Will Replacing School Uniforms With Tracksuits......

Don’t worry Mae.

There are endless repetitive threads and posts on GN.
Showering, bedding and cleaning just to name a few, and that’s without politics threads which are frequently started by the same posters.
Even I have a topic which I’ll repost about if something has cropped up about it in the news.

Glad to hear you’re out of hospital. Hope the after effects of LC won’t cause you problems.

Goodness me, what a pugnacious response to a post! They are correct though Mae, why start a thread which duplicates your original one?

mae13

MartavTaurus

Forgive me if this thread tackles a different idea, but you already started a 10 page discussion on this subject in February
mae13??

Er.......why should I forgive you? I only got back from hospital yesterday, after 6 weeks treatment for Long Covid.

Explain please. If there IS an explanation......

Why not just carry on with the original thread when you got back I think that’s what was meant

M0nica

Caleo The idea that uniforms disguise how well off children's family are is an illusion. Children always know which children come from poorer homes; shabbier secondhand uniform, their shoes, underwear when changing for games, free lunches, so many indicators.

I cerainly knew which were which when I was at school. It didn't interest me much and it certainly did not affect whether they were my friends or not, but I knew - and everyone else did too.

That is true. However school uniforms do prohibit fashionable excesses.
The old fashioned trad uniforms where girls wore skirts can issue in short skirts that are too short for modesty.

MartavTaurus

Forgive me if this thread tackles a different idea, but you already started a 10 page discussion on this subject in February
mae13??

Er.......why should I forgive you? I only got back from hospital yesterday, after 6 weeks treatment for Long Covid.

Explain please. If there IS an explanation......

Caleo The idea that uniforms disguise how well off children's family are is an illusion. Children always know which children come from poorer homes; shabbier secondhand uniform, their shoes, underwear when changing for games, free lunches, so many indicators.

I cerainly knew which were which when I was at school. It didn't interest me much and it certainly did not affect whether they were my friends or not, but I knew - and everyone else did too.

However what it to be said in favour of school uniforms generally , is that they don;t distinguish between rich and poor.
This is often given as a good reason for them, but depending on the uniform and its cost is often untrue. Poorer children have to wear their uniform items for longer even when they are obviously outgrowing some items or they're showing a lot of wear, richer parents can afford to replace much sooner. We've been sorting through old photographs recently. There was one of my husband in his school uniform that was too big so that he could 'grow into it' and it would last longer, not that unusual back then. Nowadays it's not common to start with items too big so they don't need replacing frequently. Basic uniform of supermarket available items isn't too bad but many schools still insist on uniform available from one supplier and they can be horrendously expensive.

Tracksuits would be cheaper than the traditional school uniform, the expense of which can be crippling for many families.

School uniforms can be ridiculously expensive. So it’s not always so equal if some parents can’t afford the ridiculously high costs needed to kit out their children. My gd is at a state school and when she started there 6 years ago her skirt was £60, for a polyester jumper also £60. £40 for a polyester blouse ( she needed 3) etc and £65 for a blazer. Two sets double the cost.
I am reliably informed that Schools decide on uniform costs and take a cut of the Profit made by the official school shop. Polyester blouses and jumpers for £40 are a rip off.
There is no school uniform in Europe and most of the rest of the world and though they are smart the expense can be crippling.

Good idea. Blazers and ties aren’t comfortable or practical.

Good idea. Comfortable, reasonably priced.

Well the schools were so darned cold!

Don't sit on the radiators, you'll get piles 😱. Our teachers were always warning us of that when we sat on them in the big hall at lunchtimes 😂.

My school uniform was kilts. The blue squares made good pen wipers. One could lift the kilt at the back and stand over a heat source when the room was cold as it often was.

Luckygirl3

M0nica

If everyone is wearing the same clothes, whether tracksuits or matching clown suits, they are wearing a uniform.

It is time that uniforms were chosen for their practicality and usefulness, and if that means tracksuits, tracksuits it should be.

Children are far more likely to wear properly, uniforms that are practical and comfortable to wear. I can remember from my own school days and living near a secondary school when my children were young the many and various ways that unifom was manipulated in order to show our dislike of our uniform.

This obsession with uniform and how it was being worn, if my own childhood memories are correct, is limited to little old ladies like us and ex military types.

Hear, hear .... school uniforms are nonsense and wholly unnecessary.

Not only that they provide a focus for teenage rebellion and waste staff time policing the policy.

