By Corey Everitt
A day of chaos at Officer Secondary College left students in tears as the school administration enforced uniform guidelines as part of a ‘Cultural Reset Day’.
The school has moved to enforce all students to wear a full uniform licensed by the school, as opposed to the previous expectation of a school top and at least plain black pants and plain black accessories such as a scarf.
Now all clothing must be a part of official school uniform.
The first day of enforcement was Wednesday 14 June where students were taken out of class if uniform guidelines were not met.
It is claimed up to 400 students were taken out of class throughout the day where they would be in a form of detention in the library for between two hours for some students and almost the whole day for others.
These penalties for students, some of which were wearing the previously established clothing of plain black pants, caused an uproar from parents and students.
Ireland Walker Sharper, a Year 12 student at Officer Secondary College who was delegated on behalf of the Year 12 students to contact the Gazette, said: “Within the first ten minutes of the day, four or five of my friends were removed from class, one was for wearing plain black pants and one for wearing a plain black scarf.
“You had a girl with a moon boot on who had to put her pants tight over the brace and she was questioned about her uniform, she provided a medical certificate and the school said they don’t accept it.
“It seemed like half the school was in and out of detention.
“There were estimates that 400 students were pulled out of class throughout the day.”
From information posted online by the school, they detailed how “the full and approved college uniform is the only form of clothing permitted to be worn during the school day”.
All teaching staff were given green canvas bags on the day for the purpose of confiscating non-uniform items.
While it says those “who are unable to remove the non-uniform item will be required to attend the designated withdrawal space for the remainder of the day (or until the non-uniform item is able to be removed and collected by staff)”.
Further, it details that suspension from college will be given to those who refuse to remove non-uniform items.
Ms Sharper details where this ‘withdrawal space’ went through the day.
“Originally to the Library, also called the Resource Centre, then it overflowed into the office where kids were started being put into empty classrooms,” she said.
“You couldn’t do anything, if we talked to each other we were yelled at.”
Ms Sharper wore her usual black plain pants she had been wearing without issue since year 7 and was fortunate to not get spotted til later in the day.
While students were given individual work while they were out of class.
“It wasn’t even class work, they gave my friend, who is in Year 12, a single-sided math sheet with just times tables.”
A parent claimed her Year 10 student was given a colouring-in sheet to work on.
While so many students were taken out of class it claimed many had to sit and lay around the floor of the Library, while the crowd spilled out into the office area before the Library.
The school apparently started using up to three empty classrooms to take up the overflow, according to students.
“My friends who were taking out of the classes in the first 10 minutes of the day, they were out from period one to period five, they missed the whole day,” Ms Sharper said.
This time out of class worried many students about vital classes they missed, particularly Year 12 students who have exams coming up.
“I missed out on Biology class, which is my hardest class, I missed important information for that,” Ms Sharper said.
“We are taken out of our vital classes towards the end of the year, how are we meant to miss this important study?”
By the end of the day, Ms Sharper described the emotional stress that students of year levels were under.
“You have Year 12s and Year 7s crying,” she said
“Everyone was crying and yelling and a teacher said, ‘this wouldn’t be a problem if you just wear your uniform’.
“After school my little sister had a panic attack when I picked her up to leave because she was just so stressed about the day.”
Despite forcing students to miss classes, the school explained its intentions for a ‘culture reset’ as the promotion of better learning.
The information posted online said: “Students who are not ‘Ready to Learn’ and demonstrating behaviours such as lateness, failure to bring equipment or wear appropriate uniform are among the most prevalent issues.
“To address this, and reset positive behaviours and school culture, we will be implementing a whole school ‘culture reset’.”
It said this would occur for a 13-day period from 14 June and through the first week of term 3.
“The implementation of this reset will be to ensure the increased learning opportunities of our students through a reduction of these identified disruptions.”
Ms Sharper explained it from the students’ perspective.
“It was called a ‘Culture Reset Day’ that they said was to promote good learning behavior,” Ms Sharper said.
“Before, it was OK to wear plain black pants and a plain black scarf.
“Pretty much everyone would wear a school top, and some sort of plain black pants.
“I’ve been at this school since Year 7 and it has never been a problem until now.”
The school licensed pants and accessories are black, with the notable difference being some items have the school logo on it.
Despite little difference, Ms Sharper claims herself as well as others were taken out of class for wearing the previously established plain black pants and accessories.
“The expectation was for a logo, to wear pants and a scarf with the school logo on it,” she said.
“There was a student in my year level who got pulled from classes for pants that looked identical, they just didn’t have the logo.”
Ms Sharper is puzzled how this practice promotes better learning.
“They say they are worried about our learning and that our uniforms are a distraction, but I don’t understand how taking us out of a day of class helps,” she said.
“They just said ‘culture reset’, but we didn’t know anything about it, we didn’t know it was going to be like this.”
Ms Sharper said there was very little notice about this change nor the level of consequence.
“They just sent an email, if there was a school assembly, more information and more time I could understand,” she said.
“They are expecting all of this to happen in a day.”
The school’s selection of pants cost between $55 and $67 each.
Shorts range from $45 to $55, while a scarf is $22.
“This is a public school, Pakenham isn’t a high income area, my Mum and Step-Dad have been talking about how we are going to manage with interest rates rising, how are we expected to do these things?
“Some people won’t have these school pants, when you can just get $5 plain black pants from Kmart.”
The Gazette reached out to Officer Secondary for a statement regarding Ms Sharper’s claims regarding the number of students taken from class, the preparation for the change and their manner of enforcement, among other issues.
A spokesperson for State Department of Education reached out to the Gazette in response to these claims.
“Uniforms are a matter for school councils,” they said.
“The school council must be able to demonstrate it has considered the cost of school uniforms and parents’ ability to afford it.
“Since 2015, the Victorian Government has invested more than $74 million in the Affordable School Uniforms program, delivered by State Schools’ Relief, to support students in need.
“This includes the recent provision of a further $32.9 million over four years in the Victorian Budget 2023/24 to continue and increase annual funding for the program to meet demand.
“Equality is not negotiable in Victoria.”
