While I agree that basic uniform is a good idea - who honestly thinks that picking a single colour for shoes is necessary? Black or grey would surely be a reasonable choice.
What about those children who don't have multiple pairs of shoes to pick from? I certainly couldn't afford to buy my son 2 or 3 pairs of 'school' shoes, especially after the school had insisted on 3 different types of sports shoes to be worn about 6 times each before they were grown out of. If you send a child home to change their shoes - you'd have to be pretty certain they actaully had the other pair to change into. I haven't seen the details but were these shoes bought after the uniform 'crack-down' started? were the parents given time to have the 'wrong' shoes grown out of?
My feeling is that some schools are far too specific about what constitutes acceptable school uniform and they certainly shouldn't be allowed to specify where the clothes are purchased from as is the case with my son's ex school. Cost 2-3 times as much for much poorer quality than I could get from Asda. Just because they insisted on having the school logo on everything apart from underwear. Again, not necessary and iron on ones could have been sold at £1 each to add to clothes bought elsewhere.
There is a clear double standrad applied too - a child can't leave school under their own steam because of 'safety' but you can send one home in the middle of the day for shoes?
Brilliant idea send 'em all out onto the streets...
School uniform is for many parents a financial burden they struggle to bear,many kids may as Foxy says not own or be able to afford a special pair of shoes
Caveat....I am not a parent I speak not from experience but common sense would dictate that if (as is the case) many parents struggle to feed their kids properly having to buy school uniform is it would seem an unnecessary burden
The problem is that the real poor are rarely seen....poverty isn't sexy, so we have a stream of press reports about 'dole scroungers' living it up on 30 billion pounds a week but, little is ever said about thousands living in B&B accommodation or those struggling on minimum 've all heard stories about the bloke down the road with brand new top of the range everything bought with benefits but we rarely hear about the 'real' is still seen as something to be ashamed of.....those who live in poverty tend not to broadcast it.
I comletely agree with Staggerlee, Every day I see people who can afford holidays and designer clothes all paid for with the Tax payers money! Sid is self employed, works 6 days a week, 12 hours a day and we cannot afford any of those things!
I was raised by a single parent on benefits, from what I remember we could barely get through the week and had no luxuries, why now does the government hand out so much money?? My mum is still on benefits and last year took 2 holidays abroad! My sister is also on benefits and has nice TVs, 3 games consoles, laptops etc and can keep chucking out children and not have to worry about how to pay for them. My Brother, an alcoholic, Never worked a day in his life, gets handed £1200 a month! This strikes me as rather stupid, why give an alcoholic money?
We have really struggled through this recession, and racked up quite a bit of debt, when we tried to get some help we were advised to quit work and claim benefits instead!!
Considering every shoe shops sells black shoes, I can't understand why so many children were sent home. I don't think it has anything to do with not being able to afford school shoes, Probably more a case of pupils wanting to wear the shoes they want!
TBH, I don't for one moment believe that there is a family out there that can't afford to by shoes, after all, the child has to go to school with some footwear on, so why not black shoes.
thing is kids will use it everytime..
what about you got a exam/test today and you not done much work for it.....oh good idea put your brown shoes on..and get sent home.......what about I not done my homework for history and I got to hand it in in lesson this afternoon....oh good idea put your brown shoes on and get sent home. Also is it safe to send a child home ? What about if their parents are out working ? What about if on the way back home, something happens to them, who would be responsible then ?
I know the thing we all hated at school was detention. Staying after school....wasting our own time....now I didn't like that.
I know a school that has sent 100+ pupils home this term for wrong shoes / uniform and there line is they will keep doing it until the parents and pupils get it right. It is working too. Ok the children might try and use it as Dean says but trust me the parents soon get sick of having them at home. Its more expensive day on day having children at home than in school - so paying for a pair of black shoes is worth it.
If the parents are at work then they have to organise provision for the child, maybe grandparent, aunt etc or if they are old enough go home on there own so long as parents give permission. If they parent refuses to give permission to send the child home then the child is kept in isolation during break and lunch. This is a rule they are not going to compromise on.
I agree with it too. I agree before any rule is brought in fair notice should be given for parents to budget for changes. In my local schools case they told them way before xmas yet many chose to ignore this and on the 1st day back when they got called said they were broke. Yet most of the children have new phones, got xbox etc for xmas.
For the real hardship cases and there are some genuine ones, shoes were provided and they very happily wore the shoes - nothing flash, but new black school shoes. They could tell the one that were not genuine because they wanted to know how much the shoes cost / where they were form before wearing them !
To be honest I feel that some schools need to get over themselves. They act like they are tin-pot Gods and make ultra-restricitve uniform as if just to weild power. Why one single colour shoe? What's wrong with black OR grey? Why school badges on every little item? Since the schools won't have anything to do with the kids outside the school gates - including dealing with thugs on the school bus - what's the use of having the badge outside? Uniform doesn't have to mean Expensive and Identical but it so often ends up expensive, solely because of the supplier restrictions imposed by the school and always fails on the identical anyway.
One of the best uniform regulations I have seen is a school that said - Uniform is Clean, Right size, Mended/Undamaged, Blue top + Grey bottoms, and suitable for the weather. The pupils wore a range of sweatshirts, jumpers, shirts, trousers and skirts but as a group they looked great. And, to be honest, I've never seen what the problem is with wearing trainers. It's spoken of in the same horrified tones as if the child had been sent to school in a shell suit. Trainers are not necessarily scruffy any more than 'Clarkes' shoes are automatically tidy. and they are far more suitab;e for younger kids running about outside.
It reminds me of being moaned at at work for not following the dress code - which on enquiry was not written down anywhere nor was it part of any formal agreement with the Union so it was a fiction anyway - by a bloke who wore the same suit to work every day. It looked like he slept in it - but because it was a 'suit' it was considered right when my clean and tidy black jeans and coloured t-shirts were considered unacceptable. My job had/has no contact whatsoever with anything resembling a customer by the way and I work in an office not a factory. I did say, if they wanted to dictate what I wore they could provide it, pay for it and launder it - otherwise, being a grown up, I would select my own clothes on the correct basis. That being they clotes needed to be clean, decent and fit for the purpose (maintaining comfortable body temperature and not getting in the way of the job).
While I can agree with schools expecting people to adhere to the uniform list - it's the list itself which is usually stupidly restrictive. And they should limit the items that need the badge on - or provide iron ons. And make damned sure the ones they dictate are supplied cheaply and in good quality. My son's school rugby shirt cost £18, was made of nylon and was so cheaply made it was see-through. It was less than useless.
Oh, and are there still schools that don't let girls wear trousers? We had that - moronic and cruel in the cold weather.
I didn't have any issues or trouble with the uniform we wore at Eton
I think trainers look scruffy when worn with trousers and a shirt.
My mates daughters school got a new headmistress a few yrs back, very very strict she is, she introduced skirts below the knees for girls and black, clean shoes for all. The boys and girls had to have the top button done up on thier shirts and a full windsor knot in thier tie.
A few parents moaned when it was first introduced, but, a few years on the school comes in the top 10 in the county every year and the pupils look immaculate.
I believe that if we teach children to be smart at school, it can carry on through into thier adult life.
Although, I must admit, some adults don't have a clue how to dress smartly.
When I went for an interview for my current job, there was about 20 of us there, and only about 5 were dressed correctley, shirt, top button done up, tie, suit and polished shoes.
why the phuck would anyone care about school uniforms ?
the phukin school is gonna close ! ! !
TBH staggerlee, you will always find a flaw in anything I say................
I would say there is more than an odd exception.......