Petition for a School Branded Hoodie

This is a petition campaigning for the introduction of an official school hoodie to the uniform of our year 7-11 cohort. Below, you will find a list of reasons why we the students deem a hoodie to be a necessary addition to our uniform.

The addition of a school branded hoodie will allow us as students to be more comfortable, which has proven to improve focus and promote a higher standard of work. We the students find it hard to learn while uncomfortable. Research in the field of education suggests (Bilton, 2018; Rodriguez, 2005) that students in their own clothes performed better academically than those in traditional uniform. This study also concluded that behaviour and attendance were not affected by the introduction of casual dress. Producing a school hoodie would be a good compromise for Strathmore, as students could still wear school branded clothing whilst feeling more comfortable at school. 

Secondly, this change would assist in modernising the schools dress code. Fashion and standards of professional dress are changing and constantly evolving and the students at this school are adapting to these fashion trends. By producing a school hoodie it would be more fitting to the contemporary fashion standard. 

The studies previously mentioned also illustrate the link between self-esteem and school attendance. Self esteem and self confidence are essential to us students, as it is beneficial to our overall mental health. The hoodie is something that students are familiar with and feel good in, as such this translates to higher self-esteem and pride in school uniform. Having good confidence and self esteem translate to two things, the first being that students are less self conscious of looking good in school uniform. Secondly, having good confidence can translate to better performance in the classroom as having a good mindset assists with the amount and standard of work being completed. 

Finally, teachers will have less of a workload as they will save time on writing uniform passes, and following up students who already wear hoodies, which is increasing in number day by day. A staff survey shows that on average 20 minutes a day writing uniform passes per teacher, this equates to around an hour and forty minutes a week out of 235 minutes a week that teachers are allocated to deal with these problems, with an average of 240 students in each house that means that coordinators have less than a minute per student. A school hoodie means that students will need less uniform passes and in turn teachers will have more time to deal with more severe manners. 

For these reasons, we as a student community call for the introduction of a school hoodie as part of the school’s dress code in years 7-11.

Bilton, Isabelle. "How Important Is What You Wear For Your Learning? - Study International". (2018) Study International, 2021, https://www.studyinternational.com/news/important-wear-learning/

Rodriguez, Jennifer, "The effects of school uniforms on self esteem" (2005). Theses and Dissertations. 1068.

https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/1068