Uniform & Mobile Phones

Uniform & Appearance

School uniform is compulsory and must be worn at all times within school and whilst travelling to and from school. In emergency situations where a pupil is unable to wear the full uniform a written note signed by a parent or guardian is required. Pupils should present this to their Progress Leader (PL) or Assistant Progress Leader (APL) on arrival to school and a decision will be made regarding the arrangements for that day.

The Oldershaw School Uniform

Pupils not in uniform will be dealt with on a case by case basis, but could be asked to work away from other pupils.

Oldershaw branded PE Kit is compulsory for all pupils in every PE lesson.

Regulations for Appearance and Dress (Years 7 – 11)

1. Pupils may wear a maximum of one small stud per ear. Any stud must be in the lower part of the ear. No other forms of jewellery are allowed. The school is unable to accept responsibility for the loss of any jewellery.
2. Hair styles and colours must not be extreme in nature and our preference is for natural colours. The school will be the final arbiter of what is deemed to be extreme and will address any concerns on a case by case basis.
3. False nails and eyelashes should not be worn for school. Use of make-up should be subtle and appropriate for a school context. Infringements will be judged on a case by case basis.
4. Pupils wearing skirts must wear them at a length appropriate for school at approximately knee length. Infringements will be judged on a case by case basis.
5. Outdoor coats must not be worn in the hall or classrooms.
6. Sweatshirts, tracksuit tops, fleeces and hoodies should not be worn for school.
7. All black, standard school-style shoes must be worn for school. Trainers, pumps, heels, obviously branded or any variation on standard school-style shoes are not permitted (see examples below). We do not recommend parents or carers buy expensive branded shoes for school because of the wear and tear of daily use.
8. The Oldershaw-badged school bag is part of our school uniform and must be brought to school every day (further details below).
9. In those cases where the school accepts a written explanation for incomplete uniform or imperfect appearance, a time limit will be set for the pupil to rectify the inadequacies in clothing or appearance.
10. The school has the final decision in all matters of interpreting the regulations and deciding what is acceptable or unacceptable in dress and appearance.
11. In cases where finance is an issue, please speak confidentially to your child’s PL or APL.

Examples of acceptable all black, standard, school-style shoes

Please note: this is not an exhaustive list. It is merely intended to show some examples of all black, standard, school-style shoes. If in doubt, please consult your child’s PL or APL before buying. Please don’t ask staff in local shoe shops as they only want to sell shoes and do not know our school policy.

The school uniform is available from:

• Wirral Uniform Centre, Birkenhead (sole supplier of Oldershaw School bags)
• Online at www.wirraluniforms.com 

The school also has a supply of ties and badges for sale.

Please also see PE Kit policy below.

Organisation for Learning

Your child’s academic progress is our prime concern at Oldershaw and we therefore expect all pupils to be fully equipped to learn. To that end, please support us by ensuring your child has the following items of equipment every day for school:

An Oldershaw School bag

All students are expected to have an Oldershaw School bag with them as part of their school uniform every day. Bags should have your child’s name clearly marked on the inside and may be personalised with non-offensive tags, badges or key rings in order to allow easy identification. However, they must not have any writing, drawing or painting on them of any sort.

Bags that are damaged in this way or lost must be replaced at the family’s expense from Wirral Uniform Centre in Birkenhead.

A pencil case with pen, pencil, ruler, rubber and sharpener

These will be checked by form tutors every morning and pupils will be expected to buy missing items. Additionally you may wish to provide a calculator, maths equipment (protractor, compass, etc) and coloured pencils, but these are not compulsory.

Pupil Wallet
This will be provided by the school and should be brought to school every day. It will be used to contain the timetable and various school log in information.

Mobile Phones

Oldershaw is a Good school achieving record examination results. As part of our continuing drive to raise standards we have looked at the impact of mobile phones in school on both progress and student welfare and have found them to be, on balance, detrimental to both. 

 In line with many other schools nationally, we have therefore decided to ban mobile phones in school at all times from September 2016.  

 We believe this decision will allow students to learn and teachers to teach free from the distractions phones often bring. Furthermore it will help reduce the misuse of social media by some students when communicating with each other. 

We recognise that, at times, parents may need to pass messages to their children during the school day and this can be done via our school office who will arrange for a message to be passed on. Also, should any student need to contact home, they will be permitted to use the school telephone with their Progress Leader’s permission.  

 If any student’s phone is seen or heard in school at any time or place during the school day, the student will be asked to turn it off and hand it over to the member of staff from whom it can be collected again at 3pm. Should a student refuse to do this, it will be treated as a more serious incident in line with our existing behaviour policy. A more senior member of staff will then request the phone which will not be returned until 3pm at the end of the next school day. 

 The Oldershaw school shall under no circumstances be liable for any loss or damage for any reason whatsoever when a mobile phone is in our custody, if you have any concerns about our mobile phone policy then please do not allow your child to bring their mobile phone into school.

Sixth Form Regulations

Sixth Formers do not have to wear formal school uniform but should not be ‘extreme’ in appearance or give offence. It is expected that Sixth Formers are smart and wear appropriate business dress at all times. Sixth Formers are our senior pupils and should lead by example in appearance, behaviour and approach to study.

The Head of Sixth Form may use their discretion to allow students to use mobile phones responsibly in communal areas of the Sixth Form Base.