This school has banned pencil cases

mostlyharmless dont get me started on dress up days!

Either have a uniform or dont! IMO! Whats the point in having one if every other week theres a costume or mufty day?

I wonder if the problem pencil cases are down to Smiggle.
They have shops in most centres in our area and feature £18 pencil cases and £37 back packs! Sadly they are much sought after by primary school children and cause endless problems.
www.smiggle.co.uk/shop/en/smiggleuk
Hate to give them more publicity but it gives a flavour of the brand. Oh and the name is because “it’s a cross between a smile and a giggle”?

Well if the headlines were wrong and it’s actually a sensible approach the school should make every child purchase a school pencil case sold at school it could even make some pennies for the school buying at 25p pencil case and selling at 75p for instance and make it a school rule that no other pencil cases are allowed and remove them if brought in but they would have to be prepared to do it with everything that is outside the actually uniform
Sad times indeed

BlueBell I dont know of any primary school where kids need a pencil case at all these days. Pencils are provided.

The real headline should read "school bans toys" because thats all pencil cases are these days.

If there are exceptions in the UK where writing materials are not provided I think in general the less kids carry to/from school the better so a named tray left in school of pens/pencils brought in would be a better idea than a pencil case anyway until secondary

notanan2

I'm not saying these children need to be "toughened up". Rather, I think parents should be teaching their children that it's not appropriate to tease someone just because their clothes or things aren't as nice as yours. I have a problem with the teasing as well as with the regulation.

If I found out my child was behaving that way, she would be restricted to a wardrobe of the most basic clothes, and she would be spending a few hours each week at a soup kitchen or food bank so that she could learn gratitude.

It's possible that I am a bit biased because of my upbringing. My dad worked for the federal government, so we had everything we needed, but we lived in a blue-collar community. When I was 12 we lived in Brazil for 10 months. We lived on an acreage, and the gardener's family (him, his wife, and 5 children) lived in a 3-room house. I also volunteered at the local soup kitchen and with our local charitable organizations as a teen (by choice, not requirement). Consequently, I think we had greater respect for people who didn't have much. My parents had also been brought up without a lot of extras - Dad's parents farmed, and Mom's dad was a student until she was 7 - he was taking his Bachelor of Commerce and articling for his CA.

The project includes secondary schools.
www.povertyproofing.co.uk/

I can’t see why any school would ban a pencil case . My DGD has hers brim full of all sorts of “absolute necessities” like 30 rubbers and numerous pencil toppers. The girls in the class have a little swap thing going on. Harmless.

It's a very misleading headline and thanks for the link.
Anyone who has been the child being bullied for being smelly, not having the right trainers, having the pound shop pencil case will immediately understand the point the head teacher is making.

I was fortunate, I wasn't the smelly, poverty stricken child but I spent my working life involved with those children. Well done that head teacher

The local news has just broadcast an item on the research at the heart of the story. A fuller report will be on the BBC politics show on Sunday morning for those interested in the facts behind the headline.

Oh no it isn't gillybob I could tell you numerous stories of 'swaps' in schools where one child has swapped something expensive or valued for something much cheaper and the parents have been at logger heaads about it. The amount of teacher time spent sorting out such silly things is unbelievable. If employees suddenly started bringing heaps of little things into work and spending time sorting and swapping them employers would get very cross.

In one sense this decision is pandering to the marketing led consumption that children are sucked in to - and where this leaves children who cannot afford this stuff.

In reality no-one needs any of it.

Very true Luckygirl, in reality no one needs any of it. However - we all know the huge importance that having the right item of clothing, the right bag, the right things in our pencil case (or whatever) to swop means. It's all about competition and it just isn't healthy competition. It's so tough for kids who have little or nothing. Heart breaking really.

I was glad to read the link - Blyth is my hometown, where I spent the first 20 years of my life. Some of my 'old' friends went to St. Wilfred's.
Good to know they're opposing false materialistic standards.

£15.50 for a pencil case! £37 for a back pack!! Yes they should be banned. My DD1 has bought Smiggle back packs for DGDs - in the sale, but they were still expensive. She can afford them. DD2 cannot afford one for my other DGD. And wouldn’t buy one on principle. I do worry that this GD will feel left out.

NfkDumpling

At the risk of sounding harsh, what DGDs have is not their cousin's business. The reality is that some families have more, others don't have as much. What DD1 does with her money is not DD2's decision. If DGD feels "left out" DD2 can teach her the value of gratitude and not being envious.

If the school feels so strongly about it, they could organise an event, selling used books/uniforms or cakes baked by parents etc and get in a stock of cheap pencil cases for anyone who wants one.
Good idea lemongrove

and what trisher said about children being stigmatised because they don't have the right pencil case - perhaps they should all have to buy a standard pencil case from the school, any profits going to providing pencil cases for those children who cannot afford one.

I do know what it is like though - DGN was upset because two new girls started at her school whose parents must have more money than sense because they had very extremely expensive, stylised book bags. DGN wanted one instead of the usual standard ones provided by the school.
They should have banned the other type imo or at least discouraged them.

I went into the Smiggle shop, gasped and came out saying 'commercialism and peer pressure'. I refused to buy anything.

(mean granny)

I will now cross Pencil Cases and School stuff of of the list of ‘useful’ presents for my GC I suppose.
I agree with the other posters, make the families buy reasonably priced school bags and pencil cases from the school, if they don’t, then they are not to take their own into the school.
After all, when they leave school they will find that the rest of the world operates just like the school won’t they!

Oh dear, I did buy DGD a backpack which is so heavily loaded with goodness' knows what that she could be going on a world trip.

"There was a real big issue with some people, it really got to them. There was a really big social expectation to have the best things and it was affecting school life for a lot of people.
It was the same with designer trainers, though, when my DC were teenagers.
It doesn't seem to have damaged them in any way by not having the most expensive trainers.

Well I suppose it depends on the schools trisher My DGD’s school is slap bang in the middle of a very large council estate . The children swap rubbers and pencil toppers not Rolex watches.

Shall schools just ban everything to cover themselves ?

I think its reasonable enough.
Its just a shame that people get conned into spending so much on these things.
Smiggle must be feeling rather smuggle, I think.

I dont see whats so terrible about a blanket ban on toys from home in school?

Novelty rubbers ARE toys!

I never let my kids take toys to school anyway, mainly because I couldnt be bothered to deal with the drama if they got lost or damaged.

We are lucky in UK that schools are not bare bones classrooms. Theres plenty to do in the classroom and playground without bringing in tat