In Alberta, employers have the right to establish the appearance, grooming and dress standards that they believe are necessary for the safe or effective conduct of their business. Standards can only be set provided they do not discriminate against employees based on any of the protected grounds in the Alberta Human Rights Act.
Schools hope to prepare our students for the eventual world of work, and our standard of dress aims to support students’ developing awareness of what is reasonable to wear in a place of learning and work. We acknowledge that decisions about dress reflect personal expressions of identity, socio-cultural norms, and individuality. Although students’ rights to self-expression, comfort in clothing choices, and decisions about their appearance are supported, they cannot be absolute in a community of equals. Individual understandings of reasonable attire may vary but our hope is that students will make, or learn to make, thoughtful and informed decisions about how they choose to dress for a day of learning at Bishop Pinkham.
Our community standards of dress:
· School appropriateness of dress excludes displaying any messages or images that are racist, discriminatory, encourage hate, or support the use of drugs or alcohol.
· Students will understand of how to dress for everyone’s comfort after taking into consideration our community value around protecting a welcoming, safe, and caring learning environment for everyone.
· Clothing should not be transparent, and undergarments should remain under one’s garments.
· Students should plan to dress for the learning activities they engage in throughout the day. This means that some clothing choices may be unfit or unsafe for certain activities in certain classes, but they should not present a barrier to participation. Students should bring a change of attire more appropriate for the activity.
The intended outcome of this standard is to ensure that all members of our community share the expectation to model welcoming, caring, respectful and safe behaviour.
As members of this learning community, we recognize there may arise an occasional need to discuss how to maintain choice of dress as an expression of self while still preserving a safe, welcoming, and respectful learning environment for everyone. If required, we will discretely remind an individual of our community standards of dress and ask them to make a more thoughtful choice of clothes. If they refuse, we will seek parent support, as we want to get on with the job of teaching and learning. We hope to receive parent support; otherwise, it undermines the collaborative and supportive relationship schools depend on to help students through more complex challenges should they arise.
Physical Education Gym Strip
With current Covid Protocols: Without regular change room access, our Phys Ed team recommends students layer clothing effectively for physical activity and, for the purposes of safety, have non-marking appropriate footwear. Ideally, this would be athletic shoes or other closed-toe footwear that ensures safe participation in the planned activity.
Two options for layering for Phys-Ed:
1. Wear a clean Bishop Pinkham Gym shirt over undergarments.
2. If families do not wish to purchase gym strip from the school, they can bring their own.
Assuming there are no Covid protocols, BP gym strip (t-shirts and shorts) may be purchased from the school. We sell shorts, T-Shirts, sweats, and hoodies with the school logo. It is most beneficial that students wear proper gym attire in order to fully participate in physical education. Proper gym attire consists of a t-shirt and shorts (different from the clothing a student wears to school) as well as proper athletic shoes.
