This week sees most of the country’s children head back to school after the summer holiday. But is the school uniform that the majority of them will be wearing now an outdated anachronism? More schools are adopting stricter uniforms as part of their drive to improve standards in the classroom. Conventional wisdom is that uniform is a great social leveller between children from different backgrounds. But with a growing number of schools now insisting that parents purchase costly clothing only from approved suppliers – is the school uniform doing more to exclude the poorest pupils?
Jenni is joined by Guardian columnist and school governor Fiona Millar and by Dr Fiona Hammans, Principal of Banbury School to discuss the role of school uniform.
