School uniforms - for or against?

THREAD FROM MARCH ‘22.

Redhead56

We didn’t wear uniform until high school my mum found it a struggle I always got hand me downs. We didn’t have many clothes either looking back at photos we always had the same clothes on.
My twin grandchildren’s uniforms cost nearly £500 that’s only for primary school. Because they have edging and badgers on the blazers and jumpers it’s expensive. I think uniform is a good idea but the cost of them needs to come down considerably.

All the more reason to buy secondhand. I can remember buying sh for my sons nearly 40 years ago when they were at prep school which had a very distinctive school blazer. We mixed and matched, some new some secondhand as did most parents. Young boys don’t take too much notice of these things.

It would be a total nightmare for DiL if 13 year old DGD didn’t wear a school uniform.

I wore a black gymslip with white blouse at my convent school in the 1950s.

DGD ‘s school uniform is not too bad. Mainly generic but had to have branded sports which was expensive.
However, DD is not too happy about the latest requirements that girls can only wear fully pleated skirts to waistband. This, apparently, is to stop them turning them over. (It won’t!) However, every suitable pleated skirt that are affordable seem to have terrible reviews re creasing easily and needing careful ironing. The previous skater style skirt DGD had was an easy wash and go!

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I used to think it was an unnecessary and expensive attempt to “ape” the public schools, but 25 years of teaching in comprehensives, some of them in urban areas and before the increased security around schools nowadays have made me rethink.
Simply this- seeing a teenager in “plain clothes” it would be immediately apparent he/she was not a student at our school and should have been wearing a visitors badge countersigned by a member of the front desk staff. Therefore would automatically be challenged.
Computers, laptops and other items were not necessarily kept under lock and key -so an obvious security risk and in at least one school there was the danger of disaffected or vengeful kids on the lookout for some chosen victim.
Before anybody tells me that theft or physical violence was possible by students at our school, it was, nevertheless a start.

im against school uniform but im for a formal way to dress to school

I read all the arguments that the children themselves who wear unform do not "notice" the financial background of their classmates because they are all wearing the same.

When I wore a uniform it was back in the 1950s - before the growth of "brands" and the emphasis now placed upon them. But I can assure you that the kids from the better offf backgrounds could be picked out. They had clean white blouses every day while mine had to last the week. The had a crisp pair of white ankle socks every day too. Even if you kept your socks clean enough to wear them a second day the tops went soggy and were a give away. So the poor kids had soggy socks. I used to rinse mine out every night so that the tops with tight and springy again as I had no wish to be called "soggy socks".

And dont tell me about being put into skirts that were far too long on the premise that I would grow into them. I had to turn the tops over so many times that I had a think roll of tell tale fabric round my waist.

Yes - the rich kids then could certainly pick out the poor kids.

Uniforms do not a democracy make.

Well I’m against full school uniform with hats/caps/ boaters/panamas whatever..they were fun to wear for about six months of starting the school but always getting lost, forgotten, swapped by wiley older pupils in the cloak room. And they cost a fortune.
Blazers that literally blazed like a beacon with school colours and emblem so everyone knew what school you attended and the tie 🙄 ..never was there an item of apparel that looked so very unflattering on anyone with breasts. Just No,!
I was happiest when in infants and junior school we wore ordinary practical clothes that were warm in winter and cool in summer.
Clothes that allowed unhindered movement for running and jumping about and expressed the character of the person wearing it.

The fact that there are in the year 2023, children who don’t possess 2 or 3 such outfits to their name because parents’ cannot afford to provide them and launder them is nothing short of a shameful reflection on our backward society.

Imo School uniforms are too often used by average to mediocre performing schools, particularly secondary comprehensives as a proxy for “look! we are new and improved” and it costs the school nothing, but the parent much.
Private elite schools will always do as they please with this regard.

vintage1950, the new head at my grammar school in the 60s changed the uniform completely - admittedly it was marginally more attractive than the former.

But she insisted that our new-style summer dresses were attractive enough to be worn out of school!
As if any of us would have dreamt of it! Even if (like me) you had very few non-school clothes.

The rise in the cost of uniforms comes from the Trusts running Academies, staffed almost entirely by business people, good at spotting business opportunities. Schools were inundated with brochures from school clothing manufacturers offering deals with profits going to 'the school' but strangely vanishing into 'administration costs.'
The same is happening with these expensive holidays, and also with prepared schemes of work which people believe are government approved; frequently they are not.

