School uniform correctness - gone mad!!!

[chubbleigh]

My son got pulled into the deputy heads office today to be told the new shoes he is wearing are not shoes but trainers - in disguise. And could he arrange for them to be replaced by Monday.

Start Rite think they are school shoes, and so do I. This is about pair no.17 and suddenly the are not OK. I need to speak to this pedantic Gove botherer in the morning, I'm not calm on the subject yet, but one thing is for sure, there is not going to be any replacements by Monday.

www.startriteshoes.com/boys-shoes/school-shoes/ethan-black-boys-riptape-school-shoes

T

Definitely look like trainers, you'll need to change them.

We have a new head this year and have had to crack down on uniform (and our own work wear), phone use and surprisingly it works behaviour (so far) has changed dramatically. Because these tiny insignificant rules are being consistently applied they are following the bigger more important ones.

Those shoes are very trainer like, you can get school shoes that look like school shoes with Velcro.
I suggest he takes them to wear to play football and changes back after lunch which will save his other ones.

Balletgirlmum
Clarks, starters and marks and spencer, just the 1st 3 I googled, all do boys lace up school shoes in a size 1. Really not particularly hard to find.

How on earth do they look like trainers. Send him in a pair of Oxford brogues. DD used to go to school in black leather converse before they changed the rule. They lasted 2 years! They still look good now and she was comfortable

They are very trainer-y. My son has these ones www.startriteshoes.com/boys-shoes/school-shoes/miles-black-boys-riptape-school-shoes which are still Velcro but are much smarter.

They are school shoes. My son has the exact same pair ( he's on his third pair of these now) and his school don't accept trainers either.

They may look trainer like in the photos but if you feel them and see them you will see that they are a rigid shoe and extremely practical and hard wearing for a boy who walks 2 miles a day to get to school and back.

I would argue this one out especially after spending so much on them,

My 10 year son has huge feet ( size 7 or 8 depending on the style) and if he didn't have these ones he would have to have loafer style or formal lace up office style shoes aimed at the older school boys.

They look like most of the school shoes my boys have ever worn, which have always been accepted as school shoes by their school.

I'd be telling the school that they I'd be happy to accept a replacement if that's how they want to spend their budget, because I certainly wouldn't be replacing a perfectly acceptable pair of shoes.

They look like the type of school shoe my kids have always had.
One of my kids will need Velcro until the end of days. This year there was a choice of two types of Velcro shoe in our local shop.

The same shop which doesn't hold any stock of regular laced school shoe below a size 1 or 2.

I wish people would stop using 'gestapo' and 'nazi' like when talking about staff and shoe problems. It is so offensive.

What about school uniform which is for the benefit of the pupils?

Eyes enormous bunion on left foot as a result of school shoes

My son any do laces. Well he can but can't iykwim. Due to ASD. School shoes are going to be a nightmare. Can someone link to 'acceptable' shoes please? I need some I can put fake elastic laces in.

If children have additional needs then I'm sure there will be leniency with uniform, many of our ASD pupils wear Velcro shoes and long sleeve polo shirts instead of traditional shirts.

We were sent instructions and pictures, these are not on the banned list, on that list is black (actual) trainers, black converse, uggs boots, studded boots, pointy toed shoes, canvas lace-up and Bobs. On the ok list was a pair of black shoes with Velcro straps as well as ballet pumps, lace-ups and mary-jane's.

I would send the deputy head a link to the school shoes and ask for clarification. Although they are school shoes (and my ds wears a very similar pair with no problems), they are "trainer style" and in some schools this is unacceptable. At least they didn't send your ds home and you have a few days to sort.

Our school says ask for 'formal school shoes'.
Your shoes would not be permitted.

The idea of having to wear 'formal' shoes to run around playing football or whatever is so stupid. The OP's ds's shoes can be polished and look slightly more robust for playground use. I wouldn't buy the other Velcro ones linked because my ds hates any shoes with that sort of ridge round the toe

My y9 dd is probably wishing she had Velcro this year instead of lace ups - her form room is one of the dance studios, and they have to take their shoes off each morning!

