Schools have been given new national guidelines which aim to reduce the cost of school uniforms for families.
The Scottish Government has issued its recommendations to schools on what pupils should wear and how to avoid discrimination.
There is no legal requirement for pupils to wear uniforms in Scotland, with individual policies set by schools.
Prepared through consultation with schools, families, uniform suppliers, pupils and councils, the new guidance sets out key considerations to “ensure pupil comfort, freedom and happiness”.
The guidance, which can be used to form individual school uniform policies, includes advice on encouraging schools to adopt measures that limit costs for families and reduce waste, including limiting the number of items that pupils need and promoting items that can be reused more easily.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth launched the guidance during a visit to Camperdown Primary School in Dundee, where she learned about work by pupils to develop a cost of the school day action plan.
Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth during a visit to Stonelaw High School in Rutherglen, (Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
Ms Gilruth said: “Every child in Scotland should be able to attend school feeling comfortable, confident, and ready to learn.
“However, we know the cost can be a significant burden for families and we want to support schools to minimise these costs.
“This new national guidance contains measures for schools to develop and implement their own affordable and sustainable policies that recognise the individual needs of all pupils.”
READ MORE:
- Scot Gov school uniform guidance — Dress codes and costs explained
- Glasgow shopping centre offer free service as schools return
- Free school meals cut 'shameful' as FM faces Holyrood vote
Ms Gilruth added: “It makes clear that schools are expected to do all they can to limit school clothing costs for families as part of our wider aim to reduce the cost of the school day.
“The guidance also encourages schools to develop flexible and inclusive policies which promote generic items of clothing and do not include compulsory branded items, supporting our efforts to be more sustainable.
“Ending child poverty is the central mission of this government and reducing the cost of the school day for families will play a crucial role in this work.”
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 here