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Secondary education

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

Original poster

School Uniform

19 replies

typoqueen · 25/04/2018 11:08

Hi all, my daughter will be going to senior school in September, with compulsory school uniform, the problem we have is she only has 1 hand and from being a toddler to gain confidence and Independence we have only ever bought clothes that she can dress herself with ie NO BUTTONS which was suggested by all her health care professionals, however school want her to wear long sleeved blouses. I have a meeting with the school SENDCO next week regarding this as originally over the phone they suggested putting velcro under the buttons and my reply was NO WAY as we tried this in primary and kids being kids someone grabbed her blouse and yep all was revealed much to her horror. Now what i need to know is am i right in thinking that the school should make an exception due to her disability (she can do most things its just the fiddly little things she has trouble with) and allow her to wear a polo shirt with collar as they have to wear a tie as well, at primary she can quiet easily put on and remove polo shirts without having to undo or do up the buttons, do they have to make an allowance in this case? tia x

OP posts:
steppemum · 25/04/2018 11:14

does she have a health care plan of some sort?
Simplest thing would be to get it written in the that.

Slightly bizarre of the school to expect her to be able to do buttons!
Yes they do have to make adequate allowance for her.

Would it work to have a short sleeve shirt, put a popper on the top 2/3 buttons so it opens just enough to go over her head, but not enough to open the shirt?

Original poster
typoqueen · 25/04/2018 11:27

Hi thanks Steppemum for replying so quick, no she was taken off all health care plans and OT 3 years ago as she manages very well and has no educational or behavioural problems, we have tried poppers, she can undo them but has difficulty doing them up (to be an arkward so and so she just happens to have left hand missing and she is a through and throug leftie!!!) even after 11 years she still has delayed progress in using non dominant hand with fine motor skills, i can not see why they wont allow a polo shirt if they have to make allowences will be much easier for her and one less thing she has to worry about xx

OP posts:
FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 25/04/2018 11:29

I think they have to allow her to wear a polo shirt, it would be unreasonable of them not to.

steppemum · 25/04/2018 11:36

I hope the SENCO sees sense. If they are going to be difficult, you could get the school nurse to write a very simple plan, which only deals with clothing.
She may not have needed it at primary, but if it is the thing to bypass the secondary uniform rules, then it would be quite easy to get. (as it isn't an ECHP statement etc etc)

Ties don't sit very well with a polo collar, which is why I suggested the short sleeve shirt. Does she have a clip on tie? if not, can she do the tie? eg for pe.
That may need to be specified too.

Have you looked at the pe uniform to see if it is easy to change into/out of ? Sorry, not trying to suggest you haven't just occurred to me that dds school skort is a bugger to get on/off, the way the lycra sits is rubbish.

I suppose the only advantage of it being the left hand is that blazer pockest etc are usually made for right handers!

Original poster
typoqueen · 25/04/2018 11:48

yeah we have looked at P.E kits and its all pull on, shorts or joggers, pull on tops, it is literally just the blouse she gonna have problems with, the tie is a proper tie that im going to have to experiment with, maybe tie it sew it and put elastic round it, these i must admit didnt give a second thought too till now since DD bought it up xx

OP posts:
FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 25/04/2018 11:50

ask for a clip on tie.

Original poster
typoqueen · 25/04/2018 12:08

@fourfried, will do, not seen any clip on ones on their uniform site but will ask at meeting xx

OP posts:
steppemum · 25/04/2018 12:08

clip is easier than elastic. But I'm guessing the school tie doesn't necessarily come in a clip on version

FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 25/04/2018 12:13

really i thought that all school ties were clip on these days... for obvious reasons..

steppemum · 25/04/2018 12:22

FourFried - no, don't actually know any that are! (for secondary age)

FourFriedChickensDryWhiteToast · 25/04/2018 12:24

well maybe it's just our local school Grin

I am sure London schools would have clip on ties as well. I mean , they are definitely a thing.

steppemum · 25/04/2018 13:15

Fourfried - all the ones near us have some sort of crest /logo on the tie, so you can't buy them on-line.

TeenTimesTwo · 25/04/2018 13:20

I know you said no to the Velcro option, but are you sure you couldn't do fixed for the lower half and Velcro only the top 3 or 4 buttons?
It is just that that way she would look less 'different'. Hidden by a tie no one would know at all from just looking, whereas a polo shirt is more obvious.

If they have blazers then a short sleeved shirt wouldn't be noticeable (our school allows them and DD wears them all year round).

It must be possible to alter a tie to make it clip on.

Northernbeachbum · 25/04/2018 13:31

A family friend has one arm and he leaves all buttons on shirts done up except the top few and takes it on and off like a tshirt, would she be able to do this?

HoneyJamMarmalade · 26/04/2018 08:12

Marks and Spencer do easy dress shirts which have the top few buttons replaced with velcro but the bottom of the shirt is still buttoned. They go up to a age 16. It is endorsed by the Autism Society.

I know they are out of stock currently but here is the link.

Will she be wearing a jumper over the shirt? That will give her more protection from it being ripped open.

Original poster
typoqueen · 26/04/2018 10:50

i have just seen the ones in M&S but at 15.00 per shirt (75.00) for a weeks worth is totally out of our budget (im a full time carer for my husband so funds limited) school insists on long sleeved shirts all year round, but i will be talking to them, they have to make some sort of allowance, if they so no to polo then i will do my own version of the M&S blouse in short sleeved, thank you all for your input :) xx

OP posts:
AnotherOriginalUsername · 26/04/2018 11:11

Could you not get some normal blouses and get a seamstress or a friend who is handy with a sewing machine to sew it closed (leave the buttons for show) up to the top couple of buttons and pop some velcro behind those so she can do it up and still look the same as everyone else?

annie987 · 28/04/2018 09:50

We have got the m and s shirts for my son (a pack of 2 long sleeved were £13) and my Mum made his tie into a clip on one by seeing it tied and attaching a clip to the back. Can’t tell at all when he’s dressed.

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