The Uniform Choice

The back story:

Miss Mariner was a young teacher. She hadn’t been working at St. Aidan’s girls school in Edinburgh for long but had really enjoyed her first few years.

The previous school year she had been asked to take a couple of classes in the 6th form. As it happened this turned out to be her forté. She built up an instant rapport with the older girls. Mainly due to her laid back teaching style and her approachability. But all the girls were equally aware that she knew how to engage and command a classroom. The head of 6th form, Mr Roberts, was seriously impressed. So much in-fact, that he asked her to take one of the 3 form classes in year 13 for the upcoming year.
Miss Mariner was thrilled. She would have the same girls every morning for the whole year. She would be able to guide them into adulthood and prepare as best she could for life after St. Aidan’s.

St Aidan’s was generally quite a good school with a decent reputation. But it had its share of problems. The previous year, a new uniform had been introduced for the lower school to try to instil a sense of pride in the year 7-11 girls. Out went the sky blue polo shirts and navy jumpers. In came long sleeved white shirts, navy blue and white striped clip on ties and blazers. There had been a few teething problems and complaints. But the new smarter look had definitely improved behaviour as well as the school’s reputation in the wider community.

The previous year the 6th form had not seen the same uniform policy introduced. The dress code had been a loose take on ‘smart casual’ for years. The 16-18 year olds of the 6th form were trusted to look professional in school. However, unfortunately for Mr Roberts; as behaviour improved in the lower school the previous year - 6th form behaviour had deteriorated.
Girls flouted the loose rules on dress code, hoodies and trainers were a regular occurrence and too many girls were smoking on breaks and clearly arriving to school hungover. A clear disregard for the trust show had set in.

After a lengthy conversation with the head teacher before breaking up for summer, Mr Roberts had agreed that it was time to introduce a uniform policy for the 6th form when the new year started. He saw this as a great shame. The trust had been broken. But he agreed with the head, a uniform policy would most likely bring about similar positive results as seen in the lower school the year before.
However, he wanted didn’t want to have the older girls in the same dress as the lower school. Mr Roberts (along with the head) came up with two options for the older girls. They would pick one and stick to it for the year. A wintery style uniform and a summery style uniform. The girls would retain a degree of choice. But rules were to be enforced strictly from day 1.

Miss Mariner’s first day of the new school year:

Miss Mariner was ready to head back to school, she was super excited for the new year and to meet her year 13 form class.

Lower school had started the day before at 09:00am. But today, the 6th form girls would be in at 12:00. The first day back was always a half day for them - just to settle in and for everyone to re-adjust to school life.

Mr Roberts had been in contact with all the 6th for teachers to ask them to be in at 09:00am - he had a few things to brief them on and run over again before the girls arrived.

Miss Mariner was in at 08:30. She was keen to impress. She was determined to have a strong year and didn’t want to let Mr Roberts down after he gave her a new opportunity in the 6th form. After a coffee and a bit of a chin-wag it was soon 09:00am.

Mr Roberts spoke for a while about some of the events to look forward to for the year and some general bits n bobs. But the final thing he spoke about was the new uniform policy:

“As you are all aware, over the summer all the girls coming to the 6th form this year were sent a detailed letter on the new uniform policy. The head and myself had been forced to introduce this due to the dip in standard we all experienced last year. I don’t mean to patronise any of you, but I am going to run through the 2 options that the girls were sent to make sure we are all on the same page. The letter was very detailed and clearly states that they must pick one style of uniform ONLY for the year. We don’t want girls chopping and changing what they wear. So they should have had plenty of time to go out and buy what they need. I have however, ordered plenty of spares and they are available in the 6th form office. If any of the girls in your form come in day one, dressed incorrectly, please take them there to replace the required items. I want you to all to ‘knit-pick’ so to speak. We need to lay down the law on day 1. No exceptions.

Miss Mariner had know the uniform policy was to be introduced but didn’t expect Mr Robert’s to speak so passionately about it. She listened intently as he continued:

“Sorry where was I? Yes, the two options. So option one is the Summer style.

- A short sleeved white revere collar blouse.
- A grey pinafore
- White socks clearly above the ankle.
- Smart black shoes.

The Blouse is to always be tucked in and neatly ironed. The pinafore must be well fitted and reach to the knee. It’s all really simple stuff. But no variations are allowed. Girls know they can wear coats to and from school and when leaving site. But when in this building they are to be stored in their lockers. You have all seen the uniform letter. Read over it again, and any items that the girls are wearing that don’t meet the standards need to be replaced. Bring them immediately to the 6th form office to source the relevant replacement.

