Schooliform

[icowden]

This just in from the BBC:

Beacon Hill Academy: Girls out of lessons in stretchy trousers row​

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-66795270

Personally I disagree with excluding the girls, as it is the parents that should be penalised. They knew the School had a uniform policy and failed to buy appropriate clothing. End of.

Repeatedly bringing them into the school office during working hours would soon sort it out.

 

[Beebo]

Every year in September we get these stories.
The parents are setting a terrible example to the children.
There was one story recently about a girl who had Vivienne Westwood shoes. And the parents were getting angry.
I get the impression it’s the usual suspects and the school has probably run out of patience with these parents.

 

[icowden]

I get the impression it’s the usual suspects and the school has probably run out of patience with these parents.

Yup

 

[Bromptonaut]

Usual press picture of Mum, for once not looking as if she's swallowed a wasp, and well groomed and manicured child??

What were the parents told was OK, at what notice and how different are the 'stretch' trousers?

 

[BoldonLad]

Every year in September we get these stories.
The parents are setting a terrible example to the children.
There was one story recently about a girl who had Vivienne Westwood shoes. And the parents were getting angry.
I get the impression it’s the usual suspects and the school has probably run out of patience with these parents.

Exactly

 

[Rusty Nails]

Usual press picture of Mum, for once not looking as if she's swallowed a wasp, and well groomed and manicured child??

What were the parents told was OK, at what notice and how different are the 'stretch' trousers?

If there was a policy on school uniform that had been communicated to parents in advance then this really is a non-story.

Kids have pushed the boundaries of school uniforms over the years to try to fit in with the latest fashion trends. It's a normal thing to do, some schools are strict on it and others not, but it really is no great issue of human rights and no business of anyone other than the school, the parents and the kids.

 

[Electric_Andy]

This is why at my son's school, you have to buy the trousers from the uniform shop so everyone is wearing the same

 

[newfhouse]

Isn’t the whole point of school uniform rules to give kids a way to learn about the limits and consequences of rebellion?

 

[newfhouse]

https://x.com/looknorthbbc/status/1701921922680787196?s=61&t=IaNHN0MzKohAo3Ktl0DsFQ

 

[Electric_Andy]

There are 2 issues here:

The first is that acceptable uniform is nearly always outlined on the school website, or at the open evening, or an a leaflet etc. Every generation has tried to bend the rules so they can look a bit more fashionable, but this is exactly what the schools are trying to prevent i.e. kids getting picked on becasue they're not wearing the coolest type of black trousers or shoes. The clue is in the name "uniform" so everyone wears the same so no-one is regarded as "in" or "out" of what's deemed fashionable or trendy.

The second issue is one of approved suppliers. This can be a bit of a con but as long as they've outlined where they need to buy stuff from, there shouldn't be any surprises or issues. We had to buy the entire kit (minus white shirt, which can be generic) and it cost £100. Provisions were put in place for those on lower incomes (second hand shop, and other options were offered).

I hasten to add some of these parents might have bought non-compliant uniform in good faith. E.g. at my son's school there is guidance for shoes, with pictures of 5 examples of acceptable shoes and 5 of not acceptable shoes. There may well be grey areas so some might have fallen foul of that, but at the end of the day it's about common sense and if you make a mistake you have to suck it up and buy compliant footwear.

My son's school is very clear on what happens if you're in the wrong uniform - you have to go to the office and obtain spare uniform and are expected to hand it back whenever you've bought the correct stuff (in a resonable time frame). I don't see much issue in what was quoted in the Guardian:

"They were given a grace period but, when that ended, the school is alleged to have taken further action - angering parents. It is claimed some pupils who continued to wear the "stretch" trousers were put in isolation, meaning they missed lessons."

That is exactly how things operate in the forces, at work, and at school. Preparing kids for adulthood is a fundamental part of school. So not really an issue I can give much sympathy to.

 

[newfhouse]

Every generation has tried to bend the rules so they can look a bit more fashionable, but this is exactly what the schools are trying to prevent

I wondered about the like you gave my earlier post. I wasn’t being entirely serious but maybe that wasn’t as obvious as I’d assumed.

How is it right to swap kids bullying non-conformists for schools bullying the kids instead?

 

[icowden]

How is it right to swap kids bullying non-conformists for schools bullying the kids instead?

They aren't bullying the kids. They are teaching them about consequences (although as I have previously said, I think it's the parents that need teaching as much as the kids). They were warned. They persisted. They were penalised.

If you turn up to a job that requires a uniform or a specific presentation and you don't comply, you can expect at the very least a quiet word and if you continue the invocation of a disciplinary procedure.

 

[newfhouse]

They were warned. They persisted. They were penalised.

 

[theclaud]

They aren't bullying the kids.

They placed a child in isolation for wearing the 'wrong' sort of almost-identical grey skirt.

 

[Electric_Andy]

I wondered about the like you gave my earlier post. I wasn’t being entirely serious but maybe that wasn’t as obvious as I’d assumed.

How is it right to swap kids bullying non-conformists for schools bullying the kids instead?

I don't believe that enforcing rules at school is bullying. If they've said you need to buy a skirt from a supplier, then you buy from the supplier. I think this is nit-picking but their rules are their rules. Or you change schools to one that doesn't enforce such a stringent uniform code. They have a choice. You can't pick a school and then challenge their rules (unless the rules are impacting on your child's basic human rights or needs). Too many kids come out of school thinking that they are above rules and above being controlled, and this type of rule is nipping this in the bud.