No Suits for Oakwood 6th Form

Oakwood Park Grammar Schools management has seen fit to enforce that all Sixth Form students wear uniforms to boost a more formal environment where students can 'learn better'. Beyond this, they have done so without consulting the student body.

Apparently the school looks too 'scruffy' therefore the students therein will not work to their highest level, which is a ludicrous idea. There is no real strong evidence to show that if we all work in suits then we will obtain better grades. However, there is evidence showing that grades are just fine when there is no uniform code enforced;

The opening paragraph of this file, and the information contained within - http://sociology.missouri.edu/New\%20Website\%20WWW/Faculty\%20and\%20Staff/Assets/David\%20Brunsma/Examining\%20the\%20Effects\%20of\%20Students\%20Uniforms\%20on\%20Attendance.pdf

Also see this link on Finland's schooling system - http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120425355065601997.html

This idea is once again the senior staff throwing up their authority to clamp down on students who have done next to nothing wrong.

Of course, should one wish to wear a suit, one can do so. However, we should not be forced to wear a suit for the sake of aesthetics. It represents a fundamental infringement of our freedom of expression if we are not allowed to wear what we feel comfortable in. Furthermore, if the Governors would like us to wear suits, I strongly advise they pay for them.

We should also remember that this is an important change to our school, and yet we have had almost no warning and zero influence over it. This is yet another example of the tokenistic nature of our student representatives/union/voice/[insert pseudo-political jargon here], and another example of why we should be demanding greater democracy within our schools.

Any current Year 12 student or student moving into Year 12 when this uniform code will come into order, sign this petition. It matters not if the school listen or not, but at least we can show the school that we oppose them and we care and we have opinions.