UK primary school pleads with parents of pupils to be appropriately dressed when dropping off their children

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 5 ― A primary school in Middlesbrough, UK has appealed to parents of pupils to be more appropriately dressed when dropping off their children at the gates.

The plea was made by Ayresome Primary School, after an increase in the number of parents who turned up at the school wearing pyjamas and dressing gowns to drop their children, Daily Mail reported.

Despite the request from the school's headteacher Charlotte Haylock, some parents still chose to ignore the ban and were seen turning up at the gates in their nightwear on Monday morning.

A check found one dad walking from the gates in a full-length green dressing gown with the belt flapping.

Several mums appeared to be wearing pyjamas under their warm coats as they dropped their children towards the school gates.

One of the mothers said that she understood why the school decided to stop the informal wear.

“The kids just follow the example they see from their parents and it isn't setting a good standard.

“The children all have to wear their uniforms and they look smart when they come to school so there's no reason why the parents shouldn't either,” she said.

The woman said some of the parents' dressing was unbelievable.

“I wouldn't go and pick up a pint of milk from the doorstep dressed like that, let alone walk half a mile through the streets.”

Explaining the school's decision, Haylock said the school had seen an increase in the number of parents wearing dressing gowns when dropping off and collecting their children from school.

“This prompted me to issue a polite reminder to parents for them to wear appropriate clothing when accompanying their children to and from school.

“As a school, we encourage our children to be appropriately dressed at all times and we feel it is important for parents to do likewise.”

The school has 678 children from age two to 11 years.

It has a strict dress code, which was updated in September 2019, and places 'high emphasis upon standards of dress and maintaining appropriate school uniform'.

If a child attends nursery, which includes children aged three and four, they are required to attend school in full uniform.  

Pupils of all ages are not allowed to wear any kind of jewellery, one stud per ear is permitted providing it is removed for P.E. lessons and wristwatches are also “discouraged” because the school claims there are “clocks in every classroom”.

Girls uniform is to be a skirt or pinafore dress ― striped and checked dresses are allowed in the summer ― and both boys and girls are allowed to wear school trousers, white shirts or polo shirts and the official school embellished sweatshirt or red cardigan.

All pupils' shoes must be black and trainers are forbidden, however in the winter black and red boots are permissible, providing they are sensible.