Option 2 is the winter style uniform:

- A long sleeve, white shirt with collar suitable for a tie.
- The tie. This the new solid navy blue tie. It’s quite slim, looks professional and will differentiate the 6th form from the lower school. Not just the colour difference, but the fact that it is a real tie to.
- A grey knee length skirt or grey pinafore.
- Black school blazer
- White socks clearly above the ankle.
- Smart black shoes.

Now the tie must be tied correctly. This means top button fastened and the tie down to the waist. Tie knots should be pulled through tightly and pushed up to meet the collar snugly. This is how ties should be worn so please enforce this!
Shirts to be tucked in to the skirt and always ironed. Girls can wear the pinafore with the winter uniform too, but can’t switch between the two! Blazer worn at all times. On hot days of course they can remove them in lesson. But always worn walking to and from school and walking round the building.”

‘Wow ok’ Miss Mariner thought to herself. All the talk about rules had brought her down a bit. But she was still excited. And she knew she’d have no problems enforcing the rules with the girls. Even if she wasn’t totally on bored with the idea.

Mr Roberts explained that he would talk to the whole of year 12 and 13 together with all the form teachers in the the room. He’d reiterate the uniform policy, then break them up into forms and send them to their form rooms where the teachers could deal with any infringements.

Jenny’s first day of year 13:

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“SHIT”

It was 11:30am. Jenny lived a 30 minute walk from school. She was going to be late. She couldn’t believe it. Late on day one of year 13. How many times did she snooze her alarm!?

She had been left home alone by her parents who were away on a short city break. She was looking after her younger sister, Jazz, 15. Jazz was already back at school starting Y11. But with their parents away, they had stayed up late watching movies with pizza, chocolate and sweets. Jazz went to bed at midnight and had managed to wake up at 7 and make it to school for her 9am start.
After Jazz had gone to bed. Jenny stayed up for a little while and helped herself to a couple of glasses of her Mum’s white wine. She had thought ‘Why not, I’m not I till later tomorrow.” That idea had backfired.

Jenny was panicking. Her head throbbing a little from the wine the night before. She ran down stairs and wolfed down some cereal and went straight back up the stairs. It’s was now 11:35. Aargh. After a quick wash she’d be ready to get dressed.

For her whole school life, getting dressed for school had been an easy job. Polo shirts in lower school, then basically what ever she wanted in year 12. She was not a fan of the introduction of the uniform policy. But she was just glad she wasn’t in Jazz’s year and be forced to wear a clip on tie. She had laughed at Jazz for that and always ribbed her about it. She had chosen the summer style uniform. She liked the idea of a blazer for the colder months but didn’t want to wear a tie. Eeek, that put her off the winter uniform as an option. She’d only really skim read the letter. Making her mind up quickly that she wanted the summer style uniform and had bought what she needed for the upcoming year in the first week of the summer holidays.

It was 11:45 by the time Jenny was getting dressed. Disaster! The night before she was supposed to unpackage the multi pack of revere collar blouses she had bought and iron one for this morning. This day was not going well. Now she was really panicking. She quickly weighed up her options. She couldn’t wear a un-ironed blouse. She’d get in more trouble after already being late. With no time to iron a blouse she had a great idea - she’d wear one of Jazz’s shirts! Winner winner. Jenny was sure that an perfectly Ironed shirt that was not quite the right style would go down better than an heavily creased but correctly styled one.

She grabbed one of Jazz’s long sleeved white shirts. It was nicely ironed but a little small for her. She couldn’t recall a time she’d even worn a shirt like this. She struggled a bit to buttoned up, the top two buttons she left unfastened. She threw her pinafore, socks and shoes on and ran downstairs. She stopped for a moment and looked at herself in the tall downstairs mirror. ‘Looking good Jenny’ she thought. Maybe smartening up the 6th form wasn’t such a bad idea. She liked how she looked in the open neck collared shirt and pinafore.

To be continued...

Continued...

