Mount Albert Grammar School headmaster Patrick Drumm. Photo / NZME
Among them was Rosemary, a teacher who recalled similar restrictions when she attended school in the South Island in the 1960s and 1970s.
“Kids complain about not much and today’s parents encourage it! Toughen up,” she said.
An Auckland teacher described the students’ complaints as “rather pathetic”.
“I enforce the no-scarves and no-jackets rule in my classroom … wearing bulky coats and scarves inside can make it look like you’re about to leave or not fully engaged. Taking them off shows you’re settled, focused, and ready to learn.
“From my perspective, this issue reflects a growing victim mentality and entitlement that encourages people to see ordinary expectations as grievances.”
Craig, who attended Nelson College in the 1970s, said he did not need extra layers in the classroom, even in the “middle of winter”.
“The jersey was adequate,” he said.
King’s College. Photo / NZME
Oliver, who attended King’s College in the early 2000s, said: “The rules were the rules. Stick to them or p*** off. Stop complaining.”
Other readers, however, argued children could not concentrate properly when they were too cold and should be allowed to decide whether they needed an extra layer.
“Kids who are too hot or too cold don’t concentrate,” Andrea said.
‘If I paid for it, I will wear it’
A MAGS student told the Herald that classrooms at the 3500-student school were “freezing” and in most the temperature couldn’t be changed.
“I paid a huge amount for a scarf that has the school logo twice plus the school name! If I paid for it I will wear it … [and] the [school] skirt is thin and the year 9s, 10s and 11s have to wear a short skirt in winter – that is insane.”
A former student of Kingswell High School in Invercargill said it was ridiculous for schools to assume they knew how warm individual students were feeling.
“We all feel the cold differently,” Anna said.
Students should be allowed to wear V-neck thermals that were not visible beneath their uniforms, she said.
“It’s irrelevant what people wear under their uniform.”
Alan argued teachers should follow the same classroom clothing rules as students.
“Welfare of your children is a priority.”
Jan recalled getting into trouble for wearing a jacket at intermediate school in the 1970s.
“How do you learn if you are freezing cold?” she said.
‘Tough on cold days’
The complaints about MAGS uniform rules came as a chilly spell swept across the country, with Auckland recording one of its coldest days of the year as frost and sub-zero temperatures hit parts of the city this week.
Drumm said every classroom had heating.
But one parent said it was “tough on cold days” for students who didn’t have the school jersey.
“Those kids come in from the cold and have to immediately go down to just a shirt when they haven’t had a chance to warm up.
Another parent said their son was told by a teacher, “it’s not raining inside so take your jacket off”, with detention given for not complying.
“My son has complained about how cold he is in the classroom several times in the last month. The heating in the class isn’t sufficient.”
Parents also claimed students aren’t allowed to wear extra tops underneath their uniforms, but Drumm said staff weren’t checking if students were wearing thermals.
Uniform battles not new
It’s not the first time students and their parents have raised concerns about uniforms and the Kiwi climate.
Students at Massey High School faced the opposite problem to their West Auckland neighbours in 2016 when the school introduced a new uniform requiring students to wear trousers or long skirts and ties and blazers year round.
Some students and their parents complained the uniforms were unsuitable for Auckland’s hot and humid summers.
The same year, some Motueka High School students campaigned on overturning the school’s ban on puffer jackets, with then-principal Scott Haines describing the pushback to RNZ as a “fashion issue” rather than one of warmth.
In 2023, about 20 Long Bay College and parents protested outside school amid a stoush over uniform compliance.
Parents of female students at the North Shore school complained to the board after some students said they felt humiliated after being told to prove their skirts weren’t rolled at the waistband to shorten them.
And last year, the principal of a Canterbury school apologised after students were required to carry passes permitting them to wear “incorrect uniform items” such as pounamu.
Ashburton Intermediate principal Brent Gray said he was “grateful” to those who raised the issue, enabling him to make things right.