Current school uniforms to stay

Friday 01 May 2020

Uniforms for secondary school students, which were due to start changing from September, will remain the same for the next academic year while ESC's wider plans are 'paused and reviewed'.

New uniforms were going to be launched for at least some students from the next academic year, in line with Education, Sport & Culture's 'one school over two sites' model of secondary education.

But that's been put on hold, while the committee researches other models in accordance with a successful requête against its plans, earlier this year. 

"When the States previously agreed to change the model of secondary education we announced that uniforms would change for at least some students from September 2020," said President of ESC, Deputy Matt Fallaize. "Following the recent decision of the States to carry out a further review of models, it makes no sense to continue with uniform changes.

"The best thing is for current uniforms to remain as they are for the 2020/21 academic year. We are working with retailers who will do everything they can to have adequate stocks of existing uniforms but, as with much of life at the moment, we are mindful that supplies may be affected by COVID-19."

Pictured: Deputy Matt Fallaize.

Meanwhile, parents, carers and students are being praised for their efforts in distance learning, with schools set to remain closed for another month.

"We are pleased that, on the whole, the first ten days of distance learning have been as successful as we could have wished," Deputy Fallaize added. "Rolling out something so new to thousands of children at quite short notice was never going to be without challenges, but distance learning seems to be working well for most children, parents and schools.

"This is a result of the hard work of leaders and staff in schools and at the Education Office, and the positive way in which many parents, carers and students have embraced these enforced changes.

"I thank parents and carers for the continued support they are showing teachers and schools. Hopefully this will continue throughout the period of distance learning. We don’t yet know when schools will reopen and until then we have to make sure we are doing the best we can for students through distance learning."

Parents and guardians can expect letters within the next week, detailing which primary or secondary school their child will be joining in September.

Pictured top: The uniform designed for Lisia School, which was going to be launched in September.