School uniforms - for or against?

I am in favour of uniforms. I remember being proud of my grammar school uniform, and looking forward to being in the sixth form, where they wore grey instead of navy blue.

I think it promotes a sense of belonging, and pride in appearance.

Both my girls, and all my grandchildren wear uniforms, both in the state and private sector.

All the schools have second hand uniform sales, so the cost can be brought down.

PECS

Gagajo I ws a headteacher in a school with no uniforms & kids used our first names. Behaviour management at that school was no easier or harder than schools I worked in with uniforms. It is not about clothes!

It's about personnel choice. I would not have sent my children to a school with no uniforms and the teachers were called by first names.
My children wore their uniform with pride, one went to a Grammar School and one did not, but they both liked wearing a uniform.
I agree it is easier for a parent if the School has a uniform, but I think it is also good for the children.

Buying secondhand is quite the "thing" now.
No longer frowned upon, eco friendly, and all the rest of it.
Unless you're genuinely poor - then it isnt quite so much fun.

Uniform does not subdue identity., it highlights it. The children in uniform look similar, not identical, and their personality is not obscured by designer outfits or very 'unique' clothing.

I do think some people here were far more conscious of their second-hand clothes than their classmates. I honestly don't remember anyone being targeted because of secondhand clothes; I don't remember noticing anyone with second hand clothes; having seen the damage pupils of all ages can inflict on their expensive uniforms they all end up looking scruffy very quickly.

You can't comment on something you haven't experienced!

What I mean is, if you haven't experienced something you can't know how it feels. Try reading my post again.

In my first year of high school we had a uniform requirement for shoes: we had to have two pairs, one for indoors and one for outdoors.
There was a choice of three styles for indoors and three styles for outdoors, all Clarks.
We had to arrive in the outdoor pair, then change into the indoor pair for lessons, then change into the outdoor pair for playtime, and so on ?

Grandsons shoes must be leather, must be lace ups, must not have anything on them to indicate what brand they are.. blah blah blah.
He had to have 4 pairs due to lockdown and him selfishly growing, and he hardly wore any of them.

I was always against school uniforms because of the….well, uniformity.
But when I discussed it with my children as teenagers, they said they much preferred not having to think what to wear in the mornings.
The cost is a different matter. I remember when I was teaching, and uniforms were rare in state schools ( that long ago!) state school were only allowed to insist on uniforms if the local authority had a scheme to provide them for lower income families..

Bossyrossy

Some schools use expensive uniform as a way of keeping children from lower income families from attending. Segregation by the back door.

I would absolutely refute this as hearsay.
Schools have a clear and definite admissions policy as well as defibed catchment areas.

"Defined"

It's probably hearsay MawtheMerrier but it will often have that effect. I could have gone to grammar school. My headmistress offered to pay the maintenance fees but my parents couldn't buy the uniform.

MawtheMerrier

Bossyrossy
Some schools use expensive uniform as a way of keeping children from lower income families from attending. Segregation by the back door.
I would absolutely refute this as hearsay.
Schools have a clear and definite admissions policy as well as defined catchment areas.

Hearsay-true, apart from private schools, but if you choose those schools, you’ve chosen to pay for the uniform.
True about admission policies as well. You stand a better chance of getting into a school because your child has SEND, or is a ‘looked-after’ child than because you have money.

My GS’s comprehensive has a polo shirt, hoodie or sweatshirt with a logo. All must be purchased through a designated supplier. It’s one of the top rated secondary schools in the country and DH made the comment that he thought they at least ought to have a “proper” uniform. I told him to cast his mind back to when DS went to his boarding school (service family) and we were sent a very long list of clothing to be purchased at a specific supplier in Guildford. Everything down to socks, and a tuck box. We came out of there reeling and dreading every growth spurt thereafter! He still has the tuck box!

I loved my school uniform ,I passed for grammar school and my parents decided to just have days out instead of our usual 2 weeks holiday in Wales in order to pay for my uniform which was extensive and looking back did I really need a shoe bag,sport skirt,grey knickers ,socks with the school colours round the etc...I think a uniform is still a good thing but perhaps not as expensive as mine and others in the 60s cost.

it is wrong that schools esp academies can choose their pupils by having a very expensive and strictly enforced uniform policy.
they probably have a commercial tie up with the suppliers of logo-ed sports socks, with different colours needed for different sports. this nonsense continues down to every detail.
this putts enormous pressure on many ordinary families, and puts off lots from even applying, which is probably deliberate.

Mollygo you would notice rich and poor children because you are an adult, but do the children?

M0nica

Mollygo you would notice rich and poor children because you are an adult, but do the children?

I've already said I noticed when I was in primary school.

My two didn’t want new rugby shirts. Apparently the well washed slightly faded ones were much more desirable. I think it was to do with the best players having played more games for the school.

M0nica
Mollygo you would notice rich and poor children because you are an adult, but do the children.
Actually, yes. In the past in a non uniform school I had to deal with children commenting on x wearing too big/too small clothes or y wearing torn clothes or holey jumpers. It was an early form of bullying. We didn’t have a bank of second hand clothes like we do with uniform. In a uniform school, they might well have had holey uniform jumpers or torn uniform trousers. I wouldn’t know.
Now on non-uniform days (and these are primary I’m talking about) some children do notice who doesn’t have the ‘in’ brand of trainers, tops etc.
As an adult in the past, I noticed the children who had no socks, even in winter or disintegrating underwear, as PE was done in vest and pants or who were still wearing summer dresses in November.
Do children notice as much now? Well they didn’t notice xx had pulled his underpants off with his trousers and forgotten to put his PE shorts on, but they were only 5 years old. ( Yes I did notice and remedied it as quietly as I could!)

I think uniforms raise standards both academically and socially.
There is no need for exclusive suppliers, a sweatshirt, polo shirt and tie if necessary in school colours with basic trousers or skirts in black navy or grey and white shirts is enough. All the supermarkets stock these items with the exception of the tie which I consider unnecessary.
I do feel strongly that skirts should touch the floor when the child is kneeling. It’s a simple rule which is not open to misinterpretation. I cannot understand mothers who allow their daughters to go to school in skirts more like belts.

I'm in favour of school uniform as long as it's not like my one, which was only available from one store with a never ending list of items. My uniform cost £400 in 1965 which is outrageous. My eldest son on the other hand could wear generic school trousers etc. his only specific items were a polo shirt with school logo and sweatshirt with school logo. That was it and much more affordable. My second son wore a logo'd blazer and a school tie the rest could be bought anywhere. I think it helps if pupils can be Identified by their uniform

very much pro. When looking for the area to settle our family, 1976, we happened to go into a local shop and there were several children in uniform, looking very smart and were very well mannered. That made up our minds for us, we chose an area within that school catchment.

Uniforms all around when me and my six siblings went to school after 11, no uniforms before then. We were so proud of our uniforms, identified with the various schools and an absolutely wonderful financial leveller. My parents were poor but saved and saved to get the uniforms, they did have maintenance grants to help

I saw my dgc today, looking so `grown up` in their uniforms and it certainly makes life so much easier for parents. The children know what they need to wear and that`s that

I would vote to maintain school uniforms.

Most of my school uniform was second-hand and by the time I was wearing it, some of it was also outdated. However the alternative was unthinkable. I literally had hardly any ordinary clothes and shared most of what I had with my older sister - the first up was the (relatively) best dressed in my home. Without school uniform there would have been days when I would have been unable to attend school because I didn’t have enough clothing, or it was the wrong season to wear what I had.

There is no need for school uniforms to be expensive, my grandson’s came from a supermarket and the school supplied badges to be sewn or ironed on.

Goodness it's amazing that my Canadian grandchildren are doing so well at school academically, are kind and well socialised, given they've never had a uniform.
Uniform of the supermarket basics is fine, but the draconian rules about black leather lace up shoes, haircuts etc are ridiculous. As for everything with the school logo embroidered on, bought from one exclusive supplier, that's just fleecing the parents. Should the teachers have to wear a uniform too, after all many workers do?