"smart business suit" for sixth form - bit tacky or a good idea? Mixed 6th

[Sparrows12]

I'm in the "bit tacky" camp myself. Don't want daughter going to school everyday dressed like a candidate from the Apprentice. There are plenty of years to get used to dressing for the world of work, so why start at 16, especially as these children will be back in jeans etc for university. A sixth form uniform would be my strong preference. And i can foresee all sorts of disagreements in Next, Top Shop etc over what is "smart". I already find myself fighting to keep quiet about unsuitable (frankly "large handbag-style") bags being taken to school - aargh, and school shoes from unsuitable places like top shop that last one term before falling apart.

[webwiz]

At my DCs school the dress code is about being seen as smart role models for the rest of the school and nothing to do with working in offices. I can't get worked up about it really - its just another version of school uniform and DS wants to stay on there so we'll go with it.

[NamingOfParts]

I dont think that a school with a relaxed dress code would prevent a student from wearing a suit if they wanted to.

If its the right school the fine but really I cant see why insisting on uniform or a suit into the sixth form would make a school more appealing.

The British do seem to have a weird obsession with wanting to be told what to wear. By extension this then becomes an obsession with telling other people what to wear and pointing out when they have got it wrong.

[Wallison]

There are lots of differences between being at school and being at work. I don't think that the mere act of wearing a suit would even remotely help someone to understand an employer/employee relationship and what is expected of them in the workplace as opposed to what is expected of them in school, to be honest.

It's just a load of old bollocks.

[webwiz]

Haven't a number of posters said that it makes a school less appealing rather than more?

I like the sixth form despite its weird insistence on suits but they are less strict than other schools I know of locally so it didn't cause a problem for either of my DD's. DS is the sort of boy who always has the required 7 stripes of his tie showing (that's a whole other thread ) so he hasn't got any desire to rebel against wearing a suit.

[Wallison]

It certainly makes it less appealing because it's such a hatstand notion that you wonder what other skewed priorities are in play there.

[pointythings]

I feel that role modelling really should not be about what you look like, not at all. I think it should be about excellent behaviour, taking on mentoring roles for younger children and demonstrating high academic achievement. Anyone can put on a suit. The same does not apply to real, worthwhile actions.

DD2 is in primary - Yr5. She has been asked to mentor the YrR children - not because she looks so smart in her cardie and poloshirt uniform, but because she is a well-behaved, high-achieving and caring student. That's how it should be in 6th form too.

To my mind an obsession with uniform suggests that appearances are being used to cover up at best a lack of ideas for further improvement for a school, and at worst a culture of complacency.

[webwiz]

Oh well its just been rated outstanding so we'll go with the lack of ideas and complacency. They do all the mentoring, achieving and excellent behaviour but obviously that doesn't count because they look quite smart as well.

They've had the dress code for years - DD1 started in year 7 in 2002 and they had it then so I'm just used to the idea.

[Wallison]

I'm sure you're very happy with your choice of school and I'm sure it's a very good school. I'm still trying to get my head around this as it's the first time I've heard of it and it just sounds bonkers to me. If my son was in a school like that I'd be working very hard to change their minds about it as I can't see any benefit to it at all.

[BrianButterfield]

I would hate to see the sixth formers I teach in suits. I love the way they really develop their sense of style in year 12 and 13; the crazy hairstyles, the odd outfits - it's brilliant. I don't wear a suit to work, so I'd feel decidedly strange teaching students wearing them (and I would hate to work at the kind of school that dictated suits for teachers).

[SoupDragon]

If my son was in a school like that I'd be working very hard to change their minds about it as I can't see any benefit to it at all.

You'd probably be better off not sending your child to a school where you disagree with their dress code.

[NamingOfParts]

SoupDragon, outside of major urban areas there is often little choice in education.

Our choices are - the local consortium college (which serves 4 towns) and a sixth form outside of the county which is a long bus ride away.

Thankfully neither have what in my opinion would be a ridiculous dress code. However if they did then I would certainly be working to have it changed.

In general I am anti school uniform as I think that it is a distraction for school management.

[Theas18]

Blooming annoying!

DD had this in 6th form but they didn't specify suits (argh!) so we had the " this cardigan can't be worn with this skirt as it's not the exact same shade of grey " etc.

DS will have uniform- brilliant!

[LadyIsabellaWrotham]

Just looked round a bunch of secondaries and I didn't fancy the one which had suits in the sixth form tbh. The boys looked ok (private school=> good suits) but the girls did not look great, they looked pretty impractical for a start. I work in a suit environment but heels are worn only to travel over the carpet twenty yards from computer to kettle with an occasional diversion one floor up in the lift to the boardroom. Wearing them to trog around a large school campus all day is not what they're intended for.

I thought that the uniformed or casual clothed girls looked much better (though to be fair most of the latter were at all girls' schools which does tend to produce a more comfortable and eclectic dress code).

[bruffin]

We have a huge choice of 6th forms and several colleges.
The best 6th forms that kids are fighting to get into all have suits for 6th form. It doesnt put them off and I would be very annoyed if either of my dcs chose their school on their dress code.
Dcs school is renowned for its pasteral care has smart suit code. As i said above,they all have their personal spin on it and look far less clone like than the big groups of european we often have staying locally all in identical jeans and hoodies

[Brycie]

good points Bruffin

[Aboutlastnight]

It reminds me of the Inbetweeners when turns up to sixth form with a briefcase and is known as 'briefcase' forever more

[AntoinetteCosway]

One school I worked at had a uniform code (for the whole school, not just sixth form) of trousers or skirt of any colour (skirt had to be no shorter than a couple of inches above the knee), shirt, jumper if required, jacket, tie for boys. They didn't have to be in suits but they did look really smart-and they could be creative and individual if they liked. We had quite a few pink shirts and tweed jackets which I rather liked! That's the best of both worlds I think. The kids could shop in shops they liked and could be fashionable if they wanted to, they didn't all look the same and everyone was smart.

[HullyEastergully]

Can we at least not pretend that there is any correlation between appearance and results?

[AntoinetteCosway]

Oh, and at my current (all girls) school they're allowed to wear whatever they like in sixth form, except blue jeans and very short skirts. They never break those rules, I think because they have so much freedom, and they look lovely.

[Aboutlastnight]

I used to wear short black skirt, striped tights, DM's, a 'Factory' T shirt and a holey jumper. My best friend dyed her hair flamingo-pink and used to wear tea-dresses with ripped fishnets and DMs. Another friend had a blue Mohican.

We all went to RG universities.

[Aboutlastnight]

"they look lovely"

You see, if my mum had said that I would have stomped back upstairs and put my Factory T shirt on again

[LadyWidmerpool]

Doesn't it cost a fortune? I'm a 35 year old manager and a new suit is a considerable outlay for me. Even from a supermarket!

[HullyEastergully]

My DS (currently yr 11) has red oil paint all over his blazer (from art gcse). I refuse to buy another one so it can happen again. How smart it looks.

[safflower]

Speaking of briefcases, our school has briefcases as compulsory from the get go. No backpacks allowed.

[Bonsoir]

16-18 year olds are being denied useful experience in determining their own look by being required to wear cheap suits and carry cheap briefcases. It is unutterably depressing and small-minded of schools to ask them to do this.