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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

QE Boys Uniform Issue - Swimwear

18 replies

Wrestpin · 12/03/2017 09:35

Planning to send DS to QE Boys this September, but fear we may have hit a major hitch. DS has found out from a friend's brother who attends the school that you must wear Speedo Brief style trunks for the swimming sessions there.

I've checked the website uniform list and they just state 'swimming trunks'.

DS has made it exceptionally clear that he "will never" wear them and now doesn't want to attend the school because of it.

I think it's more a question of being embarrassed, as DS much prefers to wear briefs as underwear. However every time I try to broach the subject things get a little wobbly, understandably - I'll keep trying.

Can anybody confirm if this is the case at QE Boys?

If it is - I was thinking to get him a pair or two to wear as underwear every now and again. And try to take him swimming with them at least a couple of times before September.

Thanks :)

OP posts:

EdithWeston · 12/03/2017 09:39

I think you'll need to specify which QE.

I first thought of Queen Ethelburga. Is that the school you mean?

AlexanderHamilton · 12/03/2017 09:43

I don't know about that school but speedos are compulsory at ds's school. I think it's to do with swimming going taken seriously & them being as aero dynamic etc as possible. Also the speedos are made from a special endurance material which don't disintegrate in chlorine.

Original poster

Wrestpin · 12/03/2017 09:46

Did the DS offer any resistance to the idea?

Part of me now wishes we'd kept up the swimming club lessons as he'd have been wearing them for that and it now would have been second nature....

OP posts:

sm40 · 12/03/2017 09:46

You can also get the speedos jammers long shorts. My ds does swimming and no one in swimming club wears the skimpy speedos!! They all wear jammers so maybe this is what they mean?

AlexanderHamilton · 12/03/2017 09:47

If it's QE Barnet this is the specified school uniform swimming briefs (exactly the same as at ds's school)

www.fqeshop.co.uk/acatalog/Swimming_Briefs.html

Mary21 · 12/03/2017 09:48

Coming on to say the same these are probibly acceptable and the norm
www.swimshop.co.uk/speedo-mono-jammers-mens-358089?colcode=35808944

AlexanderHamilton · 12/03/2017 09:52

My DS has been wearing them since Year 1 so it's all he has ever known.

Tissunnyupnorth · 13/03/2017 09:15

DS at QE yr9. He wasn't keen to wear the speedos in yr7. However, he soon got used to them as most other boys wear them. Now he wears the short type speedos, just covers the tops of his thighs and nobody minds. What they won't allow are the long, baggy boarder type swimming trunks.

Tissunnyupnorth · 13/03/2017 09:17

And no, they won't allow what Mary21 linked to, but he will be ok with similar, all navy, just covering the tops of his tnighs. You can get them from sports direct.

Tissunnyupnorth · 13/03/2017 09:20

These are fine, in navy.

Original poster

Wrestpin · 13/03/2017 11:00

That's great, thanks! I think I'm going to keep this in reserve - I know QE can be a bit of a stickler for the rules so I think we're going to start him off with the black and white option and move to the 'aquashorts' if things don't work out further in to the term.

Having a chat to one of his best friend's mum about the situation, who is also going to be going to QE - I found out that her son and another of his friends both swim in the club at Southgate where they and many of the other boys in the clubs wear speedos. So I'm going to try taking him along to that and see if we can make him a bit more comfortable about the situation!

OP posts:

Notcontent · 13/03/2017 22:15

I don't have a DS but I was intrigued by the title of this thread.... I have to say I am surprised because my dd is in a swimming club and I have never seen anyone wear that style - it's a bit 1980s and early 1990s....

CountMagnus · 14/03/2017 16:42

My DS swam until recently at a high level (up to Nationals) and all training for the boys (aged 11 to 20+) was in Speedos. Jammers were for competition only.

Allthebestnamesareused · 14/03/2017 18:20

Our school said speedo style but accepted Jammers

Original poster

Wrestpin · 14/03/2017 19:14

Am I wrong in thinking that jammers are normally quite tight and difficult to get on? And that most will wear a speedo underneath to save their modesty while wrestling the thing on?

I know the guys when I used to play water polo would often wear two suits, but I think that was more because people would try to pull them off to tackle .... boys eh...

OP posts:

Noitsnotteatimeyet · 14/03/2017 23:20

That's the competition suits - they're usually a couple of sizes smaller than everyday size. They need to be really tight to compress the muscles and give a streamlined silhouette - it used to take my ds a good ten minutes to get into his racing jammers. And none of the boys wore anything underneath..,

His school specified the briefs but after a few weeks all the boys turned up in jammers and no one batted an eyelid (school was very hot on uniform in all other regards)

GinGarden · 15/03/2017 23:52

Oh tell him to stop being so pathetic. Don't pander to his needs. He's lucky to be going to such a great school, get over it and grow up!

monica321 · 07/09/2017 13:25

My DS went to QE, and now in uni. Got some uniform, clothes and books.Anyone interested?

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