School uniform rule - girls not allowed trousers

[Fisharefriendsnotfood]

I'm wondering if I can call on the collective wisdom of you good people to help me construct my argument in the best way.

Dd (5) and yr 1 attends a local R.C primary school that I am more than happy with. She suffers from recurrent thrush and this year I noticed that when she wore tights under her pinafore it seemed to exasperate the problem. I checked the school prospectus for details because I have never seen a girl in trousers at the school and it states that girls must wear a pinafore or skirt as school uniform..

I then emailed the head and explained the issue and asked for clarification on the rules and she said that the last time the issue came before the chair of governors they decided not to introduce trousers as part of the girls uniform. She was very sympathetic and pleasant and said that if I got a doctors letter perhaps she.could allow it.

Now, there is no way dd would wear trousers if no one else was and I also feel that this would high light the issue / invite questions into something that is no one else's business.

So if you are still with me, I want to get the issue raised again with the chair of governors because I cannot think of any valid reason in this day and age why girls should not wear trousers if the want to. I have to speak at a parent voice meeting and if I can muster enough support the issue will be on the agenda of the next governors meeting where I can present my argument.

Where to start? Can anyone offer pointers?

Sorry for the essay

Thanks you misfit that's most helpful

Thanks.

It's really that you're having to do this in 2014. Good luck with it. Please let us know how you get on.

If you mention modesty there's a chance they'll demand they wear cycling shorts under their skirts. It has happened!

I really don't want to break the rule as I don't want to teach dd that if she disagrees with a rule she can just ignore it but I am determined to get the rule changed. I spoke to one of the chair of governors casually about it and he said "I suppose the want the girls to look like girls"

I think you have had some really good points made (by you and others contributing) but I just wanted to comment on what you said above.

Sometimes rules really are meant to be broken especially when they are racist/sexist/homophobic/disablist.

If people had just made polite arguments against segregation rather than actually flouting the laws and risking arrest I am fairly sure we'd still have it in America. Sometimes you got to teach your kids when to stand up and fight if something is wrong and be a wee bit less british polite. It really is offensive that they tell young girls that looking girly is more important than being able to run/jump/feel comfortable/warm/secure.

I am sick of women being told how to fucking dress.

www.equalityhumanrights.com/advice-and-guidance/before-the-equality-act/guidance-for-students-pre-october-2010/being-treated-with-respect/school-uniform/

trousers are more practical, they provide warmth in cold weather and are more comfortable than nylon tights

^cost: tights are more expensive because of their short life
some pupils have concerns about their body image and prefer not to show their legs^

^personal safety: girls may be able to run faster in trousers than a skirt and they may be less vulnerable to indecent assault
other local schools allow girls to wear trousers^

^women teachers do not face a restriction on wearing trousers
most professions now consider trousers to be an acceptable business dress for women^

flexibility in dress codes may also help to accommodate pupils who need to wear trousers due to religious or cultural reasons without the need for special exceptions so individual girls will not stand out from their peer group, and some disabled female pupils may prefer to wear trousers for practical considerations.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-126456/School-face-court-girls-wear-trousers.html

Update -

So, I went to a Parent Voice meeting last night which is how you get an item placed on the agenda for the next governors meeting.

I said that I wanted girls to have the option to wear trouser for all the above reason. There was only 3 other parents there and two of them spoke out so strongly against it that I can't believe it. They said the ethos of the school was repressed by the smart uniform and girls would end up coming in in cheap shiney trousers etcetera. I put my arguments forward well I think but they were so blinkered I don't think they even heard me speak..

I am a bit shocked to be honest that they can feel so strongly about it.. Both were mothers of boys if that matters. Now the issue gets raised at the governors meeting where I cannot attend but can email what I want to say. Also, the school is putting on the weekly newsletter that the matter will be raised and inviting people to email if they feel strongly about it either way.

Help me please!

As an aside OP, I thought DD (when 5/turning 6) was getting thrush from wearing school tights (it seemed to me to be very strongly linked) - but it turns out it was from wearing DryNights at night as she is still wet several times a week. We were advised at this age the urine gets much stronger and to take her out of nappies which we did. The thrush etc cleared up immediately. And she happily wears tights up to 5 days a week now without any problems. Don't know if your DD is wearing nappies at night but if she is you might like to try going without and see what happens.

Before this was diagnosed I was getting her to wear trousers at least twice a week and it was a battle as not many other girls wore them - sigh!

But of course trousers should be an option for girls school uniform.

Do the boys have specified uniform trousers or can they buy eg anything black? If the former then say you would be happy for the girls to have specified uniform trousers too. If the latter say "if the boys are trusted to wear appropriate trousers to school why are the girls not trusted to make sensible choices?" And bring it back to unequal treatment/discrimination.

At my dds private junior school they can wear skirts pinafore or trousers. The trousers are the boys trousers - ie thick blue cord. Probably 60% of girls wear trousers and then they are wearing the same as the boys but the boys are in ties (ideas of putting girls in mandatory ties were scrapped when I sent the head an email entitled "why ties for girls is a feminist issue"

This should be a very easy policy to force a change in, in this day and age.

"if the boys are trusted to wear appropriate trousers to school why are the girls not trusted to make sensible choices?" And bring it back to unequal treatment/discrimination.
yes this! Though I would change "sensible choices" for "the same choices"

The girls wear ties too

Boys can wear any grey trousers

I'm a school governor
parents or others are allowed to attend governors meetings except when confidential matters are being discussed under part 2.
It may be worth checking if you can attend.
I am that this still exists.
Surely if boys can source suitable trousers so can girls.

Sounds like you need to round up some other pro-equality parents to speak up with you.

My DD is not allowed to wear trousers at school, but it's a private school. In the summer she has to wear a ridiculously short cotton dress with short sleeves. She has v fair skin and burns easily. This uniform puts her at far higher risk of future skin cancer than the boys, who wear long trousers and long sleeved shirts. It does make me angry.

I need to write an email that summarises my arguments.. Wish I could attend but was told a definite 'No'.

Why on earth are girls' trousers going to be cheaper or shinier than boys' trousers?

I have no idea mrscakes..

It was like their world was threatened by the prospect of girls in trousers

Both were mothers of boys if that matters.

I think it probably does. They can keep up the status quo with minimal issues for themselves and they haven't got to be worried about their son's lovely school being torn down by your daughters daring to wear trousers.

Pm bump

The boys' mothers probably like the idea that their sons are attending school with young ladies and not with nasty tomboys running around in trousers and learning to be lesbians or something.

But then again, the parents of the girls in that school aren't exactly a bunch of militants either, eh.

No sign of any dads within miles I suppose?

I'd mention hairy legs and girls wanting to hide them, if you can think how to phrase it.

Nightmare at school having your hairy legs pointed out and no way of doing anything about it. And no mother, thick tights do not help!

My God, we weren't allowed to wear trousers as formal wear (boarding school) in the late 1980s. I can't believe nothing has changed in the 25 years since.

Really appalling, given how much less practical skirts are in cold weather. And actually, I always put DS in longer shorts even in hot weather, because my main memory of childhood is how painful skinned knees were, and trousers mean that hardly ever happens! Girls can wear trousers at our primary. Some do. They all look very smart and follow the uniform rules in all other respects. In winter when DD is old enough I plan to discuss which she'd prefer, because tights can be horrible for young children - they bagged and sagged, was my memory as a child. And I had thrush a lot at that age, too, so looking back tights were probably a crappy idea all round.

Also a bit taken aback that people think Muslim girls can't wear trousers. At my first (non-boarding) secondary school, some girls were given special permission to wear trousers along with headscarves, because as Pakistani Muslims it was the only acceptably modest form of dress. Skirts show legs, and potentially underwear.

I fought long and hard on this issue at my dd's last school - and got nowhere.

Most of the parents were against it, reasons given: "tradition" and my personal favourite "the girls look so sweet in their pinafores."

I had to stop campaigning because dd was getting uncomfortable.

Please fight these sexist dinosaur hideous monsters.

I'd like to see this one fought out in court, if you have the energy to do it. Most women wear trousers as everyday wear, so you may just win it.

NB at our state primary 3 girls were expelled because due to their religion their parents wouldn't permit them to wear the school logo on their school top (strict Muslims, not allowed to have any picture or design on their clothing). The school would not allow them to wear the top without the logo. Nice tolerant Church of England school showing its true colours.

I wouldn't want my DD's to go a school with such outdated sexist policies

We were finally allowed to wear trousers in winter (only) over 88/89. I refused to change back to skirts once spring arrived. Teachers were always telling me off but I wouldn't budge, I was already being bullied to shreds for having hairy legs and needed to find a way to minimise that.

I will even check PE kit requirements when I'm choosing senior schools for PE. She is not going to be forced to wear PE knickers / skirts. I hope they don't exist by the time she's a teenager.