Y7 coats for secondary girls at schools with blazers?

[madgreenlemons]

looked back at a few old threads about this. Do secondary kids really not wear coats? What about when it’s below zero? If anyone has a girl who does/has worn a winter coat, can you recommend a good one that is the right side of stylish and practical? And how about for the autumn and spring- do they wear light waterproofs or is that uncool?

At DD’s school they all wear black puffer jackets in the winter. The blazer gets rolled into a ball 🙄 and shoved in the backpack for when they get to school.

There is a nice looking school rain jacket. Lightweight, nice shape as these things go. It’s been worn twice I think.

As regards recommendations… DD’s is by iets frans but I highly recommend waiting till your y7 starts school and sees what everyone has, as that’s what she will want.

Mostly blazer but when it’s really cold she wears a North Face puffa on top. Leaves at 7:30am, 5 min walk to get the school bus.

It really varies. I have two in different secondary schools and for one it’s the norm to just wear a blazer unless it is absolutely freezing and then they opt for a black puffa. The other one wears a jacket for most of the year.

great advice, thank you. Will sit tight and see how the land is looking Sep!

Black puffa here too

Youngest has recently left sixth form so my recommendations would probably be out of date for younger ones, but I definitely remember girls wearing coats. I can't remember if boys wore them.

Are the puffers the short style- almost cropped? Not the longline like oldies like me might wear

Mine has a semi cropped North face ( but it covers her kidneys which my own mother had a thing about ) 🤣
It’s filled with real down, so keeps her”core” warm.

Also until mid November they seem to all wear a blazer and a really thick long scarf

It depends where you live. Here I think North Face is a private school vibe that most secondary school kids would not go for. Year 7 is less label led than years 8-9, by 10 many are done with such associations.

Well, yes it can vary and I can only talk about my own Y7 daughter, in the area we live in. 😆

Mine never wears her coat unless we force it on her. It gets ‘accidentally’ left in her locker 🙄🤣

They tend to not wear them here, not for cold anyway. Maybe if it is pissing rain. Were SE though not Inverness.

i wouldn’t buy anything yet. Wait and see how it pans out or you’ll be fighting a battle you won’t win.

Don’t buy one until she’s seen what others have - wait until it gets cold!

DD chose to freeze. If it rained she took an umbrella.

One thing to check is what they do with coats at school. At DD's school there was a locked room for coats that was opened at the beginning and end of the day and was a hassle (in the eyes of my DC) to get to. So it was easier not to take a coat.

If you do get one please please label it!! The amount of random coats that get left in classrooms is crazy. At ours they all get donated if not claimed by the end of each term. I love the 'so and so has lost their black puffer coat but it doesn't have a label in' emails - no chance of finding it, they all have that coat!

Check what happens locally, as it does vary.

My DD thought the secondary kids were stupid not wearing coats, until she started there. It was just too much hassle, as they needed to go in the locker or be stuffed at the bottom of their bag. She had a pac-a-mac for when it was really wet. She didn't seem to feel the cold - year round in just short-sleeved shirt and blazer - she didn't get the optional jumper until covid meant windows were open all day.

Remember that anything you buy needs to fit over the blazer, so take that with you when shopping.

Girls seem to hold out as long as possible here then when it's really freezing they relent into a cropped black puffer, brand doesn't seem to matter, H&M or New look will do, then it's discarded as soon as it's 'not freezing' again. Ankle socks and bare legs remain throughout.

Boys are completely different, a mad expensive (think Mountain Equipment or similar) massive puffer goes on as soon as it's slightly cool and worn constantly until it needs to be prised off them, sweating, at around Easter! This is then replaced with a lightweight, but equally expensive Montirex or similar 'windbreaker' which is also never removed!

My DDs school insist on only the 'School Winter Coat' on top of blazers in the winter. It's pretty hideous and reminds me of what our teachers wore on school trips in the 90s.

They are allowed to wear their own coats to school but it can't be seen during the school day and must be kept in locker. At break times they are freezing unless they have one of the Sports bench coats which seems to be allowed. They are very expensive and very impractical as they look like Arsene Wenger on the touchline in his Arsenal days.

It's quite confusing and annoying that you're expected to buy a school coat on top of a normal everyday winter coat.

So to answer your question, yes I think it's quite normal not to have a winter coat at school and they just deal with it.

Short black puffa but buy one you can squidge into her backpack. Dd got a large (25l+) backpack because she has so much to carry and a long walk (45mins). She rarely wears the coat but she does take it on freezing mornings to school, and occasionally in the classroom when the teachers realise the heating isn’t working!

None worn at our high. North West

Wait to see what the others are wearing.
Here it either no coat or black puffer jacket. Don’t be fooled that you as parent will be able to tell which black puffer jackets are acceptable and which aren’t 🤦‍♀️

My DDs had pac-a-macs permanently in their bags for rain and had winter coats for warmth in the winter - both had lockers.

in Norfolk…my sons school don’t wear coats at all unless it’s extremely cold then it is a black puffer coat