School Uniform grrrrrr

slash69

just an idea if you havent thrown the trousers yet could you remove the little logo tag and sew it onto another pair of trousers.....i know the feeling though my dd attends the local girls school and everything has to be logoed (oops is that a word) jumper-1 school supplier £15 plus depending on size/track suit -again 1 supplier £20depend size/ pe shorts and polo t shirt 1 supplier and as for the blouses two styles short sleeve or long sleeve in grey and white stripe in dd size £18 for two 1 supplier ,dd needs at least 4 a school year and thats only if she doesnt grow and they are supposed to be non iron (who are they kidding)every other school has bog standard white shirts or polos, black sensible shoes only no trainers except for pe... as a single mum this is an absolute financial nightmare especially with school trips on top (recent one is for £290 :plus £ 80 spends for 4 days in paris ...but that,s another story lol)

Mrs._Irwin

Teacher2301 wrote: »

I'm sure many agree with you - yes there are some sub-standard teachers who do not teach but what values do parents give their children when children see their parents questioning the authority of a school? This type of parenting (and I do not for one minute assume you do Monkey Saving do this), dare I say this is why we have such a 'yob-culture' within the UK - young people are ruling the streets and classrooms - yet who has to 'teach them' the rights and wrongs of society - yep - us teachers. How much support do we have? Virtually none and weekly we have more government initiatives to fulfil. Many teachers to the profession are young and inexperienced and what they have to deal with everyday can make your hair stand on end. Give credit where credit is due. Parents have to start taking responsibility for the up-bringing of their children and to teach them right and wrong and if that means supporting the authorities, then so be it. I see it day-in, day-out how parents come into schools, shouting off about their rights, which some parents are in their right to do so but the consequence of these actions impact on their children and make society that little bit worse for the rest of us. I know this is off the point and I'm sure many will ridicule me for my thoughts but these are my observations and having been teaching for 10 years, I've seen how the labour government has affected schools - we've never had so much money thrown at us but we've had so much else to do. Apologies to OP this is off-topic but I feel a teachers' view to balance the argument.

Interesting. I know exactly where you're coming from. However...
'Questioning authority' is a value I hold that I hope to pass onto my children. I despised wearing uniform at school, and ours was very laid-back compared to some of the policies mentioned on this thread - blue trousers or skirt, white shirt, blue cardy or jumper for girls. In Year 11 I took to wearing Doc Martens, stripy shirts, black skirts, dangly earrings, love beads (1994:eek: ) and never got challenged, because I was a well-behaved and engaging (smart alec) boff. Which to me has always indicated that uniform is simply an arbitrary set of rules that are used to 'discipline', rather than something with any intrinsic value, used instead of actually teaching children the value of good behaviour. I do not want my children, or any children to learn to do things because they're told to. I want them to question, and know the reasons for anything they're asked to do.

Mrs. Irwin
xx

tamarto

Mrs._Irwin wrote: »

Interesting. I know exactly where you're coming from. However...
'Questioning authority' is a value I hold that I hope to pass onto my children. I despised wearing uniform at school, and ours was very laid-back compared to some of the policies mentioned on this thread - blue trousers or skirt, white shirt, blue cardy or jumper for girls. In Year 11 I took to wearing Doc Martens, stripy shirts, black skirts, dangly earrings, love beads (1994:eek: ) and never got challenged, because I was a well-behaved and engaging (smart alec) boff. Which to me has always indicated that uniform is simply an arbitrary set of rules that are used to 'discipline', rather than something with any intrinsic value, used instead of actually teaching children the value of good behaviour. I do not want my children, or any children to learn to do things because they're told to. I want them to question, and know the reasons for anything they're asked to do.

Mrs. Irwin
xx

I agree, children do need to realise things can be questioned, and as long as the parents aren't kicking off or going about it the wrong way it's a very valuable lesson.

dora37

Mrs._Irwin wrote: »

'Questioning authority' is a value I hold that I hope to pass onto my children...... I do not want my children, or any children to learn to do things because they're told to. I want them to question, and know the reasons for anything they're asked to do.

Mrs. Irwin
xx

Totally agree on that point - and is indeed what makes reponsible, educated and inquisitive future members of society.

There is a vast difference between 'questioning authority' and 'yob behaviour'.

