This petition is to prevent the new September 2019 Ashby School Sixth Form uniform proposal, as of 12th March 2019. Although we agree that the current uniform requires a serious review, we have a range of issues with this proposal, as follows:

•The suggested blazer, tie, shirts and plaid pleated skirts are completely inappropriate for our maturing age group; we are at a crucial stage in our lives as we develop independence and learn how to dress appropriately for university and careers. This uniform instead will look frumpy and bizarre due to the lack of tailoring and similarity to current primary and secondary school uniforms.

•The price of the proposed uniform is completely unrealistic, as siblings can currently hand uniform down and cut costs (for example buying a £5 skirt) whereas by introducing a complete overhaul requires parents to fork out on multiple sets costing up to £500 when there are multiple children involved.

•Continuing on from our age group, as soon to be 18 year olds, pleated skirts do not promote the independence and levels of respect we require from our community that will be essential for forging paths in life. Pleated skirts do not promote the adult environment desired for A-levels.
•Uniforms within careers most often offer something to be proud of, an identity that is recognised and valued, yet with a degree of freedom to express yourself and maintain individuality. This school uniform removes all sense of personal identity and individuality, and as a generation with the highest levels of mental health problems, our self worth and body image will take detrimental blows that will detract from our learning environment.
•Uniform such as ties will not promote better behaviour. Pleated skirts will not suddenly take away our ability to smoke weed and drink alcohol. Ties however, will introduce new methods of violent behaviour that will make our educational environment feel less safe. Statistics show that uniform doesn't stop bullying, but focusing on uniform takes valuable time and attention away from finding genuine solutions to problems withing our education and school life. We believe instead that the push for uniform is driven by a commercial interest rather than the quality of our education. "Making the school look good" is all fine in theory but in reality is a completely superficial fix.

Overall, our proposal instead is:

To tighten current rules regarding the sixth from uniform, perhaps instead enforcing a strict business smart policy; ask students for their opinion and carefully consider it when discussing future changes; and if a strict uniform is deemed 100% necessary (which it shouldn't be) a slow, gradual introduction would be easier to adjust to, for example just ties and blazers initially, and then perhaps a review of skirts. That way students will be more co-operative and less time will be wasted fighting a battle that is irrelevant to what our school life eventually comes down to - passing exams.

If you've read this far, thank you!