The John Fisher School, Purley UK, will introduce a new games kit uniform rule which will directly influence the pupils' lives negatively. Some examples of these are:

Most students will need to bring bigger or multiple bags to fit their kit into which will make more people want to steal things from them or they will forget their bag on the bus and may never be able to retrieve it again.

Some students could experience heightened levels of anxiety of having to change clothes in front of more people than they are comfortable with.

Mandated participation levels would be lower as people would either be embarrassed to change or not be bothered to bring their kits into school, and then carry it around all day, leading to an overall negative effect on their physical and mental health.

Furthermore, the rule inadvertently promotes bullying as students who are unable to cope with this new requirement become an easy target for their peers. 

Most importantly, time intended for education would be wasted on changing clothes, leading to less learning time on school days and less time to do sports that the students enjoy. 

Further, the NHS suggests that children aged 5-18 should aim for an average of over 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous intensity physical activity a day across the week and reduce the time spent sitting or lying down and breaking up long periods of not moving with some activity. And getting changed into their games kit would shorten the amount of time of physical activities they do. As for some students, this is the only bit of sports they are able to do all week.

On top of this, lost property incidents would arise, posing unnecessary stress on parents and students alike.

The school changing rooms will become overcrowded, which could mean students will have no place to change and have to change on the floor instead of by a peg, which will cause more incidents of lost and stolen items which the school would not want to happen as they would have to spend more time trying to figure who stole it, rather than focusing on other important things like the students learning.

The congestion in the changing rooms presents many accidents waiting to happen. Overcrowding in schools is not a matter to be taken lightly, it can lead to stress, discomfort, and even the inability to focus on learning. According to UK Government research, crowded spaces in school settings can promote the spread of diseases, making it not just a matter of convenience but health. 

Let's not forget the financial burden of these uniform policies on parents. According to The Children's Society, parents in the UK spend an average of £340 per year for each secondary school child's uniform. Implementing this new uniform rule would mean that the children would wear the kit even less than before so and therefore, wasting valuable money on a kit that isn't even worn for long periods of time which some parents would not be able to afford to happen and would cause additional financial strain on families. 

This petition calls on the leaders of The John Fisher School, Purley UK, to reconsider their actions. We should keep in mind that a school is a place of learning and growth, and its policies should reflect that by prioritising the students' mental, physical and financial well-being over aesthetics. Similarly, Woodcote High School is having the same thing happening to them and they are also fighting back. We urge you all to take action, sign this petition, and bring about an end to the new games kit uniform rule.