Falkirk councillor says its time to stop punishing pupils for not wearing blazers

dailyrecord.co.uk:

'Victorian' school uniform policies that insist on pupils wearing expensive, impractical clothing must be updated, a Falkirk councillor has said.Independent councillor Laura Murtagh says she accepts that having a school uniform is practical and sensible - but it also has to be comfortable for pupils and as inexpensive as possible for parents.Cllr Murtagh wants to see Falkirk Council schools start to follow new Scottish Government guidance on uniform, which says schools should not be insisting on expensive, branded items, including blazers. Read more: New campaign aims to keep foster care local to Falkirk and recruit more part-time roles While councillors cannot tell schools what their uniform policy should be, Cllr Murtagh hopes to encourage them to follow the national guidance by putting forward a motion at next week's executive meeting.Cllr Murtagh said: "What is very clear is that there are some significant differences between what the guidance says and some of the practices we have across Falkirk and there will have to be a bit of a transition."I'm not saying that anything will be banned and it's not saying to schools 'you must do this', but it does encourage action."And it does give a clear expectation that schools should be adhering to the principles of national guidance and not just ignoring it, because at the moment they certainly don't comply."She says it's an issue that has been raised many times by parents, pupils and also staff who are having to spend time enforcing strict uniform rules.She also believes it is wrong for children to lose time in class simply because they are not wearing a blazer.Cllr Murtagh said: "At the moment, or certainly in the recent past, there are certain schools where if you turn up