to object to this type of invitation?

Gilly - I bet you were a darn sight warmer than they were! Any sensible onlookers (well, me, anyway) would have considered that you'd dressed appropriately.

I'm not sure it's any of the school's business what parents wear at school prize-givings. On the other hand I can understand why a school might make this dress code request. Smart casual is fairly broad (vague), which must allow for wide interpretations.

I prefer a dress code as I hate to be over or underdressed.

Sadly, the school hall only has room for each child and 2 parents - so guess who is babysitting his sister!!

His other granny suggested she might go in place of dd. That didn't go down too well!

I think that it's good to let guests know that they don't have to go to the expense of finding smart/formal outfits for the occasion. In the past speech day/ prize giving etc were very formal occasions - I take this invitation as reassurance that this is no longer the case. I am surprised how many other respondents on here assume that everyone apart from themselves needs to be told to smarten up - it seems to me that the patronising attitude and offensive assumptions are in their minds, not the schools

It was roasting on board though Septimia, not cold at all. I only ventured onto the deck briefly just as we passed under the Tyne bridges which was brilliant. Other than that I just tried to hide away in the corner, looking completely out of place.

No objection from me. When teaching, all the staff changed for school concerts, parties and parent evenings. On a lighter note, as the pupils were arriving for just such an occasion, one of my pupils ran into the classroom, then stopped short, saying to me, " I like your . . . . . . face!" I was wearing make up, but he didn't realise that. He just knew that something was different. It was my smart casual face!

Hetty58.
Re your first post on this subject, I’m really surprised to read your second post about the job interview.
I would have expected you to applaud the candidate for her choice of job interview attire. Just comes across as a bit hypocritical to me.

I would take that as a positive. They probably want to avoid people turning up either over-dressed or under-dressed and feeling like they stand out like a sore thumb

No problem with the dress code sentence at all. Seems quite reasonable. Smart/casual is neither prescriptive or expensive.

Even if you do not have smart clothes, to take the best clothes you have give them a good wash and iron, even a touch of starch and wear them with confidence they will look as if you made the effort.

I’m in the “this is a good idea” camp. It doesn’t cost anything to be smart / casual, can just mean clean jeans and an open necked shirt, and it shows the children who will be smart that their efforts are appreciated. It gives the parents the message that dressing as if they are going to the beach or clubbing is not appropriate for such an occasion.

Perhaps the letter is not directed at people who may “underdress” but the opposite. Perhaps some parents have turned up dressed to the nines as if it was a Royal Garden Party and made other parents feel embarrassed and the school have been aware. I think a dress code is a great guide and the assumption that is is about people being overly casual is only part of the story. Congratulations to your DGS.

It’s smart casual, which usually includes smart jeans etc. It’s obviously based on what the school knows of it’s parents. We attended our daughter’s award night last night and there was no dress code but everyone wore smart casual. Surely everyone has a smart casual outfit they can wear? It’s not black tie?

No objections from me either. I have seen what some parents think is alright for concerts, sports days etc. Beach wear! We also had a dress code for staff. No flip-flops, boob tubes or tShirts with slogans. One must keep up some standards ??

Kitty sadly, many people today seem to have no idea of how to behave, let alone dress.

Yesterday we went to DD’s graduation at one of our local universities.

Before the ceremony started, we were welcomed by one of the pro-Vice Chancellors who asked us to applaud only when asked to do so, after a batch of about 15 graduates had received their certificates.

He specifically asked that applause was limited to clapping and that we shouldn’t whistle, or call out.

Guess what?

After about 10 minutes, someone whistled and cheered. Sadly, this seemed to encourage others to follow suit and by the end you would have thought we were on a TV talent show, not at a University Academic Congregation.

I’m sorry to say that it did slightly spoil what should have been a dignified occasion.

Interestingly, most people were dressed up to the nines, not a ‘smart casual’ in sight!

I think some people have a "surely this doesn't mean me" kind of attitude though JaneA. Where rules are meant for everyone else.

It's changing times ja. There is no dignity anymore.

I find it astonishing that anyone should object to a school suggesting a dress code albeit a very attainable one. It will be lovely to see parents who have made the effort to look smart for the event. To suggest that it would not be attainable for “ underprivileged “ families is ridiculous.
MM seems to have difficulty getting her clothing right with all the help that must be available to her. Jeans at Wimbledon ? Awful but at least I suppose they didn’t have torn knees.
Congratulations to your grandson Kitty, lovely action by the school.

Not sure about sports days BBbevan. I guess the days of ladylike mothers in flowery cotton frocks might be long gone.

It’s not ridiculous at all to suggest that there may be families at a very wide and diverse school who would find it a financial struggle to afford smart casual clothes for the family if they don’t already own them - even if they were to use charity shops.

Perhaps the school should have been clearer by what they actually mean by smart casual - it seems to have caused confusion on this thread. If they meant no shorts/vest tops/pyjamas/flip flops then they should have specified that to avoid confusion amongst people who obviously don’t have ‘standards’

I still maintain it is patronising.

I have just remembered a sports day when ours were at junior school and one of the mums turned up looking as though she had raided Princess Di's wardrobe and hat store and wore a pale pink suit with a tight skirt and one of those small hats. No-one could decide which way to look.

I think it is a good thing that the school indicated what dress code would be appropriate.I imagine that nobody would turn up at a Prize giving in tee shirt ,shorts and flip flops but someone might have thought that it would be the sort of occasion where a man would be expected to wear a suit and tie .
Maybe some parents ‘phoned the school to find out what the dress code was going to be and the school decided to let everyone know.
I am sorry but I cannot see a problem.

Good for the school. Sad that it is necessary it has to indicate what should be common courtesy.

Interestingly, when I participated in parents' evenings, as a parent and a teacher, in the industrial midlands, parents arrived in suits, both sexes, and smart casual; the saris were a sight to behold. It was regarded as an event.

Move to the leafy 'shires'; the standard of dress was low, staff and parents alike, although the school uniform rule was closely observed. Some staff indicating their resentment at being there; the parents, indicating a faint contempt for the world of education. The mother who annoyed me most was the one who arrived straight from mucking out the horses, and said I wouldn't mind her walking across my carpeted classroom in her dung- covered wellies, would I. I wasn't brave enough to say, leave them at the door, and the odour lingered throughout the evening.

Gone girl ,if I were invited to such an occasion I would definitely be in a cotton -or possibly linen- frock.
Maybe not a floral one though.
My Laurs Ashley days are over sadly.

The mother who annoyed me most was the one who arrived straight from mucking out the horses, and said I wouldn't mind her walking across my carpeted classroom in her dung- covered wellies

That was probably my DDiL