Teacher2301

Yes I agree as well - it's the manner in which the questionning is done. As a scientists, I constantly question what I see and try to explain what I see. I'm glad to have gained a positive response to my comments and thanks to all responders.

susiesue_2

if you had bought an item of clothing which was not of the standard or fit for the purpose it was intend then you(i) would return it to the shop. so each time the clothes shrunk ect i would go back to the shop for an exchange. keep the reicpt and be nice when calmly saying " i bought these trousers and they appear to be substandard"

Wiggly_Worm

This is all so ridiculous. A school uniform is one thing (and something I wholeheartedly support), but these are children, not policemen, or naval officers! Why do they need every item of clothing absolutely regulation issue?! My DD's (Catholic) school has a uniform policy which says: Dark blue dress/skirt/trousers, or grey trousers for boys, light blue shirt/polo shirt/logoed polo shirt, dark blue jumper/logoed jumper, white or dark blue socks/tights, and black shoes. Easy. All the kids look very smart, and it's entirely up to the parent whether to get an embroidered logo item or just a plain one. They also have a second hand uniform sale every year to raise funds for the PTA.

Yes of course you choose the school on the quality of education, but that doesn't mean you then have to accept ridiculous and petty rules about spending far too much cash on inferior clothes because your child will get in trouble if they don't have the school logo on their knickers, or whatever. And haven't teachers got enough to do without checking waistbands?

I have also raised the issue of Fair Trade uniforms from Clean Slate - wondered if the school could get their embroidered stuff from there - but was met with a polite 'that's a nice idea, but I'm not sure it'd work' :rolleyes:

Good luck to you, may you raise merry hell in the politest way possible And teach your children to do the same!

bestpud

The secondary my older children were/are at introduced a new uniform 2 years ago and the prices are high imo.

But I agree, it is more annoying when the quality is poor! They can wear any black trousers and can still wear plain white shirts, which cuts the cost significantly though.

They don't have to wear the new summer uniform either, fortunately!

It's the jumpers that are worst as they are acrylic and go shiny and grow after a while. They have a different colour jumper and PE kit for year 11 students too, which is a pain if they need stuff towards the end of year 10. My son ripped his jumper about June time and I was less than impressed about it!!

My youngest (still at primary) has to have logo'd polos, cardigans, and PE kit but we can get trousers/skirts from anywhere, as long as they are right shade of grey. They are quite strict on socks too - no pattern is allowed and they have to be white or grey. It is not what I would call cheap - polos £7 each and cardis £12 for example - but they aren't bad quality, compared to some.

I have dreaded the summer uniform shopping (well paying for it really!) for years but this year I will only have the one to get! :j I will be at the very least £150 better off, by the time I factor in the cost of shoes, trainers and football boots etc.

The secondary school is changing the uniform again this year (they are becoming an Academy), but they are going to give a £60 uniform grant for every child in year 8 and above to help parents with the cost. So, they do think of parents in some schools at least! Not that it will help, or bother, now.

katiepops_2

On the subject of poor quality, am I the only one that thinks the quality of M&S school uniforms is not what it used to be? I got two pairs of M&S school trousers for my youngest (in year 1) in September, and within a week I had to resew up the crotch seam on both. He'd gone through the knees of both within the next four or five weeks, and consequently had to have new trousers before Christmas. I can't remember where I bought the new ones from, but they didn't last long either. So I got him a pair from Asda just after Christmas ... and I have to go and buy some more this week as he put the knee through a week before they broke up for Easter ... and he also needs new school shoes too, for the third time since September ...

Nenen

I shouldn't laugh but.... When my youngest ds was in Y11 the new headteacher at his school decided she wanted to change the uniform and invited all Y11 students to vote for the uniform that they thought should be adopted for the upcoming academic year. What none of the teachers appeared to realise was that the Y11s, knowing they'd never actually have to wear the new uniform as they were all going to a separate 6th form college or to work, voted for the most atrocious thing they could! Hence the school now has blazers, shirts and ties instead of the previous polo shirts.:eek::eek::eek:

Of course, it could have been a double bluff on the part of the headteacher who might have guessed what would happen and actually wanted the blazers etc herself but could 'blame' the democratic wish of the pupils! ;);)