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School Uniforms

Posted: 30 May 2019, 09:48
by beverley
Hi. Just wondering if any other high school is switching over to the synthetic type sports uniform for everyday wear? I am concerned about students wearing these clothes in science practical lessons using Bunsen burners or organic chemicals. I have always worn close fitting cotton shirts for this reason. With all the caution we use about chemical safety this seems to be overlooked. Does anyone know what the Department of Education NSW says about this?

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 30 May 2019, 10:04
by linotas
Yes, a lot of schools here are using synthetic polo tops and track pants. However, no one should be using bunsens or chemicals without safety gear anyway (lab coat, glasses) so it shouldn't matter what they wear underneath, as long as they have appropriate footwear.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 30 May 2019, 11:51
by beverley
Well, we use safety glasses and have a footwear policy but no lab coats. Also, we are in Grafton so lab coats are hot, even I don't wear mine in summer.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 30 May 2019, 12:19
by linotas
I wouldn't let anybody do any pracs in my chem and bio labs without lab coats regardless of temperature, especially in senior secondary (where I am based) It is an accident waiting to happen, sorry.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 30 May 2019, 13:55
by bigmack
Sorry no Lab coats ever worn in labs at this school either .We only have three and only time they got used was for a school play :rolleyes:
Safety glasses and footwear are mandatory though.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 30 May 2019, 13:58
by linotas
So if no lab coats, I am assuming you don't use any caustic, flammable or any dangerous class chemicals for that matter? Dissections? Stains? Maybe you have ultra clean kids lol We would have parents storming the school if kids spilt stains on their uniforms.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 30 May 2019, 15:38
by fibreweb
We have over 1000 students ranging in size from 150cm high and a size 4 to 190cm and XXXlarge
We would need at least 250 individual lab coats to ensure that each student was wearing one whenever they had a prac.
Where would they get stored
Who would wash them
At$22 each that's over $5,500 to purchase and what size would you get?
A class set for year 7 is way different from a class set for year 10
Ideal to have all students in lab coats but for us not at all practical
Years 11 and 12 have the opportunity to purchase then, we keep them at school so they are here for pracs and they keep them when they finish school.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 30 May 2019, 21:45
by linotas
We have class sets in each lab, so for me, that's 90, the high school has 120. The more you purchase the cheaper you get them so we get ours at around $18 each. The high school campus has xs through to XXL, the bulk being s,m,l. I have the same in senior secondary with my bulk being M, L , XL and up to XXXL (co ed school). It works fine. This is how most of the schools work here. Some schools make the kids purchase them but the vast majority supply them. I either send them to the commercial laundry with the other school linen or, at my old school, I would launder them in the holidays in home ec. (our high school lab tech does this with his) They dry over night hanging them on the backs of the lab chairs.

I'm not judging at all, it just shocked me that a school would not use lab coats in science as it is not the norm here.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 31 May 2019, 10:14
by melsid
Sadly we are in the same boat as fibreweb.
We do have a set for the seniors to use but that is all.
Maybe one day....

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 04 Jun 2019, 10:06
by beverley
I think it does matter what they are wearing underneath lab coats. If their clothing catches alight and they have synthetics next to their skin it will melt onto the skin causing lifelong disfigurement.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 04 Jun 2019, 10:34
by MariaQ
No lab coats here, students tuck their ties in and hair is tied back, but 99% sensible students. I do have disposable aprons for the larger dissections. We have never had a problem.

Maria

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 04 Jun 2019, 12:20
by Lyn
Lab coats became an OH&S issue for us many years back so we got around the expense issue by buying second hand lab coats. They served the purpose. A number of the coats were from the food and hospitality area so they came with name tags and assorted logos but they kept the kids clean and safe from spills etc. Size didn't matter. We just got the kids to roll the sleeves up so they didn't get in the way. Mind you the smaller kids looked rather funny in the large coats. The good lab coats were bought for the Year 11 and 12 students. The school has become considerably smaller now and the two campuses are now combined on the one campus. So trying to keep the senior coats cleaner and whiter is more problematic. The junior classes use paint for a variety of activities and it doesn't wash out well if ever and you get the odd teacher who insists that their students use the cleaner unstained coats even when the activity uses paint or food dyes. Food dyes never come out. The one positive is that because this is a boarding school we do have a laundry where I can take dirty lab coats and have them washed and folded and given back to me. Even the laundry ladies despair about being unable to get the coats spotlessly clean. But it is what it is. Anyhow consider the OH&S (WHS) issue when next someone says that lab coats are too expensive to buy. A set of coats for each laboratory is all you need not one for every child. Our safety signs include the wearing a lab coat sign as well as the safety glasses sign and the closed in shoes sign. Might be worthwhile running the issue past your HOD and your admin and have the cost covered by the school not just from the Science budget.
Storage for coats - very large plastic boxes - but training kids to fold their coats after using them is another issue.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 04 Jun 2019, 15:04
by gotolady
We have aprons and safety goggles. I manage to wash them about twice a year. That is 200 aprons that need to go through a washing machine (definitely NOT mine) and then hung over the back of chairs to dry and get folded by me. Certainly no budget for lab coats or the facility to store them.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 05 Jun 2019, 08:22
by Whspa
We're the same as fibreweb. Our senior chemistry and biology are offered the chance to buy their own, but no-one did this year. When the seniors leave school they usually leave their lab coats behind, so I had a stock building up. Then one of the teachers let the juniors use them for painting, and now they are all covered in paint. They go to TAS for washing once a year.

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 06 Jun 2019, 15:27
by Wayne
Lab coats are mandatory here. Students must bring their own lab coats to each lesson. I have 4 spare (2 small and 2 medium) navy lab coats that can be borrowed if someone forgets. On the whole the students remember to bring theirs, due mainly because they don't want to stand out (everyone wearing a white lab coat while their wearing a navy blue coat) and I tell them I've never washed them since I bought them!

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 06 Jun 2019, 15:54
by Labbie
Good one Wayne

Re: School Uniforms

Posted: 07 Jun 2019, 07:47
by Merilyn1
I think getting students to buy their own and thereby responsible for cleaning is the best solution. Most TAS faculties expect their students to bring their own gear, so why doesn't Science? I am yet to work in a school where they think students should buy their own lab coats and safety glasses so end up washing them myself.