Opinion | Four reasons schools should switch traditional school uniforms for sports uniforms

These consist of button-up shirts, tailored trousers, pleated skirts or tunics and black leather shoes. Each school in NSW sets its uniform policy. Here are four reasons why schools should consider offering students the option to wear sport uniforms every day, starting with the savings to be made for Aussie parents.

In a review of 60 schools, the average cost to Aussie parents for a primary school student uniform, appropriate for summer and winter, was $330. For secondary schools this increases to $526 per student.

Most sport uniforms consist of a polo shirt with school logo, sport shorts, tracksuit and trainers - at a total average cost of $163.

The biggest saving of shifting to a sport-uniform everyday policy is that parents don't need to buy multiple different uniforms. The review suggested parents could save an average of $167 for primary-aged and $363 for secondary-aged students, if they only needed to buy sports uniforms.

In a positive step, all government schools must now offer a shorts or trouser option to both boys and girls. Most schools choose to offer tailored shorts or trousers.

Although helpful, students don't like wearing traditional uniforms. Our latest research of NSW schools found that 62 per cent of primary school students and 72 per cent of secondary school students would prefer to wear a sports uniform every day.

Furthermore, our research shows that four in five parents and six in 10 teachers support a change in uniform policy that allows students to wear sports uniform every day.

Research shows that most students think they'd be more active wearing sports uniform every day. For older students, who are generally less active, they more strongly agree with this.

Nine in 10 parents agree that school uniforms should be supportive of physical activity, according to our research. This is perhaps because most Australians recognise that physical activity is good for our physical and mental health. We also know that more active students do better in class, having better concentration, attention and classroom behaviours - which can lead to improved academic performance.

Research suggests that by changing from a traditional uniform to a sports uniform, primary-aged students can improve their physical activity levels. Changing to sports uniforms may be even more important for Australian girls, who are typically less active than boys.

But uniform changes alone won't change student physical activity. Combining ingredients such as the option to wear sport uniforms daily with classroom energizers, safe active travel routes to school and subsidised cost of sport will work better together than separately. In this way, in the recipe for increasing students' physical activity, sport uniforms support the other ingredients.

"Uniforms hold me back from running" was one of a number of reasons given by Australian secondary school students to not being active at recess. Unlike schools in other countries, many Australian primary schools do not have changing facilities to allow students to switch between active wear and traditional uniforms at recess.

Workplace dress policies are almost always appropriate for the type of work required by employees. For example, tradies wear reflective active wear. So why not in schools? In a country with a climate like Australia's, we must ask if traditional school uniforms are fit for purpose?

Our research shows that just one-third of principals support a uniform policy change to allow students to wear sports uniforms every day. More often than not, principals say that sports uniforms are inappropriate for formal occasions and half also say that there is no evidence to support making a change. So we strongly encourage school departments to work with uniform suppliers to design physical activity enabling sports uniforms that are also smart and appropriate for formal school occasions.

Students and parents can also encourage their school to rethink its school uniform policy.

For schools, there's an opportunity to join our latest research on school uniforms, please contact Nicole McCarthy (Nicole.McCarthy@uon.edu.au).

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