If the shoe fits?? February 27, 2009

School uniform has been around a long time and in the last 30 years, even infant school children are expected to wear the set uniform. Usually they are also required to wear ’sensible school shoes’. Often they are allowed to only wear Black or Brown shoes and they must be Lace ups or Buckle fastened. The shoe retailers make the choice fairly extensive because they are aware that children or and parents, still want to have a choice.

40 years ago, in state primary schools, children could wear any shoes at all. Sandals were popular amongst girls and boys but plimsolls were still only for games lessons. Children, who walked to school in rain or snow, wore their plimsolls until home time. Now manufacturers have woken up to the idea that children wish to wear sportswear even in school and have made some shoes in sports styles but without the stripes, or name tags emblazoned over them. They look just as smart and comfortable as the ’school shoe’.

I don’t think children work better in school because they are wearing a certain style of footwear. Schools if anything have become too authoritarian about the apparel and less interested in who is wearing it.

When I was at primary school, I had absolutely no say over the style of shoes I wore. Parental choice dictated that I had ´sensible shoes´. Children today have far too much control over what they wear, and as a consequence have become miniature dictators, demanding branded trainers from their parents.

There are very sound reasons for pupils having to wear particular styles of shoes as part of their uniform. This will mean that they have practical styles, rather than fashionable ones. Safety is, of course, an issue. Younger children spend their break times tearing around the playground, and need shoes that won´t come loose and risk an accident. Older children may have to rush from one part of the school to another, and girls wearing high heels may trip over and injure themselves.

Naturally, children develop their own tastes, but sometimes rules are necessary. Growing feet need shoes that won´t harm them, and a uniform also enables everyone to appear similar. The great advantage for parents of a uniform including shoes would be this: no arguments in the morning about which shoes to wear, and no delays!

Kiddies Winter Wonderland November 30, 2008

There are so many children’s winter boots and shoes in the shops for the season, they are spoiled for choice! Children, these days, tend to go for sophisticated, elegant styles, often against the wishes of their parents. Influenced by their favourite celebrities, they demand expensive designer ranges which can be totally impractical, rather than practical, well-fitting shoes from children’s shoe specialist shops, such as Clarks or Start-rite.

Children’s foot size can increase considerably throughout the season, and it’s important for both feet to be measured by a foot specialist. When children find a shoe style they like, after being measured, the child should be asked to walk round the shoe shop to check whether they hurt anywhere. With the child standing, press at the front of the shoe to check how much room there is to allow for growth. Check that the sides don’t ‘bag’ out and there isn’t too much spare room at the heel.

As the shoes – or boots – are to be worn during the coldest season, it’s important that they will protect against the bitterly cold temperatures typical of the season. It’s always best to buy leather as this will protect against cold and rain, and allow the skin to breathe. Leather also stretches slightly resulting in shoes which last longer and fit more comfortably. Lace up shoes or shoes which have bars across the front are more suitable for children as they won’t come off when the child is running and playing. Check that the soles of the shoes are strong and made of thick rubber, making them skid proof.

Children, of course, have their own ideas of the fashionable shoe styles they want to wear, and usually they don’t always correspond with their parent’s wishes. Children often choose something like ‘moonboots’ made from silver lurex, priced at £45. They are also tempted by Fizz boots, priced at around £50, in light pink or turquoise colours. Fashionable styles like these are expensive and aren’t designed to last for the coldest 5 or 6 months of the year.

Really fashionable children’s shoes and boots are often not designed for vigorous rough and tumble play, and are often built of materials too thin to protect against severe winter conditions. If parents and children can compromise, there are some great and practical styles available in the shops.

Start-rite, among other children’s shops, has a large range of winter shoes and boots specially designed for children. Designs are guaranteed to last against normal children’s wear and tear, and styles appeal to the most fashionable kid. Boot styles such as Amber-Leigh and Flowerchild are made from leather and come in appealing trendy colours. Both parents and children love them.

Shoes makes chlidren October 2, 2008

Do you think that a group of children wearing uniform and smart school shoes look more or less trustworthy than children wearing anything?

We often read stories in the paper today of groups of youths terrifying elder people in the streets. Often no aggressive behaviour takes place and it is merely the fact that the children are in a large groups which seems to scare people. This means that we are judging these groups purely by appearance not by actual character traits or personality. I think that this does not occur so often when the group is smartly dressed in school uniform and smart school shoes rather than any home clothes and random shoes.

The reasons for this are two-fold. Firstly we tend to behave better the smarter we are dressed. The Uniform and school shoes give the children an identity and they know that they will be quickly held to account for bad behaviour to their school. We used to be told at school that whenever we wore our uniform we were ambassadors to the school.

Secondly we perceive people differently when they are wearing uniform. For instance when thugs appear in court they always put on a nice suit and shoes. This means that to the jury and judge they look a lot less threatening and trustworthy than they would in an old tracksuit and trainers.

When I was at school it seemed that my mother and I were always going shopping for new school shoes and glasses. I seemed to grow out of or loose these two essential pieces of school kit at an alarming rate. We would always go to the same shoe shop in town because they had pre-agreed with the school which models of school shoes were and were not acceptable for students to be wearing from their range.

I do not thing that children should have to wear uniform school shoes however if the school does have a uniform policy then the children should have to wear school shoes that conform to certain guidelines. For instance my shoes had to be plain black, lace up leather shoes.

To go as far as saying that children have to wear one specific model of school shoe is stupid. Every child’s feet are different and require a shoe to take their unique shape. I have very wide feet and as such there were only a few suitable models in the shoe shop that I would be comfortable in.