Australian School Uniform: Regional Trends--South Australia Private Schools


Figure 1.--.

The State Sector

Public or state schools are the non-fee paying state-supported schools. This includes many schools affiliated with religious groups which are largely supported by state funding.

Uniforms

Uniform trends depend largely on the type of school.

Church affiliated schools

Many Church affiliated schools receive substantial government funding and thus can be included as within the state system. All Catholic primary and secondary schools being boarding'private or high fee paying preparatory schools like the Lutheran and the Anglican and Christian school systems do all require Traditional English-style uniforms.

State schools

State schools vary in their uniform policies.
Primary schools: Some state primary schools have uniforms with both shorts for summer and longs for winter. Other schools have dropped any uniform requirement. The children at these schools, according to one reader, "... wear anything and can even come to school dressed in Eminem' Dada'Ruff Rider or 50 Cent overbaggy styles of clothing and shaved heads with a dead rat (stiff ponytail).
Secondary schools: One reader tells us, "There is no longer a major difference between primary and secondary schools." Another reader reports, "About 80 percent of the secondary schools have uniforms. The students at the other 20 percent of the schools can wear their own clothes.

Chronological Trends

There was a trend through the 1970s to 90s for most state schools to drop the uniform and let the students wear what they liked. Areader reports, "It appears that some of the schools have recognised these problems and are starting to do something about it. They are starting to re-introduce some sort of a uniform. It may be only a shirt with the schools emblem on it coupled with track pants or similar. At least it is a step in the right direction. However, there are some schools that have gone back to the traditional uniform and for all intents and purposes, they look similar to the students form a private school. These schools are known as Technical High schools. It was both Primary and Secondary schools that dropped the uniforms. They both are currently trying to re-introduce the uniforms, some schools more than others. It is hard to put a percentage figure on which schools have taken this path. I guess that most schools have tried to re-introduce the uniform in some way or another. It might only be a T-shirt with the school logo on, where as some schools are trying to head back towards the traditional style of uniform. The uniforms are pretty much the same. The Technical schools are pretty close to the traditional school uniform, where as most primary schools would wear a more relaxed uniform without the tie." Another reader confirms that a number of schools are reassessing their uniform policies, "Some secondary schools are going to add a blazer unniform or taking other steps to restablish a more formal uniform. This shift seems especially pronounced in the Salisbury area."

Controversy

There appears to be a controversy in South Australia and other Australian states concerning school uniform. A HBC reader writes, "I believe this [abandoning school uniform] was a great mistake for a couple of reasons. 1) Most students lost pride in their school once the uniform was dropped. It was not just the uniform standards that were dropped but other areas within these school also suffered. This I believe led to the students losing pride in their school. 2) It was harder and more expensive for the parents to keep up with the fashion parade that was now inevitable in the schools. Those students from poor families struggled to keep up with the latest fashions thereby creating another problem of social class." Another reader has even stronger opinions, "Parents of these children really are objecting to the UN PC rewireing of innoscents to turn on their parents codes of family values of morals'faith and manners plus grooming ethics which the parents want for their offspring and they put their kids in to the private school system to be 'THEMSELVES' not some all mixed up child heading for a bad fall in life because of political correctness."

Indiviidual Accounts

One HBC reader grew up in Port Pirie. This city is a 3 hours drive from Adelaide or 230 kms away and located on Spencer Gulf, part of the Midnorth of South Australia. It was named after a ship called the John Pirie. He has provided a detailed account of his school experiences: Patrick.









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Created: January 24, 2004
Last updated: January 24, 2004