Thanks again to all those who have responded to the Principal Advisory Group invitation. We have now closed off applications and I will be in touch in a few days with you all. We are over-subscribed so don’t be disappointed if you missed out this time – we will keep your application on hand for the following year.

I was in a meeting of our Secondary teacher leaders this week and a discussion was held on the issue of uniform with students. The incorrect wearing of uniform is a perennial issue for schools. It is probably one of the biggest detractors from academics in every school. I don’t like my academic leaders spending time on uniform issues when they should be talking about academics.

However, it is an issue and although the wearing of uniform at GPCC has improved significantly- there is a hard core of students for whom it is an on-going issue. We can impose lunchtime and after-school detentions but ultimately, we struggle to have any significant consequences for a failure to wear uniform correctly. Some might ask why we bother. Well, we believe that if you have a rule it is worth keeping and enforcing otherwise you should remove it. We know that the majority of our parents want us to have a school uniform so it should be worn correctly and with pride.

Failure to wear the uniform correctly comes down to just a few things: it may be simple forgetfulness (boys and their shirts is a common example), it is often however an act of subtle or overt rebellion – I don’t like the uniform so I will not wear it correctly. It may relate to image, so girls for example will often roll their skirt bands up so the skirt is short- this is the image teenage girls in many schools project and so our girls don’t want to be seen as old-fashioned. Sometimes it is simply a general anti-authority gesture.

At school, we work to get students to wear the uniform correctly, but it is tiresome and for men nowadays potentially career-damaging. We men seldom speak to girls about uniform because we know we can get accused of sexual harassment for it – so the girls play on this.

This is where you as parents come in. Most days I am down outside the MPC and near the Kiss and Drop zone for Secondary students. I am amazed at how many times students get out of the car incorrectly or sloppily dressed. This should have been fixed before you got in the car at home. Now it is left to us to sort it out. That is not partnership. When we work together on this, students will end up complying but if there are loopholes, they will exploit them.

Godly character is about being willing to lay aside my desires, even my rights at times, to fit in with others, especially those in authority. Wearing the uniform correctly, addressing uniform issues when asked promptly and with grace speak of your character. Being rebellious, rude, disrespectful or discourteous, doesn’t speak of a good character.

Let’s work together to help our students become good people and show society what that looks like. Not by us forcing them, but by us helping them to understand the importance of keeping the rules to keep harmony in a community.

Phillip Nash