In principle, the vast majority of us support the high standards that our children’s schools insist upon. After all, a school’s uniform and appearance policy provides a paradigm within which challenge feels safe.Īs parents we often feel that we are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to such matters. That does not mean that day-to-day they do not want to push the boundaries and doing so is a natural and healthy part of growing up. They might want to interpret certain aspects more loosely but, fundamentally, they understand the benefits of belonging to a school community which expresses its culture, traditions and aspiration through a shared identity and commitment to smartness.
Of course they would like tweaks to the policy but, time and again, they make it clear that they do not want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. They certainly react very negatively to any suggestion that school uniforms should be abolished. It was boringly unadventurous.Ĭhildren may well be fierce critics of uniform but they are also its most fantastically compelling advocates. Instead, it was just a low key procession of hoodies and jeans. They did not have a uniform and so I was expecting to see an impressive variety of clothing. A few years ago I inspected an American community school here in the UK. Ties would be banished (hooray!) and we would never again need to iron shirts or polish shoes. Children could knock themselves out with exotic hair styles and daring clothes. It would save parents a good deal of money and save us a good deal of time and fuss. To be honest, there have been times when I have thought that life would be so much simpler if we scrapped uniforms altogether.
#Virtual piano hopes and dreams skin#
Mullets (business at the front, party at the back!) skin fades, fake tans, heavy eyeliner and peroxide bouffants all have their moment and I have yet to meet two people who will agree upon precisely what is ‘acceptable’ at a given moment in time. It is true that school leadership teams need to be responsive to the changing nature of society. Some of these discussions raise important questions about authority and community. Of course, there are heated debates to be had about gender inclusivity, exceptionalism, individuality, and much more besides. That is because I believe that it is our collective responsibility, as a staff body, to model the high expectations that we ask from our children. However, during working hours you will find me clean shaven and wearing a jacket and tie.
Sometimes I shave and sometimes not – depending upon my mood. Out of term time, I am likely to be found wearing a T-shirt and jeans. Sartorial elegance is not my strong suit. Why are schools so inflexible and why would any parent jeopardise their child’s education over the right to wear inch long pink Shellac nails? For anyone not caught up in the drama of the moment it is difficult to understand why passions run so high. Typically, the child is photographed with arms folded staring defiantly into the middle distance next to an equally grumpy looking parent. National and local newspapers often run stories of standoffs between achingly cool parents and miserable senior leadership teams. Parents tend to worry about cost and durability as opposed to style and length. Typically, they have devoured the contents of such documents with a surprisingly forensic eye for detail. Children tend to be the greatest critics of school uniform policies.
0 kommentar(er)
