News & Headteacher Blogs

On Wednesday, 9^th February, Mr Prosser and Mr Wilson (Deputy Headteacher) presented proposed changes to the uniform policy to the parents’ forum. This follows consultation with the students through the House Council.

Why are the proposed changes being considered?

• At the end of 2021, Parliament passed the Education (Guidance About the Cost of School Uniforms) Act
• The main provisions of the Act are that:
  • Parents should not have to think about the cost of a school uniform when choosing which school(s) to apply for. Therefore, schools need to ensure that their uniform is affordable.
  • In considering cost, schools will need to think about the total cost of school uniforms, taking into account all items of uniform or clothing parents will need to provide while their child is at the school.
  • Schools should keep the use of branded items to a minimum.
  • A school’s uniform policy should be published on the school’s website, be available for all parents, including parents of prospective pupils, and be easily understood.
  • Schools should ensure that their uniform supplier arrangements give the highest priority to cost and value for money (including the quality and durability of the garment).
  • Single supplier contracts should be avoided unless regular tendering competitions are run where more than one supplier can compete for the contract and where the best value for money is secured. This contract should be retendered at least every 5 years.
  • Schools should ensure that second-hand uniforms are available for parents to acquire. Information on second-hand uniforms should be clear for parents of current and prospective pupils and published on the school’s website.
  • Schools should engage with parents and pupils when they are developing their school uniform policy.

How is the school doing to make uniform as affordable as possible?

• Firstly, we have explored a range of suppliers to see which provides best value
• Secondly, we will be running regular second-hand uniform sales
• Thirdly, we have reviewed our uniform policy to see what changes can be made to make it more affordable

What changes are we proposing for our PE kit?

• We have reduced the numbers of items required for the PE kit
• We have reduced the numbers of items needing branding
• We have made more items optional, for example removing the requirement to have a school rugby shirt
• We are liaising with the uniform supplier to stop PE kit from being personalised, which makes it much harder to pass down to younger siblings or for items of PE kit to be included in second hand uniform sales

What changes are we proposing for our main uniform?

• We have reviewed the numbers of branded items, ensuring that we have a clear rationale for the branded items we retain:
  • House ties (these establish House identity and are relatively inexpensive)
  • Blazer badges (these establish the identity of the school, are relatively inexpensive and can be bought separately and attached to non-branded blazers)
  • School skirts (these ensure that only skirts suitable for school are worn)
• We are also planning to move to a single colour of uniform:
  • Although the choice of having navy or black uniform has been a part of what makes The Downs distinctive, it makes it harder for uniform to be handed down within families
  • It also has the effect of encouraging male or female students to wear specific colours, when otherwise our uniform policy is gender neutral
  • We are therefore planning to phase in a single colour of school uniform over a number of years
• The colour of the uniform will be black, because:
  • When consulted, the students on our House Council overwhelmingly favoured black over navy
  • Nearly all our male students and many of our female students already wear black, so changing to black would affect fewer students
  • Our research suggests that black uniform is generally more available and cheaper than navy uniform
  • It also seems easier to colour match black rather than navy items of clothing
  • The change to black will be introduced gradually, with new students to the school having to wear black but students already wearing navy being allowed to continue to wear it until new items of uniform need to be bought.