Wrong school uniform trousers GCSE debacle

[rarebite]

My daughter went to sit her Maths GCSE and was told she could not because she was not in the complete school uniform.

She had on a school T-shirt but the teacher said she must wear a jumbper and she had to squeeze into a year 7/8 jumper which made her feel hot and sweaty.

She was wearing black trousers which the teacher thought too narrow. She told the teacher none of the trousers would fit but was made to try and change in the unisex toilets. Three times she tried 3 different pairs.

When she came out the last time the teacher had gone, the exam room door was closed and my daughter came home in floods of tears.

Was this an appropriate way to handle a possible breach of school uniform policy? I am feeling very upset as she spent hours revising for the exam and I feel a detention more appropriate. She didn't intend to flout the policy - that is why she tried to get into the second hand clothes. She wasn't the only child forced into too small clothes but she was the only one who could find nothing to fit. Now she doesnt feel like going back to school.

[lubeybooby]

Oh your poor dd

Exam day is not an appropriate day to raise issues with uniform :(

[rarebite]

lubeybooby

Thank you. dd doesn't want to go back to the school now. She has bad dreams about the teacher - really bad dreams. But she is in Y1 and it won't be easy for her to go to another school. I am so upset because I don't know what to do.

[kalo12]

make a complaint to the headmaster. i think it's outrageous and i am a teacher

[senua]

Eh? She is taking GCSEs

1. in year 1 and
   
2. in March
   

[FrozenChocolate]

Y1?

[nailak]

i would complain!!! she couldnt sit her exam because she didnt have a jumper and her trousers were too narrow? i would go to the local newspaper aswell and kick up a big fuss, write a letter to the governors as well.

[thumbwitch]

possibly a typo there with the year - should it be Y10? I don't know what years mean any more...

Complain to the year head and the headmaster - that's an outrageous thing to do to a child on the day of an exam, especially so they then miss it.

[LowRegNumber]

It is normal to stagger GCSEs now, especially ones like maths.

I would guess op missed a 1 off and meant yr 11? doubting thomas anyone?

[senua]

Unisex toilets, too?

[LowRegNumber]

Ok, not so sure about that one!

[rarebite]

Sorry Y10 - she's 14 and size 12 - and the trousers she was made to try on couldn't get over her thighs.

The unisex toilets are grim - they are open plan so you can see cubicles from corridor. DD says they smell, the boys pee on the seats and there are no bags for sanitary towels - and the toilets don't flush always! DD says in her last school they had CCTV to make sure no one having sex in the toilets.

i have complained but don't know what the law is on school uniform. DD had a good reason - it was my fault. She normally wears a skirt but hadn't got any clean tights because I wasn't well.

[babyhayley]

Once again with the uniform thing! This really annoys me because you would think that such an important event as an exam would take priority over such a pedantry element as a school uniform.

I would complain, complain, complain! This is your daughter's right to take her exam stress free and it is clear that both you and your daughter made an effort to adhere to the policy. The fact she tried so hard, I wouldn't even give a detention. It sounds as though your daughter didn't end up taking the exam from your post if so make sure they at least try and organise a re-sit. If I got that wrong then I would request a discretionary mark (I know they can be given for various reasons - not sure if this would be covered though).

What an awful teacher. GCSE's are precious asset and your daughter should not miss out because of this. The teacher should be looking at the bigger picture = the GCSE is more important than pedantry and temporary clothing issues in the real world!

Good luck and my heart goes out to your daughter.

[rarebite]

Thanks for the support and babyhayley I want to complain, complain, complain! It makes me feel like a want to burst. She was in higher maths and they said she may not get a B so at the last minute they made her learn a whole new syllabus just so she could get a B. Now the maths teacher says she should probably not go back into higher. We kept her in all over the school holiday making her do maths everyday. And then they throw all this effort all a way and act like its no big deal.

[senua]

I'm sorry. I probably should be more sympathetic but somethng about your OP has riled me. Do you know this rhyme:
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

You could re-write it for your situation. For want of laying out her uniform the night before. For want of expecting her mum to wash her tights. For want of wearing inappropriate clothes...

Do not teach her to say "it was my mum / the teacher's fault I messed up my GCSE". It was your DD's fault. Yes, the school hasn't helped but she needs to take responsibility for her own life.

It's not the end of the world. She's only Year 10, she can re-take this module. To say she is having nightmares and refusing school is a bit pathetic and childish. Let this serve as a wake-up call that she is on the cusp of adulthood and her destiny is in her hands.

[cornsilk678]

the world would end if children didn't wear school uniform. Fact

[donnie]

hmmmmm.

[rarebite]

Perfect mum I love your surety. DD is on the cusp of adulthood and is learning to take responsibility. She revised the night before, sorted out her equipment, showered and laid her clothes out including the trousers. The school doesn't have a preferred style supplied by a preferred supplier - and she has worn the trousers before without them being questioned.

However, even if she had not done this I don't think the punishment should be a lost GCSE assessment opportunity - after all other children got in because they were able to squeeze into the jumpers. And the deputy head teacher admitted she would have let her in if she had known. So it was arbitrary and not policy.

