Uniforms for private school teachers

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While it's very common, indeed standard, for private schools to have student uniforms, it's not common for teachers to wear uniforms. However, wearing a staff uniform can be a great way for teachers to project a professional corporate image that complements the image of the student body. The corporate uniform is a fully deductible expense for the school as well as being a source of tax deductions for the staff who can claim for cleaning any compulsory work uniform with a logo.

Here are some brainstorming ideas for coming up with your own corporate uniform for your school.

Start with the school uniform

Start with the students uniform as inspiration. You can look at inverting the school colours (ie swapping the shirt and pant colours) and relaxing the lines of the uniform for more mature figures, as well as taking some inspiration from the historical school teachers uniforms. Look to some of the corporate uniform retailers for inspiration in corporate yet comfortable uniforms, and research if any alumni have gone into mainstream fashion design. The uniform is a great place to reference the school history and influences.

Maintain some options

Remember that teachers in different areas may have different movement requirements - so the physical education and drama teachers may find pencil skirts restrictive, and art teachers may like easy to clean pants. Keep a range of options in the staff uniform to support different requirements for the staff body, but also different body types - some female teachers prefer to always wear pants at work rather than skirts or dresses.

Equally allowing teachers to modify some aspects of the uniform (by accessories or combinations of clothing items) helps the staff to maintain some creativity and individuality without sacrificing their professional appearance.

Wide range of sizes

Make sure that uniform is available in a wide range of sizes, so that no members of your staff are left out when it comes to sizing options. Consider offering free alteration services so that you don't exclude staff of different proportions from wearing the uniform.

Choose your battles

You may not insist of staff wearing the school uniform for every work day, but ask for them to wear it at specific times of year including the first day of term and any special events where they are representing the school such as excursions or school competitions. This helps maintain the external image of the school.

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7 January 2015