on uniform over the first term? Don’t want to buy loads of other girls in her class wearing dresses etc changes her mind….

If you have difficulty in controlling the choices of a 4 year old how are you going to cope when she is 14? I think you need to let her see who is in charge of what she wears regardless of how defiant she can be.

Pretty stark inequality in this bit of London. One of DD’s friends had 3 kids in a one-bed council flat, dad worked in a kebab shop. Other kids were in £1.5 million houses.

The Sutton Trust has consistently found no evidence that uniform achieves anything in primary schools. But Brits refuse to hear it.

They notice labels if their parents teach them to, same as anything else. In a non-uniform school your DD could wear what she liked.

Choice? A 4 year old tends to wear what is laid out for her. I’d chuck a pair of leggings and a t shirt in her direction and that’s what she’d wear. Years 5 and 6 she got more involved but by then she knew what worked for school.

And there was a really strong sense of community in her school. Good schools don’t need everyone dressing the same to achieve that.

(I also had a cloak at school. It was a cause of profound embarrassment whenever we had to wear it outside of school. But it did keep you warm in the freezing cold hall.)

I agree - DT’s non uniform school was high achieving academically, friendly and supportive. Wearing impractical school uniform doesn’t help good learning where wearing comfortable, practical clothes is beneficial. No one cares what you wear - it’s not the fashion parade on a non uniform day in a school uniform school.
When you look around the world, most of Canada, US and Europe don’t have school uniforms - why is the uk in the dark ages?

It’s interesting to see which countries embrace uniform - some former British colonies like Australia, but also Asian countries with a very different take on education to here - a take that most Brits would be horrified by (I read up on the Korean education system recently and was pretty shocked even though I knew it was intense).

Perhaps things have changed with fashion being cheaper and there being more choice, my experience of a non uniform primary was that it wasn't great for many.

While there wasn't overt bullying, everyone was aware who was in supermarket or Primark clothes and who was in gap or topshop. Those whose parents couldn't afford big branded stuff felt very conscious of it. A lot of us breathed a sigh of relief when we went to secondary and there was uniform. Supermarket uniform looks the same as expensive uniform shop and there's solidarity in no one really liking it. It was definitely better for me, not feeling judged in a daily fashion show.

Why is anyone wearing “plastic” cycling shorts? They are usually made of wicking material, so actually very cool compared to the boys’ heavy cotton shorts.

And yes it isn’t usually mandatory - girls wear them because all of their friends are wearing them.

Similarly, to answer your actual question OP - yes lots of the Reception skirt-refusers end up wearing summer dresses at least some of the time by year 2/3, to fit in with what their friends are doing.

Just as DS8 is currently refusing to wear school shorts and sticking in long trousers, because none of his friends are in shorts (other kids in other classes are wearing shorts, he wears shorts at home quite happily, and he has worn school shorts in the past - but trousers not shorts is apparently “the thing” this year, so he won’t put them on).

My daughter who wouldn't dream of wearing a dress outside of school happily wears dresses and skirts for school every day. She's never mentioned wearing trousers or shorts for school.

@Ddakji I don’t teach DDs labels. They actually work things out for themselves! Not at 4 bit by 10 dc are aware. Educationally they were fine and where there’s a mixed intake it’s clear who is poor in non uniform schools. I went to one. In those days you could smell poverty too.

Pupils at DT’s non uniform school knew that labels didn’t matter and no one cared what you wore. Bullying over clothing that happens in uniform schools didn’t happen in their non uniform school - same as their cousins in non uniform schools in Canada, Belgium, France and US.

Shorts.
cycle shorts
cycle shorts and a dress
leggings and a dress
treggings
gingham playsuit

Treggings

https://www.next.co.uk/style/st360046/286802

@purpleme12 The cloaks are instead of a winter coat. They cover the blazer and backpack of they choose to have one. It’s practical. It wasn’t a state school. Interesting that if it was a non uniform school you would probably laugh at it. That’s why uniform is best,

because they no longer cover their arses.

They are where I live. Loads of little boys wear them.

@DorothyStorm I guess this is why some people prefer prep schools. It’s so much easier to dress your child in what clothes they require. Practical sports clothes, art aprons, and ordinary dresses of a decent length and skirts (pinafores when younger). Dc even learn how to undress and dress again after PE.

If uniform was best, all schools around the world would have one

I went to the uniform shop for my daughter’s skirts last summer and lined up the different ages on the counter. There was barely any difference in the length between ages 8-9 and 14-15.

School aged boys?

My dd has never worn a dress or skirt to school, she hates them.
She just wore those soft, stretchy girl's school trousers at first when she was younger and then since then she's worn boys trousers and shorts because she wanted pockets.

She's year 9 now and still wears boy's school trousers.

There are no non uniform schools in our town so no choice in that department.

Childrens cycling shorts are not made of plastic, they are usually made of soft material.

And its because girls want to be able to move around and do cartwheels without showing their underwear off to everyone.

They used to make kids do PE in their pants and vest if they forgot their kit when I was a kid and make girls do it in those big blue gym knickers, but thankfully we've all moved on.

Yes, I’m an EYFS teacher.

@Parker231 We are not the rest of the world though are we? We have our traditions and individual thoughts.

@Parker231 And you still sneered at a cloak. So non uniform and choice doesn’t prevent sneering does it when someone dares to be different? Non uniform usually means conforming in other ways and being judgemental where the norms aren’t met.

Next do soft jersey school trousers.