A Teachers guide to appropriate work clothing
It’s nearly that time again after a long six weeks off, to go back and ‘face the music!’…literally! As with all September starts, there are lots of new teachers entering new schools this year, so it is important to begin the schooling year in the correct fashion… Literally!!
This week’s blog focusses on how to dress appropriately for your teaching job. Why?
1)    Impression –
On the children/ other staff/ parent/ outsiders…
The children will take you more seriously and authoritatively as a teacher if you are dressed smartly. Jeans, joggers, tracksuits, all give a relaxed impression…. Suits, trousers, shirts, shirts, blouses, give a professional impression. If other members of staff see that you are dressed smartly, they too will regard you in a more professional stance. Looking smart means business! Parents and outsiders also like to see teachers dressed smartly… they want to see their children being taught by someone who knows (or at least looks like they know) what they are doing. You are representing your school and reputation is everything.
2)    Relativity and Relation –
The children have to wear their same school uniforms day-in day-out, with that slight alteration of a summer uniform to a winter uniform… so wearing smart dress also shows the children that ‘we all have to look smart’ for school. Not only that, having specified work clothes means that you can save other clothes for best, for going out with.
3)    Horses for courses –
Teachers are professionals and professionals are renowned for looking smart… doctors, police, lawyers… all well-dressed. It’s a dress code that has always been for teachers and matches the practicality. You wouldn’t expect a teacher to wear overalls, just like a mechanic wouldn’t wear a suit. A teacher wouldn’t wear a fireproof outfit and gas tank, just like a fireman wouldn’t wear a suit! The dress code is tailored to the job and description.
4)    Exceptions to the rule –
Good old PE teachers spend every day in their tracksuits, alternating lessons of Physical activity, with Maths or Science, for example. Practically in these circumstances, it’s easier to keep the tracky on, rather than keep changing every five seconds back into smart dress, and then back again.
I found this blog on TES website that relates to everything that has been mentioned in this blog. The wording and pictures are great, so it is well worth a peek.
What not to wear – a back to school guide for teachers
30th August 2015 at 09:00
During the long (not so) hot summer, many teachers have been lounging in their most comfortable clothes. Free from the confines of the classroom dress code, they have indulged in their fashion of choice rather than being forced to opt for office wear. They haven’t used an iron in six weeks, they’ve shunned any garment in black, grey or charcoal and any shoe that looks vaguely sensible has been served as a beer glass holder for many a summer barbecue.
Yet all good things must come to an end. The new term is approaching and teachers have to revert to their working attire. But when guidance is lacking, deciding what’s appropriate can be a challenge. To help avoid any dress code disasters, here‚Äôs our short guide to what not to wear in the classroom.
-
Heels
Some people can spend 12 hours on their feet – chasing students down hallways, pacing playgrounds, waiting for silence, traversing classrooms and students – all while wearing sky-high heels. These people are incredibly rare and fantastically skilled. Well done them. For everyone else, massive heels mean massive dollops of pain, a slightly comical walk and the sort of spectacular falls that end up on Saturday evening ITV entertainment shows.
-
Flip Flops
Fine for the beach, perfect on a boat, ridiculous anywhere else. A teacher who flaps into the classroom like a penguin with ideas above its station will surely be heading for trouble.
-
Onesies
Quite how oversized Babygros became a thing is anyone‚Äôs guess, but they‚Äôre here and we all love them, apparently. However, if it’s a school day, leave it at home. Anyone sporting a onesie in public looks as though they belong in a Channel 4 documentary, not a classroom.
-
Sports kit
The rugby world cup is approaching and the football season is upon us, but arriving at work dressed in your team’s home kit is not “supporting British values”, it’s a desperately silly fashion choice. Meanwhile, if you do wish to cycle to work, all power to you, you little Bradley Wiggins, but change out of the lycra. No one wants to see it. Any of it.
-
Festival wear
It probably looked great in that field with an over-priced lager in one hand and your phone taking a grainy video of a distant Sam Smith in the other, but turn up the school in this combo and it won’t be just a new-found appreciation of clean toilets you gained from those days in a tent. You will have a fantastic opportunity to pursue another career, too, courtesy of a rather tense meeting with the headteacher.
-
Hats
If you feel the urge to wear a hat, google “Jay Kay”¬†and you will quickly be relieved of that urge.
-
Novelty/funny clothing
“Wouldn’t it be hilarious if…?” No. No it wouldn’t. The kids won’t think it’s cool, hilarious, or awesome. They will think you have gone insane. They will mock you mercilessly. And you will deserve every sniggering glance at your homemade Game of Thrones outfit. Save it for World Book Day when this sort of thing has a free pass.
-
Club wear
Tiger Tiger a classroom is not. If you want to dress like Kim Kardashian or Justin Bieber then feel free on your own time. But if you turn up to school wearing an homage to either celebrity, expect to be sent home looking like a sausage roll as you are almost certain to be wrapped in a crashmat from the PE store cupboard so that no parents can catch a glimpse of you.
-
Jeans
The place of jeans in a school needs to be debated. It seems that women may on occasion be able to get away with wearing them but men most definitely cannot. Rod Stewart’s love of denim may or may not be the cause of this.
-
Miley Cyrus style
She’s the fashion icon of the moment, which is odd considering she seems ludicrously averse to clothing. But if you do want to stick on something neon, controversial or barely there, save it for invite-only events. If any one sees you wearing it in or out of school, you might just have taken a wrecking ball to your career.