A few guidelines about decency and safe clothes for sport or lab work are all that are needed.

How do college students manage to get an education in mufti? .... they manage just fine of course, as do the few schools who di not stipulate a uniform.

It is all a throwback to the military ethos of public schools. Time we all moved on.

I agree, Luckygirl.

However what it to be said in favour of school uniforms generally , is that they don;t distinguish between rich and poor.

Moreover, tracksuit uniforms are not gendered but are what is called 'unisex'.

Because I don't know how to quote from it now that it has disappeared from our lists. A new thread is easier.

M0nica

If everyone is wearing the same clothes, whether tracksuits or matching clown suits, they are wearing a uniform.

It is time that uniforms were chosen for their practicality and usefulness, and if that means tracksuits, tracksuits it should be.

Children are far more likely to wear properly, uniforms that are practical and comfortable to wear. I can remember from my own school days and living near a secondary school when my children were young the many and various ways that unifom was manipulated in order to show our dislike of our uniform.

This obsession with uniform and how it was being worn, if my own childhood memories are correct, is limited to little old ladies like us and ex military types.

Hear, hear .... school uniforms are nonsense and wholly unnecessary.

Not only that they provide a focus for teenage rebellion and waste staff time policing the policy.

A few guidelines about decency and safe clothes for sport or lab work are all that are needed.

How do college students manage to get an education in mufti? .... they manage just fine of course, as do the few schools who di not stipulate a uniform.

It is all a throwback to the military ethos of public schools. Time we all moved on.

I understand that completely Caleo why not just add to your original thread then, it’s only a couple of months old

BlueBelle

Rafiachsin 300 answers on this subject just a couple of months back I don’t understand why another new identical thread is needed ….ll.llif it was a year or two ago maybe

Anyway as I said before I think it’s a good idea, they are comfortable, and can look smart and is a uniform

Ideas and events develop over time. There may be more reason this year to have track suit uniforms .

Rafiachsin 300 answers on this subject just a couple of months back I don’t understand why another new identical thread is needed ….ll.llif it was a year or two ago maybe

Anyway as I said before I think it’s a good idea, they are comfortable, and can look smart and is a uniform

Tracksuits are easy to wash and their sleeves can be pushed up for hand washing. Children are at school to work and play,

Definitely deja vu on this subject.

Yes, it's fine lots of First Schools already have this in place in my area. All 3 of mine have them in their individual schools. They are all uniform and the children like them.
Can't see any problems.

BlueBelle

This has been on here before I remember commenting on it
Why another ???
Yes Martav you found it
Why are you obsessed with the subject Mae13

Surely it is just a post getting others point of views. So what if a post has been on here before and why is Mae obsessed, it's just her point of view.
Personally I like a school uniform, my children looked so smart and were aware they were going to school to learn. My son left school a bit scruffy where he got involved in the playground rough and tumble but who cares.

Mollygo

Casdon

Is uniform policy anything to do with the government, I thought it was local authorities and schools that decided on uniform policy? Sounds like a Daily Telegraph let’s whip up the gullible populace story to me.

Is school policy on anything the government’s responsibility?
Or is that only when it will make a distracting headline?
Both banning phones and changing uniforms have been claimed to be making a contribution to children’s welfare.
Seems odd that one is acceptable and the other is not.
Just to help you out,
^Your school's governing body decides the uniform policy. There's government guidance called Developing School Uniform Policy that gives advice on this topic.^

This is the government document as far as I can see. It doesn’t prescribe a type of uniform at all.

‘Our policy on school uniform

It is for the governing board of a school to decide:

rules about appearance
whether there should be a school uniform policy and, if so, what that should be
how the uniform should be sourced
These duties are placed on all governing boards by statute to ensure that school policies promote good behaviour and discipline among the pupil body.

We strongly encourage schools to have a uniform, as it can play a key role in:

promoting the ethos of a school
providing a sense of belonging and identity
setting an appropriate tone for education’

www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-uniform/school-uniforms

Well, as Granny gravy has said, in COVID, schools here decided that pupils should wear their PE kit to school on days when it would be needed. This is common practice now.
It solves so many problems for staff, managing changing rooms and lost kit, pupils, some of whom hate changing in public, and parents, who know when kit needs washing, trainers are outgrown and so on.
It has not resulted in any problems at all.
I remember some publicity years ago when my former school removed hats from the uniform requirement!