Why do some schools wage war with parents and children over draconian school uniform rules? - Jayne Dowle

It’s September so it’s time for the annual row over school uniform. The mother of a 13-year-old girl in Doncaster is up in arms because her daughter was punished for wearing black shoes decorated with gold bows. If this isn’t a first world problem, I don’t know what is.

So many schools insist on nailing down every single element of what pupils wear, in the name of unity, discipline and fairness for all.

Yet it seems to me that the perpetrators of such draconian policies lose sight of what young people are actually there for – to learn – and waste valuable school hours arguing with teenagers (and their parents) over shoes. Or hair. Or nail varnish. Or coloured laces. Or any other spark of individuality youngsters might care to show.

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My son and daughter left school days behind a while ago, but I still remember the uniform battles.

Pupils in a school classroom. PIC: Danny Lawson/PA WirePupils in a school classroom. PIC: Danny Lawson/PA Wire
Pupils in a school classroom. PIC: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Even at primary school there was almost a civil war when a new headteacher changed the logo on school cardigans from a book to an owl.

So I do understand the frustration of mum Charlotte Byers and her daughter Lillyanne, who attends the Outwood Academy Danum in Doncaster.

Lillyanne, a Year Nine student, claims she was forced to miss lessons and stay in a room on the first day of term, along with other girls, because her shoes - she had worn the same style for two years - did not meet strict uniform rules.

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She says she was only allowed to go to lessons when she changed into a pair of shoes the school had bought, and that other students who refused to wear the different school shoes were left in the room for four hours with “no toilet break”.

The school denied anybody had been locked in classrooms and said its uniform policy remained unchanged since last year.

Meanwhile, in Salford, another mother of a Year Nine 13-year-old is fuming because her school, Irlam and Cadishead Academy, has banned knee-length black socks. Wendy Allsopp’s daughter, Olivia, was told she must now only wear ankle socks (tights or trousers are other options).

The school says the move was requested by “a large number of female students and trialled during the previous academic year” and that parents were notified “through both letters and the Parent Handbook”.

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Quite apart from the practical arguments – almost-bare legs in the north of England for autumn and winter months are decidedly chilly – what on earth is wrong with knee-length socks?

Obviously, a sartorial free-for-all in primary and secondary schools is the last thing parents need.

So many families struggle to even afford the cost of new school uniforms; on average now £92 a year, says The Schoolwear Association. Children are already competitive and judgemental enough, without the added pressure of wearing the ‘right’ labels. Still, there is surely a balance to be struck.

Behind all this is the educational theory that being forced to follow uniform rules is good practice for self-discipline. It also levels the gulf between those who can and cannot afford fancy clobber for school.

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It’s often espoused by the leaders of secondary academies such as the one both my kids attended, where children come from a challenging range of social backgrounds.

Doubtless, it is also inspired by the smart uniforms of independent schools. Unfortunately, this is where the theory begins to fall apart, literally at the seams.

Independent schools and selective secondaries, such as grammar schools, continue to achieve stellar grades at GCSE level. Meanwhile, this year, there was a fall in the proportion of GCSE entries achieving grade 4 (considered a pass) or above in both English language and maths. In English Language, the pass rate is down from 64.2 per cent to 61.6 per cent, and in maths from 61.0 per cent to 59.6 per cent.

Educationalists point out that this drop is due to large numbers of resit candidates in colleges failing to achieve a pass.

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This cohort invariably come from state schools, where they failed to achieve these two basic qualifications. Much good strict uniform policies did them.

I have yet to meet a teacher who can convince me that enforcing such questionable rules as sock length and shoe buckles helps to create an environment in which young people arrive at school ready and willing to learn, prepared to engage positively in class and respond well to their teachers and other authority figures.

Rather, severe rules help to drive a divide between school staff and students, who then get their parents on board to fight their corner.

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