Dress Code & Uniform

All North Lanarkshire schools must have a dress code, which encourages pupils to dress in a way, which is appropriate to attendance at school. This dress code must not lead to direct or indirect discrimination on the grounds of race, religion, gender or disability. Prior to drawing up the dress code the parents, pupils and staff are fully consulted. It is the expectation of the education authority that parents will be keen to support the dress code and written agreement may be sought.

Certain clothing which is unacceptable in school under any circumstances would include items which:

*              could potentially encourage factions (e.g. football colours)
*              could cause offence (e.g. anti-religious symbolism or political                 slogans)
*               could cause health and safety difficulties (e.g. loose fitting                        clothing, dangling earrings and other potentially dangerous                      jewellery)
*               are of flammable material which may be a danger in certain                      classes (e.g. shell suits)
*               could cause damage to flooring
*               carry advertising in particular for alcohol or tobacco and                            could be used to inflict damage on other pupils or be used by                  others to do so.

Parents in receipt of a grant for footwear and clothing from the council will be encouraged to purchase items which are in accordance with the school dress code.  Approval of any requests for such grants in other circumstances is at the discretion of the director of education. Information and application forms may be obtained from any school or area  office.   Parents are entitled to receive a clothing grant if they are in receipt of any of the following benefits;  income support, job seekers allowance (income based), housing benefit, council tax rebate.

Uptake of clothing grants is one of the factors used by the Scottish Executive Education Department to compare examination results and is used also to allocate certain additional funding to schools.  For this reason also it is important that if parents think they may be eligible for a clothing grant they should apply.

Whilst in general terms it would not normally be the policy of the authority to exclude a pupil from school solely on the basis of his/her dress, persistent refusal to respond to a reasonable dress code might be deemed to be a serious challenge to the headteacher’s authority and be detrimental to the well being of the whole school community.  In such circumstances a headteacher could justify the use of the school disciplinary procedures.

Following extensive consultation with parents and the Pupil Councils in S1-S5, the revised Dress Code for Greenfaulds High came into place in August, 2016.   All pupils are expected to conform with this.

All pupils are expected to wear a school tie which must be clearly visible.   Pupils in S5/S6 are allowed to wear the Senior’s tie.   All other pupils will wear the ‘traditional’ school tie.  To accompany the school tie, pupils are expected to wear a white shirt or blouse and as per the consultation a school blazer is now a mandatory requirement. The senior pupil blazer will have the yellow braiding as per the photograph.

Other main elements will be
Black trousers for boys – jeans style trousers are not acceptable
Black skirt or trousers for girls –leggings or jeans style trouser are not acceptable.                                                                                                  Black footwear for boys and girls
Plain black v-neck sweater/cardigan which should allow the school tie to be clearly visible at all times.

For Physical Education activities in the school, pupils are expected to wear plain white tops & black shorts/tracksuit bottoms as appropriate.   Football tops are not permissible for any activities associated with the school.

It is expected that senior pupils wishing to take on positions of responsibility in the school such as Captain, Vice Captain, Prefect or House Captains will wear the school blazer.   This will mean that they are readily identifiable to younger pupils and visitors to the school.

For Physical Education activities in the school, pupils are expected to wear short/long sleeved tops and shorts/tracksuit bottoms as appropriate.  Football tops are not permissible for any activities associated with the school.   All pupils should bring appropriate footwear for indoor sports hall activities.   Pupils who choose to come to school wearing training shoes must bring other footwear to participate in indoor P.E. activities.

We also expect pupils to come to school with a suitable bag in which to carry books and jotters.   These are expensive items issued to pupils and we expect that pupils take good care of them.   Any damage or loss of equipment issued by the school must be paid for.

The council wishes to minimise claims arising from loss of pupil’s clothing and/or personal belongings. Parents/guardians are asked to assist in this area by ensuring that valuable items such and unnecessarily expensive items of clothing, jewellery, etc, are not brought to school. Parents should note that any claims submitted to cover the loss of such things are likely to be met only where the authority can be shown to have been negligent.