Newlaithes Nursery & Infant School

SCHOOL UNIFORM AND JEWELLERY POLICY

SCHOOL UNIFORM

We ask that all our children wear school uniform as we believe it helps the children take a pride in themselves and their school.

We are committed to keeping our school uniform as cost effective as possible.

Uniform

The uniform is as follows:

White or red polo shirt (with or without the school logo)

Grey only formal school trousers/shorts/skirt or pinafore

Red v-necked jumper or cardigan (with or without the school logo)

Red sweatshirt (with or without the school logo)

Red and white school dresses can also be worn during the summer term and first half of the autumn term.

Cycling shorts are not part of the school uniform and are only suitable for wearing under school skirts, pinafores and school summer dresses.

Children will also need a book bag to bring to and from school each day. Book bags with the school logo are available but this is not essential. We are more concerned that messages and homework etc don’t go missing!

Footwear

Footwear should be plain black and sensible. Your child will probably spend some time each day running around in the playground, so sensible shoes are essential. Please buy Velcro shoes if your child cannot tie shoelaces. If your child travels to school in boots or wellingtons, please send plain black shoes to change into, as boots are not good for running and climbing on the adventure trail and tree house.

Water Bottles

Newlaithes drink bottles are the only permitted water bottles in school. Replacement bottles are available at a reduced cost of £1 from the school office. School subsidises the remaining cost of the water bottles.

PE kit

For PE, children are asked to bring red shorts, white T-shirt (with or without the school logo) and black plimsolls. PE kit can be left in school and will be sent home at the end of each half-term.

School logo

It is not essential to buy any item of school uniform with our school logo. You are free to buy school uniform from any outlet.

Should you wish to, items embroidered with the school logo are available at:

BE Uniforms Embroidered Schoolwear & Clubwear (border-embroideries.co.uk) and

One Identity School Wear - Identity (oneidentity.co.uk)

Please label all your child’s clothes and belongings.

Please note that parent/carers will be contacted if your child is not wearing appropriate school unifor

JEWELLERY

It is school policy that no jewellery is worn in school, other than a simple analogue watch should you wish your child to wear one. Smart watches are not permitted.

Earrings, in particular, pose a health and safety risk to young children and should not be worn in school. Medical advice confirms that any jewellery worn in physical education lessons is an unnecessary risk and should be avoided at all times.

Serious accidents have occurred as a result of contact between children wearing earrings or studs and other pupils or equipment, thus damaging the ear, or where items of jewellery have caught in apparatus and torn the ear lobe. There have been cases of the post of the earring going into the neck, which is where the brachial nerve runs directly to the brain.

Physical activity also takes place at playtimes during the day, so earrings are not appropriate for such young children.

Jewellery should be left at home and should not be worn for after school events such as discos or clubs.

We are grateful to those parents and carers who have supported us with this policy by getting ears pierced at the start of the school summer holidays, or by removing earrings during the school day.

Occasionally, we get parents who refuse to abide by this policy and refuse to remove their child’s earrings. In these cases the governors have referred to guidance from institutions such as Association of PE (AfPE) and have agreed the following:

Parents cannot withdraw their child from PE lessons, as PE is a statutory subject in maintained schools and all pupils are required to attend.

Pupils who are not able to remove earrings (as they may be newly pierced) will not actively participate in physical education for their own and others’ safety. In this circumstance, a pupil will be asked to undertake learning in another classroom.

Parents will be asked to come to school to cover earrings with micropore tape or masking tape (not Elastoplast or sellotape) and care must be taken to cover the post at the back of the earring.

If the tape comes off, parents will be contacted and asked to return to school to reapply the tape.

Although the element of risk may be reduced by the use of tape, these actions do not make the situation safe. Therefore, pupils will not be able to access the tree house or adventure trail during playtimes and will be asked to stay with an adult during playtime to prevent injury to themselves or other children.

Teachers and school support staff should not involve themselves in the process of earring removal or taping.

Summary

Parents are actively encouraged to work with school in helping to minimise disruption to the physical education curriculum. Parents can help by ensuring that school policy on jewellery is adhered to and that ears are pierced at the start of the summer holidays to allow maximum healing time as most piercers recommend six weeks healing time.

Policy date: Summer Term 2025

Review date: Summer Term 2026