It’s was 12:20 by the time Jenny made it to the school. She was excited to have Miss Mariner as her form teacher this year. She had taken a couple of Jenny’s classes last year and Jenny always looked forward to her lessons. Anytime she had any issues it would be Miss Mariner that she went to.
As Jenny entered the 6th form building it was eerily quite. She had to make her way across the entire building to get to Miss Mariners form classroom. As she made her way along the corridors she had a couple of peaks into the other form room. Jenny couldn’t believe how seriously all the girls had taken the uniform policy. It seemed as though about 80% had chosen the summer style and the rest had opted for the winter. Everyone was in perfect uniform. Jenny started to worry a bit about not wearing the revere collar blouse but thought surely it’d be fine for today.

Miss Mariner had welcomed all the girls to her form class. She was still waiting for Jenny who she thought was either very late or sick. But on the positive side there had only been a couple of uniform issues to deal with - the 3 girls in her form that had chosen the winter uniform all had to re-tie their ties. Miss Mariner had instructed them to tie the the tie long enough so as the tip of their ties could be tucked into their skirt waistbands. After a few moans and grumbles the girls had smartened up. Miss Mariner personally straighten and tighten the girls’ ties to make sure all the students in her form met the required standard set out by Mr Roberts. Now that the uniform was perfect she could crack on with giving them a fun and engaging first day back at 6th form.

It was 12:25 when Jenny knocked on the class room door and Miss Mariner beckoned for her to come in:

“Jenny! You are very late. Why have you turned up nearly 30 minutes late on the first day back?”

“I am sorry Miss. I woke up late and then had to deal with a few uniform issues. It’s solely my fault and I am really sorry.”

“Thank you for the apology Jenny. You haven’t missed a great deal but I can clearly see you’ve had a few uniform issues. I do not want Mr Roberts to see you in that mis-matched outfit”
Miss Mariner continued. “Girls, please keep the noise levels respectful while I’m gone. I’m taking Jenny to get a replacement revere collar blouse from the office. We won’t be long.”

The two of them arrived at the office and Miss Mariner asked Jenny what size she needed then asked her to wait outside while she grabbed her a spare. After a while of looking she couldn’t find any revere blouses for Jenny. There must have been too many uniform infringements in the other forms, and with Jenny being late they had already run out.

“Jenny!” Miss Mariner exclaimed from inside the office.

“Yes Miss?”

“Please come in here. We’ll have to pick you out a few items to get you up to the correct standard.”

Jenny entered the room and miss Mariner’s was holding a black blazer.

“Ok Jenny unfortunately because you have arrived so late today there are no revere blouses left. The only option to get you properly dressed is to kit you out with the winter uniform for the year, here try this blazer on for size.”

Jenny’s heart sank. “Miss is there no way I could just stay dressed like this today? I have all the summer uniform at home with spares. I promise I’ll be dressed correctly tomorrow. It’s not fair to make me wear the winter uniform all year when I don’t want to!”

“Fair Jenny?! What’s not fair is you turning up late in the incorrect uniform. Reflecting badly on your class mates and also me. You will not be the one that lets us down. Now fastened up the rest of your shirt buttons. Put this tie and blazer on. And think about the way you have just spoken to me . I will package up 4 more of the same size shirts as you have on now and a spare tie for you to take home later this afternoon.”

Jenny reluctantly submitted to Miss Mariner’s demands. It was a struggle for her to fasten the top button of her younger sister’s shirt. There was very little space between her neck and the collar. She felt caged in. Then she had to ask Miss Mariner to tie her tie as she had never done it before. Miss Mariner took no liberties. She tied it so that it was long in length and tightly knotted. Then proceed to push the knot up to meet Jenny’s collar very snugly and tuck the tie inside her pinafore.
After they found a blazer that fitted she instructed Jenny that this would be her uniform for the rest of the year. Any infringements, no matter how small, in the coming days would land her in a 2 hour uniformed Saturday detention. She sent Jenny back to class saying that she would join her after she had packaged up Jenny’s winter uniform spares.

As Jenny walked off Miss Mariner felt sorry for her. She had made an example of her and worry that she might have gone too far. But her priority was to do a good job for Mr Roberts. She had done what he asked of her.

Jenny walked back to the form class slowly. She felt humiliated and uncomfortable. She stopped off in the ladies to see what she looked like. Looking at herself in the mirror she was embarrassed. She couldn’t believe that she had no option but to dress like this for a whole year! Her collar was so tight. She rolled her neck around to try and find room but there was none. She fingered the small knot that was tight against her throat that Miss had tied for her. It felt so restrictive. She composed herself after a while and went back to class. She knew that she would have to learn to love this tight new collar of hers, or Miss Mariner would punish her.

Loving the tightness of the collar, mmm!