Will Replacing School Uniforms With Tracksuits......

On starting school a lot can't can't use a toilet, still wearing nappies, can't use cutlery, can't tie laces so now it will be can't dress themselves. If course they can look up how to do those tasks but will they be able or bothered to comprehend what is being said. Suppise okay if they get jobs where gym/sports wear and flip flops are the dress code. Where I live the secondary pupils are like rag bags as it is, what will they look like in crumpled track suits and tee/polo shirts.

I think it might be a good idea, I remember one of my male teachers in high school used to walk up and down the aisles looking at the girls legs, and from what I see today the girls skirts are even shorter, I’m not saying that gives seedy males the right to ogle them, but I can imagine the young boys if one of the girls had to bend down to pick something up off the floor.
So joggers maybe a little more discreet, not as smart I know but safer and safety would always come above being smart to me
And nobody can say the young girls with their skirts almost showing their underwear looks smart.

Shanksy

I remember my first school I taught at where the children all wore tracksuits and trainers the rich kids wore designer uniform and the poor kids didn’t and unfortunately the poor kids were picked on because of the clothes they wore.

DGS said exactly the same. He said his
cheap tracksuit didn’t look as good as the more expensive ones and they don’t last as well through washing and wearing because they fade and bag.
On the other hand he said it was a good idea because he didn’t have to change when he got home.

Wish there had been track suits when I was at school especially winter time. For younger pupils it’s a good idea.

I think track suits as school uniform are a great step forward, although I don’t think hoods would be a good idea. Much cheaper for a start, and to see schoolchildren wearing ties, usually very badly, just seems daft. Track suits are far less likely to be tweaked. The only thing wrong with this idea is what about when it’s too hot for track suit bottoms? Tee shirts on top I’d easy, but not all kids will want to wear shorts.

I've always thought that children look better in casual clothes than formal wear especially by the end of the school day, not necessarily tracksuits but certainly not shirts and ties.

I worked for a while supporting young people at a secondary school in quite a deprived area, uniform was a very thorny issue. I could work with a poor attender (with very difficult home life) for weeks to get them back into school only to be met by a member of staff barking ‘where is your tie?’ threatening to send them straight back home again! I used my own money to buy 1/2 dozen ties and would stand outside the building trying to ensure no one got sent home for this infringement.
I can understand that some like to dress up for events, I know it’s massively important for most young people, but it’s not for everyone and I think it’s a mistake to judge people for this.

I wonder if the very short skirt brigade will fancy changing to track suit bottoms. It would certainly be warmer in the winter for them.

MartavTaurus

Forgive me if this thread tackles a different idea, but you already started a 10 page discussion on this subject in February
mae13??

Well spotted. Very vigilant

Just to let you know. may . You receive a email from certain vested interested parties about pointing this out.

I am not saying whose these parties are. But it is to do with getting as many posts as possible.

Just the next steps in dumping down to me. Been waiting for this to happen.

Presumably the track suit type wear will be branded by the usual suspects
And also have the usual over priced school logo badges.
And more importantly only available from designated massively overpriced school uniform shops.

Here it is the opposite. State schools and private schools have their own uniforms and badges and are proud of their affiliation with their particular school. Interschool sports help as well. Friendly rivalry. Even the ‘ disadvantaged’ schools have uniforms and parents can buy items cheaply at the supermarket ( shoes, shirts, trousers etc ) The private schools tend to have blazers as well, not so much the state schools who have windcheaters but they are common across both, too. In the final year they have all their classmates names on the back , end of primary and end of secondary. Something to look back on with pride.

nanna8
That’s good, but here we’re going for the “mass” effect.
Unless the government make it compulsory, some schools will stay looking smart, others will insist on smart looking track suit uniform and the rest will accept whatever the children turn up in.

With a uniform, some parents/children make an effort to look well presented, and will continue to do so even in a tracksuit, and equally, others will push the system to see how ratty they can look and get away with it.

Define permissible tracksuit.
Hoodie or not hoodie?
Jogging bottoms or cuffed ankles?
Zip front or sweater type?
Summer? What are they going to wear in summer when it’s hot?
Winter? Who wears a coat over a tracksuit?
Just a few questions.

M0nica

If everyone is wearing the same clothes, whether tracksuits or matching clown suits, they are wearing a uniform.

It is time that uniforms were chosen for their practicality and usefulness, and if that means tracksuits, tracksuits it should be.

Children are far more likely to wear properly, uniforms that are practical and comfortable to wear. I can remember from my own school days and living near a secondary school when my children were young the many and various ways that unifom was manipulated in order to show our dislike of our uniform.

This obsession with uniform and how it was being worn, if my own childhood memories are correct, is limited to little old ladies like us and ex military types.

Well said!

In the great scheme of things, does it matter?

I went to school for a year in California, in 1975, what a joy, as a pupil, to be able wear my own choice of clothes, a joy for my mother no to have to purchase uniform, often from a designated store, often at great expense.

I’m far more concerned that both teachers and pupils are completely engaged in education!

Walk into any city in the UK and you’ll see much fewer “work uniforms” ie suits etc on show.

I know many people consider “uniforms” very important and dressing smartly, but frankly I’ve worked in very casual and very smartly dressed offices across my working life, I think the clothes worn for work should suit the situation and safety of the job, so yes, Armed Services, Builders, Fireman, police offices, Nurses, Doctors all wear clothes appropriate to their roles. Office staff? Work hard, do your job well, wear what you like within boundaries!

gillsterry

I have seen so much change in peoples habits etc the main one is that people have lost all respect for their appearance and most look as if they have just come from a building site even going to restaurants in old jeans or shorts and T shirts .I come from a time when i would wear a suit and tie when i went out for respect of the girl i would be with .so encouraging children to to go on that downhill stretch is another nail in the coffin for respect not for themselves but others

But times do changeable attitudes and fashion change too. My dh would almost never wear a suit and tie for an evening out with me unless we were going somewhere very smart. He has the utmost respect for me.
As a poster upthread has noted, some students are wearing the exact same uniform that she herself wore. Must we expect our young people to dress like we did 50 or so years ago?

Tracksuits are easier for parents to maintain and clothes do not make or break a child’s intellect.

Why do so many use words like 'scruffy or 'baggy to describe track suits? The designs being considered by these schools will be of a uniform style so all the same, no option of hoods or cuffed/not cuffed etc. They will be in school colours with a logo. Some schools have proposed optional knee length shorts in the same design for the summer term.
Sounds smart to me.

One of my GCs had an own clothes day at school and nearly all the girls, who normally wear knicker flashing, ultra short skirts to school, were in jeans or trousers. Most of them actually looked smarter than usual.

Incidentally, the same school actually has a compulsory school track suit as part of the games kit, it is black and rather smart with purple piping and a fitted zipped top.

People rarely dress formally for work these days. Comfort is considered more important. And I agree. The school is worked in was unbearably hot if the sun shone at all. Thank goodness in Scotland there isnt the same strictures about uniform. Yes, schools do have uniform rules but generally they are sensible.

M0nica

Caleo The idea that uniforms disguise how well off children's family are is an illusion. Children always know which children come from poorer homes; shabbier secondhand uniform, their shoes, underwear when changing for games, free lunches, so many indicators.

I cerainly knew which were which when I was at school. It didn't interest me much and it certainly did not affect whether they were my friends or not, but I knew - and everyone else did too.

Absolutely correct

BlessedArt

Tracksuits are easier for parents to maintain and clothes do not make or break a child’s intellect.

Indeed true.

Nanny27

Why do so many use words like 'scruffy or 'baggy to describe track suits? The designs being considered by these schools will be of a uniform style so all the same, no option of hoods or cuffed/not cuffed etc. They will be in school colours with a logo. Some schools have proposed optional knee length shorts in the same design for the summer term.
Sounds smart to me.

It would be, but do you really think that’s what will happen, or what parents’ ideas will be.

Utter drivel! I taught PE for nearly 40 years...girls will either participate or they won't...Parents write excuse notes to excuse them as they don't see it as important. Believe me been there done that,tried everything..... If they don't like PE/sport or any form of exercise nothing will encourage them to do it...and that's speaking from experience...

This thread is about changing the conventional school uniform for tracksuits (personally not in favour), not about taking part in PE, although it does make me wonder if they're wearing tracksuits as an everyday uniform, what will they wear for PE? Another tracksuit? 🤔😂

TheSunRisesInTheEast

This thread is about changing the conventional school uniform for tracksuits (personally not in favour), not about taking part in PE, although it does make me wonder if they're wearing tracksuits as an everyday uniform, what will they wear for PE? Another tracksuit? 🤔😂

If they don’t have another tracksuit for PE, or even just for PE days, that conjures up a a week of hideous classrooms full of sweaty teens.
One of the reasons for tracksuits on PE days was so children didn’t have to do the embarrassing change routine.