The High School "Wearing Sweatshirts At All Times Until Easter" Rule

daisiegg

duchy wrote: »

My son's school had no uniform at all

Interestingly it didn't turn into the fashion parade you might expect (it was co-ed) . Jeans and sweatshirts were worn without exception and no-one bothered about labels despite some of the kids certainly been able to afford them (it was private -not that I could afford it LEA paid on special needs grounds as my son couldn't deal with the large high school enviroment and this school had average class sizes of ten). Age range was 13 to 18.

The only rule was no offensive slogans on t-shirts - there didn't seem to be a need for "no boxers showing" or no over short skirts or no ridiculous heels etc rules -the kids dressed for comfort. It was rare to see the girls over made up too.

My feeling has always been school uniform stops the daftness of inappropriate dress we see on Baker days and in some no uniform sixth forms .....however my experience with my son's school has led me to question this. Was it the "smallness" of the classes that meant kids didn't feel the need to make themselves to stand out by dressing differently or was just the fact they had enough choice that extremes just made them look daft or not fit in ?

This is interesting. I teach a girl who has come from a school in America and one of the topics we use to learn about debate structure is uniform (guaranteed to get them talking!). She has talked about the fact that no schools there have uniforms but it doesn't turn into a fashion parade at all - they just wear comfortable jeans and sweatshirts, and save the fashionable clothes for the weekends.

However, our girls always surprise me by coming down on the side of having uniform, although they unanimously hate our particular uniform. They say that everyone is very judgemental and it would be incredibly stressful having to think about what to wear each day. I can completely see their point.

PolishBigSpender

School uniforms are practically unheard of in Poland, thankfully.

I've read about this argument many times, and the thing that occurs to me : how much time do teachers and management waste on uniform issues? For instance - a head teacher pulling up kids for wearing the "wrong" uniform - wouldn't that time be far more productively spent by talking and listening to children?

Humphrey10

I don't see how making children wear too much clothing (for whatever the temperature at the time is) prepares them for work.

Knowing how to chose clothes based on temperature and activity is quite a basic skill, and is needed for all workplaces I've worked in - including shops with uniform, offices, visiting track side with safety equipment. All these places have had either a choice of uniform, or you wear your own clothes, or you add your own clothes to the uniform (eg warm underclothes) so you had something suitable to wear depending on temperture and weather.
If I'd had to ask "please tell me what clothes I should wear every day, down to the exact garment, I can't think for myself", or if I'd walked in wearing clothes that were too hot, I'd have been written off as a total idiot, I'm sure.

Mrs_Imp

Thinking back to my school days, there was a mutual respect between pupils and teachers. Pupils had to wear a blazer, and teachers were expected to wear jackets. If teachers wanted to take their jackets off in lessons, they would invite the pupils to take their blazers off. If pupils wanted to take their blazers off in lessons, they would ask the teacher. I can't remember one instance of this request being refused.

We were expected to stand when a teacher/adult entered the classroom, but the teacher was expected to thank the class and invite them to sit down. I can remember one instance of a visitor coming into the class, and everyone standing while the visitor spoke with the teacher. On leaving the teacher followed them out of the class and reminded them that we had shown them respect by standing, they should have shown us respect by thanking us and asking us to sit.

Umistboy

gardenia101 wrote: »

This school was also ranked as outstanding for many years, but in the last Ofsted only the behaviour & safety of pupils remained outstanding - the leadership & management & quality of teaching had dropped to good.

Wrong on every statement. The school I am at got their Outstanding recently and it was the first in school history. The previous inspection was deemed satisfactory.

Not sure if you actually think you know the school or not but from this it's clear you're way off the mark.

ash28

daisiegg wrote: »

This is interesting. I teach a girl who has come from a school in America and one of the topics we use to learn about debate structure is uniform (guaranteed to get them talking!). She has talked about the fact that no schools there have uniforms but it doesn't turn into a fashion parade at all - they just wear comfortable jeans and sweatshirts, and save the fashionable clothes for the weekends.

However, our girls always surprise me by coming down on the side of having uniform, although they unanimously hate our particular uniform. They say that everyone is very judgemental and it would be incredibly stressful having to think about what to wear each day. I can completely see their point.

Actually some schools in the US do have uniforms......in some cities/urban areas it's 95% of schools......New Orleans for instance.

However in 2000 about a quarter of public schools had a uniform and the numbers were increasing.

And a lot of schools have a dress code.....khaki trousers, shirt with a collar or a polo shirt in a particular colour and proper shoes......during the run up to the end of the summer holidays the shops are usually full of school clothes. Walmart, Sears and the other big stores all sell similar stuff.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/18/more-school-uniforms/2662387/

duchy

There's a world of difference between a dress code and a uniform though.
My high school had a uniform until GCSE year (no 6th form)where each year the students voted on a colour scheme. Ours was dark brown trousers or skirts and plain pastel shirts -the following year wnr for red white and blue -blue bottoms white tops and red jumpers ...patterns weren't permitted.
The rest of the school was black blazers, grey trousers/skirts - white shirts and ties had to be worn.

Even with such a generous dresscode kids still tried to slip in patterns or wrong coloured jumper.

None of my American friends have kids at schools with uniforms some have a very vague dress code (more what you can't wear than what you can eg no bandanas ) designed to avoid gang insignia or whatever rather than any interest in the kids all looking the same. It is apparently the inner city schools with gang issues who are going over to uniform rather than the suburban schools for the same reason.

Dysnomia

I work in one of the most regimented industries when it comes to uniform. Airlines spend years choosing their uniforms and staff are issued with lists of rules right down to the underwear ("not visible through the uniform shirt in daylight"). If we want to take off our jackets when arriving on board - not unreasonable given we fly to some very hot countries and air conditioning is usually not great unless the engines are running - we are required to ask the manager. If one person takes off their jacket, everyone must do so.

I have to admit, it does feel fairly ridiculous for a grown woman having to ask permission for this! There are good reasons for the rule though, so maybe schools are trying to get their students ready for a career in the air!

Dys.

geri1965_2

Will the plane crash if you can see someone's bra through their shirt?

maman

Dysnomia wrote: »

I work in one of the most regimented industries when it comes to uniform. Airlines spend years choosing their uniforms and staff are issued with lists of rules right down to the underwear ("not visible through the uniform shirt in daylight"). If we want to take off our jackets when arriving on board - not unreasonable given we fly to some very hot countries and air conditioning is usually not great unless the engines are running - we are required to ask the manager. If one person takes off their jacket, everyone must do so.

I have to admit, it does feel fairly ridiculous for a grown woman having to ask permission for this! There are good reasons for the rule though, so maybe schools are trying to get their students ready for a career in the air!

Dys.

Oh I get it now. School children across the country are being prepared to work as cabin crew!:rotfl: