Calls for schools to ditch formal uniforms

Children's organisations are calling for schools to switch formal uniforms in favour of clothing more suitable for play and physical activity to help children become more active.

Outdoor Play and Learning (Opal), a programme set up by former Bristol teacher Michael Follett, is behind the campaign and have joined with other groups who want to encourage always-active school uniforms.

Several schools across the south west of England have already adopted the idea and others are discussing the change.

PE lead at Summerhill Academy in Bristol, Sally Goodridge, said switching the uniform has made "children much more comfortable and we can jump up and get active at any time in the day".

Play England, Youth Sport Trust, and Opal with Bristol charity Children's Scrapstore are signing up to the campaign.

Paula Phillips, head teacher of East Wichel Primary School in Swindon, said the school made the decision to change to an active uniform a few years ago.

"Coming out of Covid, we were seeing more and more children struggling with their mental health, spending more time on screens, and being less active than before [so] as a school, we knew we had to do something that would make a real difference," she explained.

She said they believe physical and mental health go hand-in-hand and children have a "right to move, play, and spend time outdoors every day".

PE lead at Summerhill Academy in Bristol, Sally Goodridge, said due to the change in uniform, "the children are much more comfortable and we can jump up and get active at any time in the day".

They have more time during PE lessons as they do not need to get changed and it is cheaper as there is only one uniform to buy," she said.

Glyn Jones, head teacher at Blue Coat Primary, in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire said: "Schools need to adapt to a changing world.

"The clothes that adults wear to work have changed; seeing somebody wearing a suit or other formal clothes is a rarity [so] schools need to reflect this."

Head teacher Nichola Chesterton from Chilthorne Domer Church School near Yeovil in Somerset said the topic of changing the school uniform has been divisive, with more than half of the children in the oldest class preferring to wear the traditional uniform.

Some children she said felt they would struggle to concentrate if they were in more relaxed clothes.

Others want to keep the uniform "because of our status as a church school and to respect the church when we visit," she added.