Neither Clarks or m & s shoes fit DS.

Clarks are just about ok at a push but last only a couple of months wheras start rite & Geox which fit him the best last the whole year.

our school has banned 'trainer style' so they wouldn't be okay.

Velcro isn't a problem though, in the lower school many of the girls wear velcro Mary Jane styles (the school also don't like shiny buckles). By year 9 they are all in brogues which inevitably fall apart half way through the year. Doc shoes are good, but only if you can get the ones without yellow stitching. The boys wear Derby shoes or brogues.

The whole thing is fucking ridiculous though.

In all the schools my DC have been in and still are, those shoes would be absolutely fine. In fact most boys in infants and juniors wear that style.

So glad I live in Scotland and at a school which has a pragmatic approach to uniform (simply black trousers/skirts/shoes including trainers and white shirts) Only compulsory element is the tie - blazer is encouraged but not required.

The head takes great pride in the fact that, despite the highly mixed demographic of its intake, the uniform is accessible to all.

Strange thing is that a) the pupils are still smart and recognisably from the school and b) there is generally good behaviour. (Not saying that they are all saints )

In fact, the local supermarket has more issues with the pupils from the local private school in their strict uniform

I do have an argument every year with ds when we go looking for new school shoes in that I don't allow any with white on them (even a white Nike swoosh) because he says "Other kids have them". He gets short thrift from me, saying it's about him showing respect to the school's guidelines. His (plain black, leather lace up) are what would be considered trainers in England. Totally appropriate for a 20 minute walk to and from school every day.

Doesn't seem to have impacted on his - or the school's - ability to get good exam results

At least your child hasn't been given a hard time for using the wrong pen.

DD's school insist on a blue writing pen - not biro or gel. So I got a pen that wasn't biro or gel. It's still the wrong fucking pen.

I need to go and buy some different ones.

Stationery nazis :o

Hi Balletgirl, no, my son's shoes are black leather. What is 'wrong' is that they have a small label on the side (about 1.5cm by 0.5 cm) which contains the four letters - vans. You can't see it in the photo a. because it's tiny and b. because I used a black permanent marker to black out the grey lettering on a black label. However, on being inspected by a woman on her hands and knees with her nose 5cm from his feet, DS' heinous transgression was revealed and he was told the shoes would have to go. Perhaps I should be thankful he wasn't sent home there and then. But I think it was a very silly way to deal with children on their first day of secondary in Year 7 (lining them up and crawling along the floor looking at their feet), and if they knew my DS at all they would know he is not a rule-breaker. He just happens to have a mum who hoped that by blacking out the labels she could be spared spending another £50 on top of all the new uniform. DS is very slight and has very narrow, c width feet, so I am really unwilling to buy £10 shoes from supermarkets, and these shoes had been fitted properly in a reputable shop (and bought from the 'school shoes' section!). I just feel that a group of teachers should have been able to be a little more intelligent about it all. Anyway, we've now cut the labels off, so hopefully that will be the end of it.

I would simply send him back in, stating that both according to the rules and the fact that he has worn this style for a while now with no problem, means that he will not be getting new shoes.

The fuck does any of this shit have to do with a child's education??? They look like a sensible practical pair of shoes. Anything else and you are teaching children that shoe fashion is more important that education, or intelligence, or skills, or hard work, or exercise or...or....or...

biscuits WTAF

That's awful biscuits & would have sent DS into meltdown on an already anxious day.

Ds is only D/E fitting & supermarket shoes just don't cut the mustard (we've got 1 pair from when he lost his s school shoes during the play dress rehearsal) school sensibly allowed him to wear trainers but he was singing solo at a community event so we bought him the way too wide supermarket shoes just to literally perform in.