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Almost all British prep schools require the children to wear uniforms. These uniforms have varied widely from school and over time. The uniforms range in formality and at many schools are adjusted seasonally. Many schools require the children, boys and girls, to wear neck ties, but quite a number of schools are now more casual about uniforms and use open collars. Some times this is part of the seasonal change. Caps were once almost universal, but are now worn at only a few schools. Many schools have colorful blazers, bit they are usually not worn for classes and other activities. Some schools have corduroy uniforms. School scandals were once very common, but now not as widely worn. Grey short pants and grey or black long trousers are common for the boys. Many schools have the girls wear grey skirts, but various styles of dresses are worn at other schools. Virtually all prepratory schools require uniforms. Most early prep schools in the 19th century did not have uniforms. Prep schools have varied greatly over time as to the formality of the uniform. Until after World War II, it was mostly Britain's private schools that had uniforms. Some of the basic garments commonly worn at prep schools have included peaked caps, blazers, white abnd grey shirts, sweaters, short pants, kneesocks and school sandals. A variety of different materials are used for British school uniforms. The various prep schools had a wide range of rules which varied greatly from school to school. British public schools were initially boys' schools as were the first preparatory schools. When we visited the children seeme on the slender side. There has been a very noticeble increse in the number of over-weight children. This appers to reflect both the diet and activity level of the children. Atletics and sports played a major role in virually every school we visited. These and other issues are covered in the uniform section.
We began to address the uniform topic as a section of Volume II. The uniform topic proved to be much larger than we initially anticipated and our readers had quite a range of comments and questions. Our intention is to create eBooks of about 200-250 pages. And we were rapidly reaching that size for Volume II. Thus to more fully address the topic of uniform, we have created a separate eBook--Volume VI of our British Preparatory Schools eBook series specifically on uniforms. This has allowed us to continue pursing the other topics in Volume II in more detail while expanding our discussion of the uniforms worn at the schools.
