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

dd's school have one school skirt for girls - it comes in three lengths 18/20/22 inches. That's it, no options beyond that.

DD was in trouble last year because her unrolled up (! obviously she rolls it up whenever she can, but it was measured rolled down) skirt was too short - replace it please said the school. Except of course that it was the 22" length & there is nothing longer. So I ripped the hems down & she spent the rest of the year looking a complete mess with un-finished hems.

This year she has new skirts - 22" again as that's the longest they do - so far they are considered long enough. I don't think she has got any shorter over the summer holidays

Dd has that issue. But that's the advantage of dh teaching at her school - he sits in staff meetings & gives the this is stupid parents point of view.

Ds has those. They're trainers-which is why he likes them. I painted the stripe with the touch up paint so they're not as obvious and he gets away with it.

Tantrums

"little plastic thing " = Aglet

I had enough trouble finding lace up shoes for ds10 last year. He's a size 5 - surely that's big enough to have lots of options?
No, found a style but the shop didn't have that size, so ordered from Amazon. The bloody shoes still fell apart after a month's wear and the seller refused to take responsibility for refunding/replacing.

Neddle - thanks a blinking lot - I thought that the earworm of that blooming aglet song was gone forever & now it's back!

They are rather trainer like though...

I don't think many shops selling uniform are to be trusted tbh. Just because it says school wear doesn't make it acceptable.

I've had the most terrible job finding skirts for dd that will be ok for school. She's v tall too which adds to the difficulty.

Most 'school' skirts in shops are just tight grey mini skirts. Either that or they're designed for people smaller in stature than dd.

This whole school shoe thing drives me nuts - every year! If the school are going to be that particular then their should be a specific (and affordable) shoe that everyone has to wear.

For example awful slip on ballerina pumps are allowed, dr martin shoes are not (too statementy apparently!) but my DD has to walk about a mile to school and the ballerina style shoes, even if clarks and the like, last no time at all. Also boots of any sort are banned - so come the winter, when the rest of us normal folk put on more sensible footwear, they still have to schlep down in shoes and have cold wet feet.

Also wearing blazers in the summer, in the class room - why?? If you are baking hot at work, even in the smartest of offices (I would imagine) you take it off and hang it on the back of the chair right?

OP is correct. Those are not trainers. I suspect if her DS attempted to do PE in them, he would soon be pulled up on that!

Schools really need to be allowing for Velcro shoes in order to be inclusive. Just 'making an exception for SNs' does not cut it, really. This is extremely othering for those children who already are presented with enough difficulties, quite frankly.

I think my DS had the exact same shoes last year, at secondary. He can do laces but they get so little time to change and get to their next lesson from PE, was happier with Velcro. There is often only one type of shoe in the shop that fits properly.

Thankfully his school, although it says no trainers, correctly considered these school shoes. Why do some schools have to just add completely unnecessary stress to already very busy lives?

Lanaekia - our official school skirt comes in different waist measurements, but only one length. Which obviously fits girls of all heights and comes to on the knee on every single one, as per the rules .

I have never had any problem in identifying what is a school shoe and what is not.I do think many parents are being disingenuous

1 Is school shoe
2 Is not a school shoe

If parents really are unable to follow instructions, all teh more reason to instill this skill in the kids!

Biscuits you obviously knew those shoes were unsuitable, otherwise you would not have attempted to black out the logo

Number 2 would be a perfectly acceptable school shoe to me. Fucking stupid rules anyway

When you have children with such awkward to fit feet to do that sort of thing. I know I have.

www.office.co.uk/view/product/office_catalog/5,21/2014705235 these are trainers to me not what you linked to

a7 hmm, so a trainer, eh? Would you allow them for PE?

They both look like school shoes to me, but what do i know, I've only been buying the damn things for 12 years.

I hope they don't inspect my DTs shoes too closely as they have Royal Mail written on them as they're cheap surplus Dr Martens.

It's daft. They are all black and look smart.

Plus, some kids - I was one - just can't wear high street school shoes because they are too narrow. I have always had wide feet and had to wear black trainers because it was that or crippling pain.

These uniform rules fuck me right off.

My DC has sensory processing difficulties and certain items of clothing cause an undue amount of stress. Long sleeve shirts are one. DC gets frustrated and angry they can't undo the buttons on the cuffs and anything being tight around the neck and wrists so we buy short sleeves. Acrylic jumpers feel like DC has people scratching at them so we buy generic cotton jumpers instead.
Pull on trousers rather than zip flies.
Shoes with Velcro because DC still cannot tie shoes. Coordination is off.
I dread secondary next year.

All these rules do is harm kids with additional needs or those from poorer families who have to make the best of a crappy situation.

Yes, a7, I did suspect that the school would, unfortunately, object to the logos, which is why I blacked them out, in order to try to comply with the rules without having to buy a pair of shoes that I couldn't afford. I fully accept that I am at fault in not seriously imagining that they would really be as jobsworthy as they turned out to be! This is my DS's local, state school. It's not an indie, which I totally appreciate can dictate exactly what gets worn. I just can't see why it's a problem if my son is in smart, practical, black shoes. They don't cause him to behave badly or drop grades (he's a well-behaved boy and in top set for everything) so I just can't see why it matters what he's got on his feet. The rest of Europe don't impose all this silliness and their school systems produce arguably better educated kids. The German exchange kids who sat in my otherwise uniformed classroom last year (am a teacher btw) in jeans and t shirts were far, far in advance of their British counterparts. If British schools want to improve it won't be by making everyone wear blazers and expensive sole-provider uniform. It's just a red herring.

AnotherUsername I love those shoes - dd had them in year 7 ... best school shoes ever. Then dd got absorbed into club-brogue, but even she admits the mail-shoes are better!

And a7, regardless of whether picture 2 is a trainer or not, what is actually wrong with it? It seems robust, smart and practical for a teenage boy. It's hardly an extreme footwear choice!

a7 my son is autistic and he won't wear ANY shoe with laces as he feels silly not being able to do laces up yet. Thankfully he now at a special school where they don't have these petty rules. They do however have an excellent occupational therapist working with DS on his coordination.

This rule is petty and affects children who would be better sat in a classroom and learning.

My child refused ppint blank to wear any shoes in primary 1, just wellies, so he did. Thankfully school were amazingly understanding. It's not about what's on their feet, its about them turning up to school, happy and being able to learn.

I will add that they wear indoor shoes at schoo, so it's was just wellies to and from school.

At DD1s all girls school, most of the girl have been in trouble for their skirts being too short. Then a girl wearing pants walked past the teacher, who looked puzzled for a second, then promptly called out 'stand here, your pants are too long!'