sixth form uniform

[bourboncreme]

My ds is at a school where currently there is a sixth form dress code but no uniform as such,there is a proposal to introduce a uniform suit for both sexes (different stylkes obviously)After 12 years of uniform ds is looking forward to wearing his own clothes and frankly I've had enough too,I also think that this is a bit renegade after all they will only customize it .How many sixth formers wear uniform and if your ds/dd does how do they like it.

dd1s school, sixth form wear what they like- agree there are some odd combos but if you cant do that at 16 when can you? youve got the rest of your life to wear business suits.

dd2 who is a fashion queen goes to a school with strict business suit policy in sixth form. i would not be in least suprise if she changes school at 16 to facilitate her need to show off.

omg frogs- I absolutely cannot believe that you are looking at 6th forms for dd1 already! I still think of her as a year 5/6 primary schooler running rings around her rather inept (at dealing with such a bright child) teachers...

Business type suits, witht he school tie for boys, has been the normal in the secondary schools I have worked with. Has always looked smart and appropriate.

Having seen some of the totally inappropriate clothes worn by the girls at a local secondary sixth form with no uniform, I definitely think the business suit is better!

Oh yes, Scummy. I am so not old enough to have a daughter doing GCSEs next year.

Secondary school has been the making of her, tbh. I gave her a stern talking to about Attitude when she started, but we've had no trouble at all, the teachers think she's great and are tolerant enough to turn a blind eye now and then. I reckon she got all the teenagerdom out of her system in Y5, leaving her free to be all sensible now.

Teenagers rock, I recommend it.

When did this whole idea of suits for 6th formers come in? First I heard of it was when my nephew was starting at his school 6th form this year. I was pretty dumbfounded. I then heard that a local Catholic school is doing the same. Since then I've heard of a number of schools with this policy

It really makes me laugh because they talk about business suits and preparing young people for work. I looked around my office, pretty much all professional, degree educated staff, and there is such range of outfits. Suits or smart clothes are the order of the day for meetings with clients but on the average day in the office there are jeans, casual trousers, t-shirts and flip flops alongside smart shirt and trousers and skirts and blouses.

I'm intrigued as to who had this great idea.

A-M

I wonder whether what's going on is 'further enforcement'? A friend of mine's sister has a DD at a posh girls private school with suits as 6th form uniform. Apparently the Head made it perfectly clear why: She basically said to the parents "You've bought into this ethos of rigid discipline and strict uniform thus far; we've delivered the exam results based on our ethos, don't go thinking we'll allow your daughters the opportunity to wriggle off the hook, academically, NOW when it's A level results that COUNT! We'll just keep on doing what we're doing seeing as obviously we're doing it so WELL"...

Can't argue with that, can you??

But soon they'll be at uni ,not wearing suits and presumably coping.
I wonder what it's like for them to go from an atmosphere where they can't be trusted to perform well academically if there is any let up in a discipline so strict that they can't be trusted even to choose their own clothes ?
Must be a tribute to them that such a sharp contrast doesn't see them going completely wild.

well I was at Marlborough college recently and what passes as "suits" for the 6th form girls are tiny tight mini skirts and heels about 6inches tall.
it was like a caricature of " executive woman".

Today I happened to be looking at the wikipedia entry for a girls' grammar which one of the schools DD may go to next year.

Here is the section on uniform (with my italics):
There are a number of regulations about uniform. These are stated in the pupil handbook which pupils are given at the beginning of the year including skirt lengths, which must be no longer than 6 inches above the knee. The pupils wear navy jumpers during KS3, and when they move on up the school into KS4 adopt the maroon alternative. The sixth form are encouraged to wear clothes

One of the small joys of Wiki!

To be honest, violet, those girls' ongoing academic progress beyond the school itself is of no concern to the school- they've done their job!

Rigid discipline at a posh girls' private school, ampere? What's that all about? Schools like that shouldn't need it.
Sixth Formers are old enough to realise that they have to work hard to get good results whatever they're wearing. How does wearing a suit improve results?

Once they're over the September fashion fest ( girls) they usually dress appropriately in a pre-university sort of way

Don't shoot me, I'm only the messenger!

I wore uniform in the sixth form, many many years ago. It was basically the same as the lower school, only navy instead of grey, and we were allowed to wear trousers after 5 years of freezing our knickers off in the wintertime (this was up in the Yorkshire Dales). I didn't really mind, I guess, I was used to wearing uniform by then.

However, we did once get a perv doing stuff in his car outside the sixth form block but I doubt he was doing it specifically because of the uniforms.

The sixth formers where the same uniform as the rest of the school at my boys' (grammar) school

The sixth formers where the same uniform as the rest of the school at my boys' (grammar) school

I'm not shooting you, amps - just idly amused at the image of a posh girls' boot camp.

Mine was a let-it-all-hang-out sixth form dress ( we were actually told 'no jeans' but that never got implemented)and I still don't feel happy in a suit. Not that I've got one.