Free the Ankles

About a month ago, the Principal Team conducted a routine Uniform Blitz and we were really pleased with how few uniform passes we had to issue. It was great to be able to congratulate so many classes and students on wearing their correct uniform. 

Overwhelmingly students have reported to us that they love having the option of wearing either their sport or formal uniform. We did notice however, a growing trend of students wearing ‘no socks’ with their Sport Uniform and for this we had to issue uniform passes to align with our school policy of ‘ankle length socks or longer’. 

That afternoon, we had our Student Leadership Lunch and one of our Year 9 Leaders presented us with a petition titled 'Free the Ankles'. She’d listened to the frustrations of her fellow peers around the sock policy and, as a SRC representative, she brought their views to us. Since then, the sock policy has been discussed in the Principal Team and then at School Council. As a result, we are pleased to let the school community know that we have amended the policy to allow students to wear ‘no socks or white socks’.

What has been evident in this process is the way Student Leaders have used their leadership positions and access to leadership forums to achieve change. They’ve represented Student Voice in a forum that is designed to listen and collaborate with students and this has brought about a change in the school Uniform Policy. We encourage our student Leaders to continue using their leadership positions to listen to their peers, represent their views and work with the staff to ensure our school continues to thrive.

Finally, we firmly believe that a school uniform is necessary in keeping students safe, maintaining focus on learning (and not on clothes), creating a level playing field among students and enhancing school pride, unity and connectedness with the College. Again, we congratulate our students for their great start to the year in wearing the correct school uniform. 

Carrie Wallis

Assistant Principal