GLASGOW schools are taking a more relaxed approach to pupils’ uniforms in an attempt to make the cost of schooling more affordable.
Teachers have been given new guidelines which allow more leniency to be shown towards families replacing their children’s uniforms, which are not up to scratch or do not follow school clothing rules.
They came into force in the middle of August, in time for the start of the current school term. It follows an investigation which found up to 50 per cent of children in Glasgow live in poverty and many families are struggling to afford the costs of kitting out their children for the classroom.
Blazers can cost up to £70, with fleeces priced at about £17 and hats and bags range from £3 to £10.
Bailie Liz Cameron, executive member for children, young people and lifelong learning at Glasgow City Council said: “This has been a really important piece of research and the outcomes and guidance will help shape future decisions to help reduce the impact of poverty on our families.
“Our aim is to remove as many barriers to learning as possible, a number of which have been identified during this important project.
“Many of our families struggle to make ends meet so we are committed to make a difference and help by looking at some of the hidden school costs and try to remove at least some pressures from parents and importantly, their children.”
Teaching union, the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) said it was broadly supportive of the new rules as there are concerns over the financial impact on families of uniform costs.
But a spokeswoman added: “It is important that uniform policies are appropriate for the school in question, and take account of the circumstances of families within the school community.
“While uniform policies in general can help to mitigate against socio-economic differences, overly restrictive policies can be counter-productive and create additional difficulties for families and for pupils.”
The council’s new rules read: “Poverty has the potential to affect all parts of the school day and costs can put up barriers to children and young people enjoying and taking part at school.
“We want to ensure that school costs do not place undue pressure on family budgets, that all children are able to access opportunities and that potential for poverty- related stigma and difference is reduced.”
“Schools should take account of the need for replacement items throughout the year and weather appropriate clothing.
“Families should be given an appropriate amount of time to purchase replacement items. If pupils do not wear the correct uniform then income-related issues should be considered when approaching the issue with pupils.”
It goes on to tell teachers: “School uniforms should be affordable for families on low incomes. Schools should design their uniform policies with very minimum costs at the forefront of their minds.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel