The school coat problem.....?

[Whippet]

-3 C when DS left for school this morning...... in his BLAZER

What do you do?
Is there a solution?
He is only in his second term of secondary, so this is a new phenomenon for me...

There is no 'official' school coat as such, but it has to be plain black or navy and long enough to cover his blazer apparently.

He already has a NEXT black moleskin jacket, and a more casual black jacket too... bu won't wear either...

Help.

Mine were the same-mad. I just left them too it. They were similarly stupid about rainwear.

DS's school has a jumper but the school tell them when it is cold enough to wear it.

-3 this morning and a hat, scarf and gloves were in evidence, but still no coat or jacket of any description!

I bought DD a Barbour one, it's not left her back since October.

Just had the mother of all arguements with DS1 about wearing his scarf. He has put his coat on but hell no not the nice new regulation school scarf that cost £25!!!

Me: Put your scarf on its absolutley freezing out there.

DS1: Daaaad! I'll get called 'scarf boy'.

Me: Well I've seen other pupils wearing them!!!?

DS1: Yeah! The girls!

It saddens me that he will just not show any kind of independence of thought or action at all from what other boys do. I also feel really bad about arguing with him before school.

Same here, my DS will wear hat and gloves but not a coat, left this morning in just his blazer. I thought I was very clever when I bought him a Superdry windcheater, but no - there is a thief at school - so the Superdry coat is far to precious to risk a trip to school....aaargh!

I think some of the blame for this non coat wearing should be placed on school management. Children are no longer given a safe place to stow their belongings and understandably don't want to carry them around all day. In my day we each had our own desk or locker.

Children should also be able to decide whether they want to wear a coat inside. After standing at bus stops and spending extended time outside it is understandable that children are still cold when they enter the school building. Being shouted at for wearing a coat should be discouraged.

Governors should also give better thought to the uniform they specify. A blazer is a difficult item to cover with modern coats. Until recently a school jumper was not even included on the uniform list for my child's school.

I also disagree that not wearing a coat does no damage. I have noticed symptoms of hypothermia in my son when he comes home from school. Being lethargic and confused means that they are unable to take full advantage of their education.

Why don't schools allow each child to have a locker? It seems crazy that students have to carry all their stuff around all day.

My DDs' school provides everyone with a locker and each student has to bring in a padlock.

The lockers are all covered by cctv and if there is any trouble (there isn't much) the HOY will watch the video and work out who it was.

In the great scheme of things lockers and cctv cost very little per child yet they make the students' lives so much better.

Oh beta - that is so funny and so sad at the same time.

at 'yes, the girls'

Bloody coat wars. DD had the cheek THE CHEEK to ask for a barbour jacket this winter (one of those padded jobs). I refused, saying that I had bought her all manner of coats over the years which she had either lost or refused point blank to wear, so if she wanted a new coat she could bloody well save up and buy it herself.

She didn't bother, wears her old crappy Superdy parka thing (but still not to school).

Totally agree at the lack of lockers.

It is unfair that kids carry huge bags full of books and clothes, especially if they happen to have PE, cooking and a sports fixture after school all on the same day.

Governors should also give better thought to the uniform they specify. A blazer is a difficult item to cover with modern coats. Until recently a school jumper was not even included on the uniform list for my child's school.

True. My DDs school uniform is blouse, tie, skirt or trousers, appropriate legwear, jumper. That's it. No blazer. And guess what - the girls mostly look smarter than the other kids in blazers, and are more amenable to wearing coats. There is an optional hoody which some of them wear instead of a coat.

I purchased the school official coat at the start if year 7. I think it was called a mistral jacket. It cost a small fortune and has been worn precisely once!!!

At DD's school, they have new, stylish, easily accessible lockers.

In Year 7 she used it to keep her coat & P.E. kit, in Year 8 her locker has been continuously & mysteriously broken despite the utmost willingness of staff to fix it.

I can only assume she doesn't want it fixed so she has more opportunity to 'forget' her P.E. kit and not take a coat to school.

At least DM's seem to be coming back into fashion, so there's a possibility she might have warm feet for some of her teenage years.

I used to wear a lovely warm old-man's Oxfam overcoat to school... but with bare legs and thin soled pumps and feet like blocks of ice all day - most teenagers are just plain stupid about the cold, and always will be.

Lockers will not solve the coat problem, they just become a place to store enforced and hated coats so as to avoid wearing them in the future.
Until Christmas DD's locker stored three coats I had made her wear also two umbrellas and a pair of gloves she didn't like. She kept 'forgetting' to bring them home until I threatened to go with her and help her clear out the locker, and they made it home that very evening.

everyone round here either wears superdry, pauls boutique or no coat. there are a few that were regatta or trespass! today some walked past in no coat! -4 degrees and no coat!
some wear scarfs and gloves but not many

totally agree about lockers. my DD has a locker that she puts her pe kit in but her coat goes in a bag eg hollister,next,jack wills. so she looks "trendy"

Slightly off topic but I have asked DS (12)

He says to be 'popular' at his High School you need

Superdry Coat (Even though I have never seen a coat
Gola Bag
A Blackberry

So there we have it. He has no coat, an Adidas bag and a Samsung.

Standing at DDs bus-stop, me in thick coat, hat and gloves, dog in Equafleece, watching the girls from the local school swan by in open blazers.... a moving teenager really doesn't feel the cold that much. If we'd been walking I wouldn't have needed so much and the dog would have just had his baldy thin fur coat

If its wet, or they are liable to have to stand around in the cold then they need waterproof and/or warm clothes - but if they're walking and its dry then its probably not worth the fight.

Sparkling - thanks for that OT comment. I have just remembered that about the only thing DD asked for at xmas was a new school bag ('only yr7s have rucksacks') but she didn't want me to choose one for her and then she could never be bothered to come shopping with me. Her birthday is at the start of Feb and I've no idea what to get her so this is a timely reminder!

So are Gola bags just for the lads or what?

DS (12) says Gola bags for all not just boys Grimma.

My Ds would have rather froze than wear Superdry or Hollister tbh

But he was a bit Emo in his schooldays

DS thinks Superdry is chavtastic, but all the people that wear it are 'popular'.

ah well , my ds didn't really care about fitting in or being popular

Sparkling - thanks ... I think...they look like rather more lurid versions of the 'sports bags' boys used in the 70s.