school uniform?

Question

my 10yr old tells me that if he has the wrong colour top for p.e he cant take part in the lesson..surely its more important to do exercise than what colour top they wear? what i want to know before i bollock the school (again) for such pettiness is the law on uniform...i thought that primary schools could only"strongly request" that you have uniform but cannot insist on it??

i have no issue with a uniform policy and he does have the right top but they have pe on mon & tues and on this occasion i forgot to put the top in the dryer..my issue is that the colour of top is deemed more important than the lesson itself-i just cant bear pettiness

To John. My grammer and punctuation, although non of your concern is actually fine in reality; my degree in English will testify to that. However, for speed and convenience I, like 99% of non-anal people on here, choose to type in a non-gramatically correct style. If this offends you, tough. As for my child, I care deeply about his education which is why I dislike pettiness when it interferes with it and this particular school just lately specialises in petty rules.The arrogant person here is you. How rude to be so judgemental.

Answer 1

No primary school child should be punished in any way for having the wrong uniform or forgetting it. If the problem is consistent there should be a letter to the parents but it sounds in your case as if this was a one off and should be overlooked. To the person who mentioned individuality and children going to school in different clothing so as to be original, that's all well and good to promote individuality but I think at 10 years old it's a sure fire way to get the poor child bullied.

Perhaps a quiet word with the school rather than going in all guns blazing is a good approach this time.

Answer 2

I do think that the school's policy was unreasonable.

We don't know the behavioural issues that the school has to deal with on a daily basis. By that I don't mean those of your son, but the ones that have created a culture of no tolerance.

That not withstanding, they could have made it plain at the start of the school year what the penalty for non uniforms would be.

Whilst I can be heard sounding off on a daily basis that parents have to start to take responsibility for being the adults in a family; I do understand that we are all human and forgetful sometimes. Me more than most I suspect!

One of the major Asian curriculum schools where I live made a boy of about the same age spend the entire day walking the school without either socks or shoes because his socks were the wrong colour; so it seems that against them your son got off lightly.

Ten years old is considered the age of responsibility, albeit limited. Perhaps a brief note sent at the time stating that he did not have the correct shirt available would have defused the situation.

Even though it is the last thing that you feel like doing,write a note and apologize on your son's behalf. You will then have the benefit of feeling self righteous and your son will be viewed in a different light for having such a thoughtful mother!

Answer 3

Hello! I, as a person who had been wearing uniforms for a very long time, believe all schools (all public schools) should wear uniforms. I think school is about learning, insted of how to look. I feel it both distracts, and takes valuable learning time away from kids. When a teacher has to tell a student to "go to the office and change" it takes away time from learning. Also, it makes the school look better. When students from a school are seen dressing inappopropriatly, it makes the school look bad. Also, personally, I love my uniform!!

Answer 4

Usually a list of uniform is given to the parents before they start school. It is up to the parents to make sure their children have the correct kit for their lessons and PE. The purpose of a uniform is to ensure that no one stands out and you cannot tell whether they are rich or poor. I think it is a great system and avoids needless cost to the parents on buying designer jeans for their kids to wear to school. If they allow one person to break the uniform rules then the next week, everyone would turn up with a t-shirt of their favourite band etc.

Answer 5

I agree with you, school's are getting far too petty about things like uniform nowadays. At my son's school, not only does their school coat have to be plain black, but it can't even have any different colour topstitching or any logos (that goes for their shoes too). I would much sooner the school worried about the behaviour and education of the children, and less about what they look like. In other countries, I don't think they have school uniforms, do they?

(By the way - people who make comments to you like John did, should be hoisted off a site like this! How rude and insulting!)

Answer 6

All rules and laws are viewed by some people ( mainly transgressors ) as petty.
Spitting in your child's face, if the perpetrator was disease free, would or could be viewed as an non damaging and therefore a petty assault but would you agree that it should not be pursued on these grounds?
Rules are rules from the least to the greatest and civility alone demands that you comply with what is actually an implicit contract of dress and behaviour and if you can't or won't comply you should, if your child is of the same mind as yourself, change schools.

Answer 7

If you knew that there was a uniform policy why didn't you stick to it though - simple enough when shops like Primark sell coloured t-shirts for 99p!
Aside from that, it IS wrong they're stopping yuor kid do sport with the wrong top, but the idea is that if they let him participate in PE, other kids and maybe even himself will hink that they can still do PE regardless of the uniform.

On whole, having a uniform is a way for children to learn some sophistication, rule-following, and smartness - it acts as a sort of behavioural monitor

Answer 8

I sympathise with you!!!! Teachers can be very petty.
BTW - at my daughter's school, if you don't have your PE uniform, you don't do the lesson. So the kids who don't want to do PE "forget" their uniform on a regular basis and watch, from the warmth of a classroom, the rest of the kids running in the playground outside.
You can imagine my anger when my daughter was punished by being made to sit on the tarmac in her PE shorts and T-shirt in January - it snowed that day. And when I complained, it was my fault because I'd forgotten to pack in her track suit. While the kids who hadn't brought anything, sat in the warm classroom.
So I agree with you, common sense should rule.

Answer 9

They cannot insist on wearing a uniform. My grand-daughter age6 was supposed to have P.E but my daughter forgot to put her P.E kit in her bag and my grand-daughter had to sit and do a punishment exercise while the rest of the class were playing in the gym. My daughter went mad when she found out, as it's not a 6 year old's fault if her mum forgets her P.E kit! I think school's are getting too petty.

Answer 10

Had this conversation with a teacher friend last week. Apparently schools can't make uniform wearing compulsory, as you say they strongly request it though. Uniforms are a good idea but when some jobsworth goes over the top it does make you wonder. I'd be on phone or up to school to explain this to them.