I want to have a little rant today about school uniform rules!
I should start by saying that I’m all for school uniform and completely understand the need for guidelines and rules. What seriously annoys me is the decision that what was suitable to be worn as part of the school uniform in July is no longer suitable for the following September. Replacing perfectly good clothes is not only a waste of money but it’s just wasteful in general.
During the Summer term, our school announced some uniform changes that would take effect from this September.
The new changes meant that the two skirts I’d bought from Marks and Spencers for Miss Frugal in May were now going to be classed as too short under the new skirt rules as they say that skirts have to be black, pleated and over the knee length.
This annoyed me massively at the time because I have two perfectly good skirts that would have lasted for most, if not all of this school year that the school were happy with last school term but have now deemed to be too short.
Funnily enough, the only place to buy these new regulation extra long skirts was the school and from what I’ve heard, they’re quite poorly fitted with no way to adjust the waist as you can with the skirts I buy from M&S – something which is really essential for Miss Frugal as she’s so slim that she needs a smaller size. So we’d either have to get her an age 12/13 skirt to get a fit around the waist but that would mean a shorter length which would mean it wouldn’t be as long as it needed to be or we’d get her an age 15/16 and it would be the right length if we could get it to stay up.
Who wants all that hassle?
So for the first time in her school life, she decided to wear trousers for school – something she’s never chosen to do before, even in the Winter. The search for a pair of trousers was far from easy though and in one epic shopping trip she tried on more pairs of trousers than you could imagine. The rules say that the trousers have to be plain black and not a skinny fit and again we had the problem that trousers of age 15/16 which would have been the right fit for many were so loose around the waist that they’d need a belt to pull them in and the excess fabric would have been super uncomfortable.
We ended up back in the good old faithful M&S uniform department in a pair of aged 12/13 slim fit trousers. The slim fit style was genuinely the only pair that fit without being baggy around the bottom and loose around the waist and I thought we’d be OK with them as they weren’t the skinny fit style that we knew was now banned.
We bought them and although they didn’t cost a fortune, they weren’t the cheapest pair we’d seen so you can imagine my annoyance when the school rang on the first day of school to say they were a bit too tight and that she needed a new pair.
I tried to explain the problems we’ve had trying to get her a pair of suitable trousers and I definitely expressed my annoyance but ultimately, I was given the week to replace the trousers.
She’s not the only one though.
Many of her school friends are wearing the same trousers that they were allowed to wear last year but suddenly they’re too tight, too short, too long or even too wide!
Does the fit of a child’s trousers affect their learning in any way?
I’m deliberately not sharing a photo of the fit of the trousers in question as I don’t want this to be a debate about that particular pair because it’s a much bigger issue.
So many parents have been forced to buy new uniform when they needn’t have done so – just because the school have decided on tighter guidelines. What do you think?
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When new uniform was introduced at my children’s school, parents were sent a letter and the students were given over a term as ‘transition’ as the school were aware some parents had recently bought new uniform. I felt this was a fair way of doing it.
These are the same problems I'm facing at our school. They suddenly decided to change the school skirts from plain grey to checked which you can only get from the official school supplier. We already had school skirts which were practicality brand new but had to change them . Same issue with trousers, my daughter is 15 but really slim so had the same m and s trousers by the sound of it in age 13 – 14. The thing is ALL the girls trousers are slim leg as thats what is in fashion, you can't buy anything else. She does gymnastics so is quite well muscled making things look a bit tighter, all girls have different body shapes.
You are not overreacting. That sounds incredibly frustrating. Especially frustrating in the sense that more often than not, these rules changes are mostly to police our young girls' bodies. The schools are so worried that our girls will "distract" the boys that they're making changes to the detriment of young women's self-esteem, body image, confidence and comfort.
Have the same sort of rules come in for the male students?
I'm wondering the same thing. Think any parents of boys are getting calls that their children are too tight?
My daughter-in-law has had exactly the same issue with trousers – too skinny, but my granddaughter IS skinny! I would suggest that you write to the Chair of Governors. Maybe get your letter signed by a number of parents, or better still send individual ones. Stand as a Governor in the next elections and fight from within. If you don’t make it as a parent Governor, contact the local education authority and offer your services as an LEA appointed governor – they[‘re often desperate for volunteers.
Hope you have finally managed to find a pair of trousers which the school are happy with,it does seem to be so much more difficult nowadays.
You are most definitely not being unreasonable! As a parent, I would be highly annoyed at this also. I don’t understand how they can justify, telling, not even asking parents to change their childs uniform, that was perfectly fine last school year. In my opinion, is sounds as though the school is probably lacking funding so they are setting their own uniform rule in place, hoping this will be a chance for them to gain some funds back, if you can’t buy the specific skirts they are asking for anywhere else, but the school themselves, which is uncalled for, as it is leaving the children under their care feeling uncomfortable and setting the parents back a bit of money for something that may not even last a full term nevermind a full year. What a child wears to school, does not in any way stop them from learning, or hinder their education. Uncalled for completely.
This is absolutely ridiculous. The school is essentially making education inaccessible to those who cannot afford to replace school clothes. Children have enough to worry about. It’s also very interesting that this has far more reaching effects for girls than boys. I’m sure there would some national newspapers that would be very interested in this.
You are definitely not being unreasonable! I say that both as a parent and former teacher. I think sometimes that the individuals involved in setting these strict rules are out of touch with the realities of the practical hurdles parents face when trying to kit out their kids.
I'd strongly recommend that you send a letter to the school outlining all the issues you've expressed here, making clear that you are a parent supportive of the school and want your kids to follow the policies and look smart, but haven't got money to burn and are very disappointed at the confusion and constant changes to the uniform policy, particularly as you have a child who does not fit easily into standard sized clothing. If you can get a number of parents to send in their own letters to express their own concerns, that will hold more sway too.
Sarah