Wealden Times | WT181 | March 2017 | Fashion supplement inside
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100 Years of Education, 1000 Years of History<br />
Education<br />
Orderly lines<br />
In light of the recent news story that shone the media spotlight on the uniform policy at<br />
a Kentish academy, Susan Elkin debates the pros and cons of school uniform rules<br />
I<br />
sympathise with Alison Colwell, principal of Ebbsfleet<br />
Academy, Swanscombe in Kent. She sent around 10% of<br />
her students home on the first day of this term because<br />
their skirts were too short. She wants her students to look<br />
smart and business like and be prepared for work. But is a<br />
very strict list of uniform rules, and the time it must take<br />
to enforce them, really the best way forward? Wouldn’t<br />
sensible guidelines and advice be a better way of working?<br />
The British seem to be obsessed with school uniforms. Surely<br />
black trousers and fancy badges foster better behaviour and a<br />
sense of pride? Possibly in some cases. But if a uniform is to be,<br />
well, uniform, then you need detailed rules and that’s a minefield.<br />
As soon as a school creates a rigid uniform policy, it has to<br />
enforce it. As Head of Upper School in a Kent school I had<br />
to deal with a queue of uniform infringers every morning.<br />
Boots instead of shoes was a common ‘problem’. Our no-boots<br />
Head had decided that a shoe becomes a boot when it covers<br />
the anklebone so I quite often ended up on hands and knees<br />
on my office floor ascertaining where the student’s footwear<br />
ended. And I worked in another school where the rule was<br />
that ear studs must be no more than 5mm in diameter – you<br />
can imagine the arguments that caused. Get your ruler out.<br />
Of course I also worry about the surreal unsuitability for<br />
21st century education of many school uniforms. Is it really<br />
a good idea to send three-year-olds to school in a dry-clean<br />
only cloth blazer and a cap? Should we persist in making<br />
girls wear flappy, arguably dangerous, ties at a time when<br />
ever fewer adult males wear them, let alone females?<br />
I would include in my guidelines an observation that<br />
expensive designer items are not suitable for school and work<br />
discreetly with families who found this hard to deal with.<br />
Some very successful schools – Hampton Court House<br />
in London, Frensham Heights in Surrey, for example –<br />
operate without school uniforms and everything is fine.<br />
Discipline doesn’t collapse and anarchy doesn’t take over.<br />
It’s the quality that counts and not the wrappings, as my<br />
father used to say. And good behaviour is far deeper than<br />
clothing. It is based on respect which has to be earned.<br />
Susan Elkin is the author of Encouraging Reading (Continuum,<br />
2008) and Unlocking the Reader in Every Child (Ransom, 2011).<br />
FIGHTING FOR A FIRST-RATE SCHOOL PLACE?<br />
PREPARE FOR BATTLE.<br />
Battle Abbey School 1912 - 2012<br />
Battle Abbey School Open Days<br />
Battle Abbey Senior School<br />
Saturday <strong>March</strong> 4th <strong>2017</strong><br />
10.30am - 12.30pm (The Abbey)<br />
Please contact the school office for further details.<br />
Email office@battleabbeyschool.com Tel 01424 772385.<br />
Battle Abbey Prep & Nursery School<br />
Saturday <strong>March</strong> 11th <strong>2017</strong><br />
10.00am - 12 noon (Bexhill site)<br />
Please contact the Prep school for further details.<br />
Email prep@battleabbeyschool.com Tel 01424 219674.<br />
• Senior School listed in ‘<strong>Times</strong> Top 200’ August 2016<br />
• Prep School listed in ‘<strong>Times</strong> Top 100’ August 2016<br />
www.battleabbeyschool.com<br />
155 wealdentimes.co.uk<br />
BattleAbbeySchool<strong>WT181</strong>.indd 1 06/02/<strong>2017</strong> 11:41