Education Life

Uniforms should be replaced with active clothes, children’s orgs say

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June 16, 2025
3 min read

Uniforms should be replaced with active clothes, children’s orgs say

Children’s organisations are calling to replace formal school uniforms with clothing more suitable for play and physical activity. This, they say, would help children be more active. Outdoor Play and Learning (Opal), a programme started by former Bristol teacher Michael Follett, is among the groups behind the campaign, having joined with others hoping to encourage active clothing.

Some schools in the south-west of England have already begun to adopt this, with others discussing it. Summerhill Academy in Bristol’s PE head, Sally Goodridge, said that making the change has led to children being “much more comfortable and we can jump up and get active at any time in the day.”

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Play England, Youth Sport Trust, and Opal, along with Bristol-based charity Children’s Scrapstore, have all signed up to the campaign.

Paula Phillips, head teacher of East Wichel Primary School in Swindon, said that the decision to introduce active school uniforms was made a few years ago.

“Coming out of Covid, we were seeing more and more children struggling with their mental health, spending more time on screens, and being less active than before [so] as a school, we knew we had to do something that would make a real difference,” she explained.

Physical activity and mental health, she said, go hand in hand, adding that children have a “right to move, play, and spend time outdoors every day.”

However, there are some who disagree. Chilthorne Domer Church School near Yeovil’s head teacher, Nichola Chesterton, said that uniforms have become a divisive topic. Over half of pupils in the oldest class preferred the traditional uniform, with some saying that they felt they would struggle to concentrate without it, and others saying they wanted to keep it due to the school’s “status as a church school,” and “to respect the church” when they visit.

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