I had to wear a uniform for Secondary and Junior school and looking back, I'd now fall on the side of uniforms.

As I came from a poor background, my uniforms were hand-me-down and I still cringe at the memory (I suppose it must have been the end of year) when at Junior school we had a non-uniform day. I wore a pretty, not too tatty dress that my mum had got from a jumble sale. The memory still stays with me of The Most Popular Girl In School coming up to me at Playtime and in front of a gang declaring 'I know that dress, my mummy put it in a jumble sale'

Esspee do you really believe that girls, especially after say, about the age of 13 ask for and are granted permission to wear short skirts (it was too looong skirts when I was that age)

They’d just do it anyway, if not at home then away from the house.
Didn’t you? 😀

lixy

I'm 'for' too, with the proviso that the uniform is readily available and as simple as possible.

I would also insist that clothing has the owner's name written/sewn/ironed on inside.

Dds’ sweatshirts for games had to have the owner’s initials embroidered on the outside, to prevent ‘borrowing’.

Dds are now in their early 40s - I can’t help wondering how many parents now would know where to start with embroidering anything. I was never much cop at it either.

I'm 'for' too, with the proviso that the uniform is readily available and as simple as possible.

I would also insist that clothing has the owner's name written/sewn/ironed on inside.

Hetty58

As a retired teacher - against. I'm all for progress, not hanging on to an old fashioned, outdated idea of what children should wear to school. Children should be allowed to wear what they want - within reason.

Within reason is the problem.
Would you like to define your version of within reason Hetty58?
Parents/children’s views of within reason often differ from those of the school, even on something as simple as a mufti-day and they will push the boundaries with excuses like, ”thats all she’s got” or ”I can’t afford more than one pair of shoes”.
The most recent I encountered was a claim of bullying because the child wore a football shirt for his own favourite team, which didn’t match the ideas of some other boys. It was bullying, and it was dealt with, even though the boys said they were only ribbing him. But it was yet another thing to deal with, caused by within reason.

What about a dress code rather than a uniform? Or if schools must have a uniform they should be compelled to sell items second-hand (or give them to needy pupils), and new heads should not be allowed to put their stamp on the school by expensive changes to the uniform. No-fuss clothing - no blazers or ties. My granddaughter's uniform for her comprehensive cost over £400. I do wonder whether heads are anxious to price out children from poorer homes from their schools, in the hope of boosting performance.

I’m for. Too bad here if you don’t like them. About 99% of secondary schools have them and about 75 % of primary schools both state and private. Some of the private schools are very strict about skirt lengths etc and wearing particular jumpers. In Senior School the jumpers are a different colour. I think it is interesting to see the different school colours and identify the various schools by them.

As a retired teacher - against. I'm all for progress, not hanging on to an old fashioned, outdated idea of what children should wear to school. Children should be allowed to wear what they want - within reason.

If our now adult daughter hadn’t had to wear a school uniform my life would have been hell!

I am strongly in favour of school uniforms, but the need to purchase from a particular supplier, at great cost, is unfair.

This debate has gone on for generations, yet almost all schools have a uniform of some kind, items like a blazer are expensive but schools have S/H uniform available. I bought some new some used uniform and handed down to younger children if in good condition.
I would much rather children look as if they belong, rather than anonymous mufti.

When I was at school and DC the uniforms were shirt/blouse, tie, jumper/cardigan, grey skirt/trousers/pinafore and blazer in respective school colours. DGC have polo shirt/sweatshirt/skirt/trousers/pinafore/dress in school colours. Can be bought from any of main supermarkets, M&S and with logo from Borders Embroideries but a bit more expensive. Most primaries have secondhand uniforms to hand on free of charge. I think it's easier with uniforms - saves the battle and you can tell where the children are if on outings. From DD1 - no white polos and no white socks - DGD had these in P1 and comes home filthy every day!!! They play in the mud making potions! Her brother didn't!

One winter, about 20 years ago my 7 year old daughter, who hated tights, was coming home with blue legs.

I'd seen school trousers for girls in M&S so got her a couple of pairs.

She was the first to have them and by the end of the week all the girls were wearing trousers.

As for blazers in summer my son went through that in secondary school. The headmaster was adamant they keep them on. Why? No idea whatsoever

MerylStreep

All the girls in my granddaughters school wear trousers.

Very practical in these days of upskirting etc. Noticeable that no choice school uniform for girls is always what’s suitable for boys. Doesn’t happen the other way round.

All the girls in my granddaughters school wear trousers.