During COVID all pupils at Passmores Secondary school were allowed to wear their PE kits into school on the days when PE was on their timetable.

Passmores have taken the decision to revert back to the 'pre-pandemic routine' of pupils taking their kit into school and getting changed at the beginning of each lesson.

I believe this is a step backwards for the following reasons:

1. Our young people are under enough pressure to conform to body norms due to social media and going back to getting changed in front of their peers can lead to feelings of inadequacy and anxiety over how they look and are perceived and have a very negative impact on their mental wellbeing
2. Communal changing areas can be a breeding ground for bullying to go unchecked as they place children in a vulnerable position, particularly with the opportunity to take photos using mobile phones.
3. The decision can have a negative impact on the child's enjoyment of physical activity and as a result make them less likely to take on exercise voluntarily. 
4. When coming into school ready to take part in exercise, less time is wasted getting changed into kits and back into uniform, giving more time to maximise the lesson, important when you consider that we are living in times when childhood obesity is on the increase.
5. Our young people have to either carry their kit around school all day or pay for a locker. This means that those at a financial disadvantage are going to 'stand out' as those who do not have a locker.
6. When kit is carried from class to class and changed into and out of, the risk of either uniform or PE kit being lost or stolen increases, placing an additional financial burden on families.
7. Splitting the week between PE kit and school uniform provides a reduction in the number of clothing items that a family needs to buy and wash for the week, giving both a financial and environmental benefit.
8. Workplaces have relaxed the formality of dress-code, following research which evidenced that people are more productive when they are comfortable. Allowing children the option to 'dress for their day' could support an increase in engagement and productivity

Passmores have not communicated their rationale for the change, so I have tried to consider the schools reasons for reverting back. The only ones I can come up with are:

1. Uniform looks smarter and creates a positive external impression of the school - I would counter this by saying their PE uniform is presentable, identifiable as Pasmores and represents them within the community equally well.
2. Uniform removes the social economic divide between pupils. Again, would challenge this as all pupils wear an identical PE kit
3. There is an additional burden in staff time, determining whether pupils should or shouldn't be in PE kit on any given day as the timetable varies from child to child. I am sure that with the advances in technology it would be simple enough to denote on the register who has PE so that any children dressed incorrectly could be identified and spoken to during form time.
4. Changing time reduces the time spend actually delivering the lesson, so frees up staff for other activities.

I have written to the school directly to put my views across and given them the opportunity to respond and in the interests of transparency I will update this petition with any response they provide, however having spoken to a number of parents in my child's year group I believe I am not alone in feeling that this is a step back so am starting this petition so that both I and the school can get a better understanding of the strength of feeling on this topic.

I strongly believe this is detrimental to our children's wellbeing and has a negative financial impact on families and I am hoping that the school will reconsider their stance.