School Uniform

Our Uniform

uniform guidance sept 2024.pdf

Sweatshirt: The sweatshirt should be black with the St. Thomas Aquinas School
badge and house name underneath
Shirt: White, plain conventional school style, short or long sleeve
Tie: Black, red, silver school tie with house colour stripe
Trousers: Black, regular fit, school approved trousers from one of 4 names retailers.
Trousers for all pupils must smart, straight leg and plain black. They must not be ’jean look’, ‘skinny fit’, ‘flared’, ‘leggings’ or ‘cargo’. They must not be 'stretch' or 'jersey' material.

For more details of school approved trousers, please see the PowerPoint slides above.
Skirt: Black drop pleat (knee length and not rolled up) available from our uniform suppliers.
Tights: Plain black opaque tights. Patterned tights are not permitted. Socks are not permitted to be worn over tights.
Socks: Plain black and should be worn below the knee. There must be no logo on the socks.

Footwear:

Formal black leather/leather look school shoes with a low broad heel (no wooden/cork).
No trainers or logos allowed.
No colours on the shoes.
All shoes must be clearly below ankle height
No gold/coloured trim or shiny buckles allowed on shoes
Please note that many retailers e.g Clarks, advertise and promote school shoes that do not meet the uniform policy. Please check the guidance carefully before purchasing any shoes.
For details of approved footwear please see the PowerPoint slides above.

Coats/Scarves:

The jacket/coat should be plain black (no denim/leather coats allowed).
Dark blue coats are NOT permitted
Two-toned coats (part black and part grey for example) are not permitted
It should not contain any logos/pictures/elaborate decorations or football badges on the front or back.
No hoodies/tracksuit tops allowed

Jewellery/make-up:

The only piece of jewellery allowed is a watch with no smart features.
Students are not allowed to wear make-up, nail varnish, acrylic nails or jewellery
False eyelashes are not permitted

Accessories:

Students may opt to wear a scarf to school in cold weather – THIS MUST BE PLAIN BLACK and must be removed when inside the school building.
No football caps or baseball caps allowed
Bandanas are not permitted

School Bag:

Must be a suitable size bag for carrying equipment and books
Handbags are not permitted
Pouches or ‘Manbags’ are not allowed in school.

Hair Styles:

Students must ensure that their hair is smart in appearance and natural in colour.

No lines/patterns should be shaved into the hair or eyebrows
No large hair accessories should be worn
Any unnatural hair dyes (such as green, blue, red or purple) are not permitted
Wraps, bands or hair clips must always be discrete and plain black
Coloured or transparent beads in hair are not allowed

Summer Uniform:

A student can wear just their red polo shirt. - If so, we will not insist the polo shirt is tucked into trousers or a skirt.
If choosing to wear a school jumper as well, the red polo shirt must be tucked into trousers or skirt.
If a student wishes to wear a coat or jacket, they must also wear their school jumper. - The ‘second layer’ must always be the school jumper.
Students electing not to wear the polo shirt must remain in full school uniform.
If a student arrives to school in a plain red polo shirt, they will be sent home to change.
If a student wears a red polo shirt and a jacket but without their school jumper, they will immediately receive a C1 and their jacket will be confiscated until the end of the day

Our PE Kit

	BOYS	GIRLS
T Shirt	Black/red polo shirt, synthetic ‘football shirt’ material, personalised with surname.	Black/red polo shirt or slim fit shirt, synthetic ‘football shirt’ material, personalised with surname.
Shorts	Black/red shorts	Black/red shorts or skort
Socks	Red socks	Red socks
Rugby Shirt	Red rugby shirt (optional)	Red rugby shirt (optional)
Hoodie	Black/red hoodie (optional)	Black/red hoodie (optional)
Foot wear	Cushioned sole training shoes (practical rather than fashion styles for high impact sports)
Shin Pads and football boots	To be worn for football and rugby activities on playing fields
Students must always bring their PE kit regardless of injury or illness. They will always be expected to get changed and participate in the lesson in an alternative capacity.

Uniform Suppliers

Kids Essentials
Bristol Rd South
Northfield
Birmingham
B31 2NN

Clive Mark Schoolwear LTD
38-40 Poplar Rd
Birmingham
B14 7AD

It is the policy of leaders, teachers, support staff and governors at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School that full school uniform is worn all the way to and from school. The Headteacher always has the final decision about what is acceptable uniform or appearance for St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School.

Any student who fails to wear appropriate school uniform will have a consequence from those outlined below:

Students who do not come in correct footwear may be sent home to rectify this (in accordance with DfE guidance) and must return to school immediately (parents will be notified of this by a member of SLT as well as an agreed time for when they are expected to return). This will not count as an exclusion but will be coded as an authorised absence until they return at the specified time.
Students in incorrect uniform that they can rectify at school will be sent to our uniform store to do this and receive a C1 (same night detention) for 30 minutes
If a student can rectify their uniform but they refuse to do this, they will receive a C4 isolation day.
If a student has to rectify their uniform, the item that has had to be changed will be confiscated until the end of the day.

Equipment

At St Thomas Aquinas we have the highest expectations of our students. Their learning is incredibly important to us, so they must be prepared with the correct equipment to maximise their learning potential. At St Thomas Aquinas, we expect every student to have at least the following equipment every day for every lesson:

A 30cm (in length) clear pencil case
2 black or blue biro pens
1 green pen
1 pencil
1 pencil sharpener
1 eraser
A 30cm ruler
1 Glue stick
1 Highlighter
A Calculator

An equipment pack can be purchased from the school with all the above for £3.00. A stationery shop with spare equipment will also be available in the ARC every day and replacements can be purchased for a small fee.

Calculators

As you are aware in 2017 the Mathematics GCSE was reformed meaning that the GCSE is more difficult. Students are now required to have a scientific calculator that performs several advanced functions. Equally other subjects like Science, Geography and Business to name a few, require students to use calculators to help them in their studies.

It is imperative that all our students are fully equipped to meet the demands of such requirements. Pupil Premium students will be provided with this equipment in September. However, non-Pupil Premium students will be required to purchase one of the following calculators for September. Calculators will be part of our essential equipment list and therefore a consequence will follow if a student does not bring the appropriate calculator to school every day starting in the new academic year.

There are 3 suggested calculators that will perform all of the functions required for GCSE.

Casio Calculators

fx-85 Scientific Calculator
fx-83 Scientific Calculator

These are these easiest to find and are in most supermarkets or stationary shops (Asda, Tesco, WHSmith…). The price ranges from £9.00 to £12.00. They are also available to buy online from amazon and other online stores.

Aurora Calculators

AX-595TV

This is the cheapest scientific calculator and ranges from £5.50 - £7.00 however the majority of stockists are on online (Amazon). It is important that you buy the model AX-595TV as TV stands for true view which is recommended for the GCSE. Some of the older models do not have the functionality required for GCSE.

Sharp Calculators

EL-W531 Writeview

This calculator ranges from £7.50 - £10. It is again important to note that this version is the write view model which is recommended for GCSE. Older models do not have the functionality required for GCSE.

Lost Property

Lost Property is housed at Student Services and students can collect it from there every morning and afternoon. Lost property will also be on display the last Wednesday of the half term in the small dining room at the end of the day, should parents wish to come and look. Due to the amount of lost property collected we have to dispose of any items left at the end of every half term.