I have checked government policy - and the school should find out the reason why a child is not wearing school uniform before punishing and the punishment should be towards persistent offenders deliberately flouting rules.

It is a big deal missing an assessment opportunity when you have done hours of revision. She can no longer do Higher Maths and will be dropped down to Foundation capping her at C. She will also now have to be revising for this whilst sitting other exams in the summer. She is taking 13 GCSEs (and is not allowed to drop one other than a science) and struggles at times with motivation.

I also agree with the posters who say exams should take precedence over uniforms. There are always going to be those that are less good at conforming for whatever reasons - poor parenting or parental organisational - and the punishment should not be to loose out educationally. Senna thanks for sharing I am now more certain the school are wrong - if yours is the best defence.

[senua]

"There are always going to be those that are less good at conforming for whatever reasons - poor parenting or parental organisational - and the punishment should not be to lose out educationally."

Of course they shouldn't but they do. It is awful but, for some, the unfortunate reality.

That's what I am saying: don't let a poor school ruin her chances; make sure she realises that it is up to her to rise above it. Petulantly saying that she doesn't want to go back is going to harm no-one but her.
The deputy head seems to be on your side so work with her to make sure that DD is given another chance and stays on the higher paper.

[purepurple]

Seems a bit harsh. school uniform is such a trivial thing, imo.
Most schools would be grateful that the pupils had turned up at all, never mind what version of school uniform they were wearing.
Since when does wearing a school jumper or wider trousers help get higher GCSE results.
The teacher is a complete idiot.
Complain very loudly, demand that your DD can do a re-sit and then threaten the school with the Daily Mail.

[gingeroots]

Blimey ,that is dreadful !
What kind of school treats people like that ?
Work with Deputy Head to try and get sorted .
Build on fact that she seems on your side .
My concern would be that a school like this will close ranks if you complain and you won't get the help and support you need if you get in a fight with them .
God I loathe schools like this - they're supposed on the kids side arent they ?
Help them achieve their potential and all that ...
Hope you can cheer DD up ,help her get over it .

[rarebite]

I agree purepurple. DD is borderline - if she works hard she could do well so school should not demotivate. I will fight for what I think is best for DD and hope that school learns - and adopts a beter policy.

The idiot teaches PE
and is like Sue in Glee

A complete swivel head
She fills the kids with daily dread

The kids dive for cover when they can
For fear of what next she'll ban.

And the school says 'hurrah' for 'Sue'
Without her what would we do.

Governors say you can not knock it
Because they are in the school pocket

If DD works hard she'll get the 5
If too unhappy her grades will dive.

So I will be her shining knight
And ensure that is not her plight.

[babyhayley]

Happy to help and I think if you can work an idea out with the Deputy Head then that is great, your daughter should be given the choice of which paper to go for. It may have changed since my day so please check it out but I know it used to be a fail on the higher papers if you didn't hit minimum grade but normally colleges will let you re-take the GCSE along with your further education (A Levels etc).

Not sure if your daughters going to college but it may be worth pursuing the higher paper if your daughter feels confident as there may be a safety net there anyway just in case. Saying that 13 GCSE's - I reckon she'll prove them wrong anyway!

[noblegiraffe]

Why didn't she go in the exam room? Just because the door was closed didn't mean that she couldn't go in.

I also don't understand why she can't sit the higher paper any more. She can sit the module she was meant to sit in March in June, can't she?

[rarebite]

DD was told as she was stopped going in the exam that the policy was that she couldn't take the exam if not in school uniform so she believed that. Some kids might have gone in but she was scared of being humiliated by being turned away and that she would cry - in so far as she thought at all.

DD said she felt a tight band of pain around her head when she saw the teachers had gone and that she felt deaf, couldn't think, couldn't concentrate. I asked her why she didn't ring me but she didn't do that either. I think she was overwhelmed by shock and anxiety.

She can do the module in the summer but the teacher decides which level you sit and he said if she got a good result now she could sit higher. He is now saying probably not - too risky for his statistics which have already been damaged by this. I could argue for it but I too was hoping the result would help set the appropriate level.

I don't know whether DD will be able to go back there have been a series of bullying incidents - and she has I think tried very hard to overcome them and keep focused on the goal of GCSEs. The rational thing is to stay but for her self-esteem it may not be so, I think the shock might have been so great a door may have closed in her mind - and she may not be able to put on a uniform and pass through the gate again. I am giving her space just to relax and feel normal before making a decision.

[thumbwitch]

I'm still utterly disgusted at this teacher's attitude - so NOT the thing to do to a child on the morning of an exam, have her stress about her clothing, stress about not being able to fit into any of the lost property, stress about shit that really doesn't matter and then not be able to go into the room because the fecking teacher fecked off and closed the door! There really can be no excuse for this kind of shit behaviour from the teacher. even if she had managed to find an appropriate pair of trousers to change into, and gone into the exam, her stress levels would have affected her performance which would then have affected her choices, AND skewed the stats. So - all round fucking stupid and pointless thing to do.