destinationnovascotia

My children still go to school in the UK (unfortunately). They attend a good school with a reputation for turning out well rounded individuals. The behaviour there is good compared to other local schools.

It is an International school with many links abroad and as such many foriegn trips and exchange visits take place.

On each occasion that one of my children has been involved in an exchange, the foreign (usually European) students who visit are better behaved than our "well behaved" pupils. The staff who visit the schools abroad comment on the polite and orderly behaviour in the foreign schools and particularly the lack of low level disruption in class.

My childrens English school wears uniform but none of the visiting school children have any experience of uniformed schools before visiting us.....they think it looks like Hogwarts!!

My point is, that all the children who have visited has set exemplary standards of behaviour and the people who have visited the foreign schools have said that this carries through in there "home" setting. The fact that we wear uniform does not appear to promote good behavior, high moral values or high quality learning.

It therefore comes down to personal choice in deciding on a dress code. Try as I might, I have not been able to come up with any evidence, empirical or anecdotal, which gives weight to either arguement.

The idea of letting the pupils decide is probably as good a way of making the decision as any. Affordability is not really an issue as if people shop in second hand shops for clothes and the local school wears uniform, it wan't be long before the second hand shops are full of items of uniform also.

Daedra

I certainly do! By the size of your posts on this site *lol*

raine66

Were not talking blazers with the Eaton crest embroidered on it here. It's simply trouser/shorts with a polo shirt for boys and skirt/shorts with polo shirt for the girls, and a jumper for the winter.

If anything I think this may actually help these poor people, in that if they bought say two maybe three sets, and this doesn't need to be all in the one go, then at least their kids are kitted out for the school year. One less worry maybe.

Novocastrian

Slightly off topic, but what is a polo shirt?

Judy in Calgary

It's the same thing as a golf shirt. It's made of knitted fabric. It has a collar. In the front it has a placket (V-shaped opening) with three buttons. At least that's my understanding.

raine66

A t-shirt with a collar.

hot wasabi peas

I think you missed the point of Novo's question.

raine66

Did I ?

Was there some underlying meaning to his question that I missed?

hot wasabi peas

There certainly was in my mind... perhaps Novo's rethinking it too.

zalaben

My kids` high school here in Montreal is implementing the school uniform (public). In fact,it was the students who went to the school commitee and requested it. As we just moved here, the new parents were called to a meeting and the Director said that the students held a vote where 95% of the students voted for the uniform and then the parents voted to a whopping 98% majority.

Then the school approached several school uniform suppliers and a Student commitee voted on the uniform selected.

I recieved my papers the other day and am looking at them as I type .Very nice really.You know the standard navy kilt and pants ( trousers) for the girls with white blouse, short or long sleeved, navy knits of different styles , 3 choices of sweaters and even a pair of bermudas for the summer. The girls seem to have more choice looking at my paper. The blouses and the knits range from $18.50 to $26.00 each.

For the boys, standard navy pants, 5 different styles of shirts ranging from $18.50 to $26.00 ,2 sweaters( vest and long sleeve) $29.75 and $49.75 .

So with this choice the kids can pick and choose what they want to wear to give them freedom of expression. I am all for it! i would spend much more than that on their clothes....and do! WHY DOES MY 13 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER INSIST ON GOING TO THE GAP?? WHATS WRONG WITH WALMART FGS ??the prices fortheuniform are quite reasonable I think and the kids will wear it as it was them who chose it. It will be interesting to see their reaction come the fall. Anyway, it will be better than the ugly brown uniform I wore in England.. wont wear brown to this day

Novocastrian

No, it stands.

Helen Parnell

Getting back to the original post, school uniform or not, there are lots of reasons for and against and all have been posted here.

At the end of the day, the canadian culture is not to have uniform. So at the end of the day you can be in England with school uniform or be in Canada without it.

I remember when I did live in England people complained about people emigrating to England and then wanting things changed to thier old culture. Apparently it is hard now to fly the St Georges flag in some places because we do not want to offend other cultures.

Also as it is in the culture in the UK to have uniform every clothes store sells uniform. Thus it can be brought very cheaply. In Canada I would not know which shop to visit as I know walmart/old navy/ gap do not sell uniform, so you are going to have to find a shop to import the uniform in. The expense would be high.

Just remember why you moved here, I like the canadian culture and want to keep it. If I reach a stage where I do not like it, I am sure there are plenty of airlines that will sell me ticket back to the UK.

Judy in Calgary

Well said, Helen.

Steve_P

Man oh man you are missing the point entirely. You really don't get it do you?

These people can barely afford to clothe their kids in anything let alone a uniform. So no it doesn't make it any easier. The kids come to school in the same clothes day after day because they only have one set. The schools sometimes have to distribute shoes, socks, coats etc that have been given to them by charities.

I do realize that not one of you are poor because you could afford to emigrate in the first place but these people are poor, dirt poor. They live in assisted rental homes sometimes seven families in one house. Uniforms are NOT an option.

boxerdog03

With regard to bullying I personally don't think wearing a uniform or not makes any difference, bullies will always find someone to bully. If I think about when I was at school the kids that were bullied were the kids who's parents couldn't afford the uniforms so they ended up with threadbare jumpers, and trousers and blazers which were too short in the arms and legs, making them a target.

In my experience of working with children and adolescents with mental health difficulties, I don't wear a uniform as young people see then as authoritarian and they are a barrier when developing relationships. I dress in a style that young people can relate to and find that this helps them feel more comfortable talking to me. The young people are offered a choice of clinician when we see them, the parents then get the other, more often than not they say they would prefer to see me rather than one of my colleagues who wears shirt, trousers and a tie (think he's often refered to as stuffy).

Clothing should be appropriate to the environment and should enable the young people to feel comfortable in the setting. This promotes their self esteem which in turn improves concentration and is conducive to learning, there is nothing worse than being forced to wear clothes that you don't like, and it makes you feel awful about yourself.

Sharon