Outwood Academy Adwick Uniform Policy

I am a parent of a pupil at Outwood Academy Adwick. My daughter has been attending this school since September 2009 and I, like many other families, have another 2 children due to go into this school in the near future.

The uniform policy at this school, in my opinion and that of many other parents, is outrageous. The school insists that pupils wear clothing that is branded with the school logo. If this was just the school blazer and tie it wouldn’t be so bad. However, the school insists that the pupils wear shirts, skirts and trousers that also have the school logo on, even when the logo cannot even be seen as the school insists that the blazer is worn at all times anyway.

The school does not offer an iron/sew on badge that can be applied to plain clothes, leaving parents no option but to pay over the odds for expensive clothing from a single supplier in Doncaster. The schools uniform policy also insists that if girls choose to wear a skirt then they MUST wear 40 denier black tights. The rule of tights is one thing but to insist on the denier is going over the top, especially when the cheapest local supermarket brand is 30 denier. The school even insists that hair bobbles are of a certain colour.

The point I am making here is this school is going over the top! If pupils turn up at school wearing anything other than their logo branded school uniform, they are issued with an instant 1 hour detention, which can then lead to exclusion. The school has now brought in new rules that all pupils should have a dark coloured coat. Since all schools should be encouraging children to walk or cycle to school to help with environmental issues and keep carbon emissions down, I find this very concerning. The school should be encouraging children to wear bright/light colours or even reflective items to make sure their journey to and from school, especially during the winter months, is as safe as it can be. In the current economic climate, especially with recent VAT rises and other cost of living increases, surely Institutions such as public schools and Academies should be doing everything they can to help families keep the costs down, rather than hiking the costs up further.

If the school relaxed their rules, and allowed parents of their pupils to purchase plain shirts, skirts and trousers from high street stores, the cost of the uniform could be a third of what we are currently paying. In no way does a logo on a shirt, skirt or pair of trousers help our children’s education. Doncaster is a deprived area; many families in Doncaster are unemployed or on low incomes and cannot afford the demands made by this school. There is also no longer any help towards the cost of school uniform from the Doncaster Local Authority, unlike many around the country, so how are we expected to meet the schools demands? If we don’t meet their demands, our children are punished with detention, and can be excluded.

I do not want my child to be punished because I cannot afford the uniform demands, do you? Some families have to borrow money from family and other means to pay for the uniform, this then leads to debt. Families with more than one child in school are those who suffer the most. It costs around £100 per child for their uniform and compulsory sportswear, compared to a third of that if parents were able to purchase the uniform from high street stores and supermarkets. It has been suggested to me that I could move my children to Don Valley School where the uniform policy is reasonable and can be purchased from high street stores, however, Outwood Academy Adwick is our local school, we are in the catchment area for this school and children do not want to move schools away from their friends.

No child should be forced to travel, via bus, to and from school each day just because their family cannot afford the extortionate school uniform demands.
A set of guidelines where issued to schools a few years ago by the government, but these are being ignored. These guidelines can be viewed here, http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/atoz/u/uniform/ . A new UK Government took office on 11 May 2010. As a result the content on this site may not reflect current Government policy, but, to my knowledge there has not been any update to the guidelines.

On the 27th August 2010, the Citizen Advice Bureau started a campaign to help parents fight the growing costs of school uniform, you can read more about it here, http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/press_20100828a .

It is not acceptable that parents should be forced to pay high uniform costs or send their children to a school in a different catchment area. Help us with this campaign to reduce the cost of uniform demands at Outwood Academy Adwick. One voice cannot do it alone, speak up and have your say! Sign the petition now!