by Graham Vogt, Assistant Head of School, Academics

I believe many of our students ask this exact question each morning, perhaps weighing the RLC mandated choices against personal preferences—that comfy hoodie, those favourite jeans, and oh that hat! If each of us were to offer complete honesty and transparency, who among us—as we perhaps tighten our ties, preparing for our workday with professionalism—isn’t tempted by our weekend and evening preferences?

The question of ‘why’, therefore, is essential; we need our students understanding and even embracing their uniforms for much much better reasons than our simple insistence upon them.

Our more traditional response may be that we are a preparatory school. We are preparing our students for success and rich experiences in their next phase of learning, but also for a lifetime beyond that. It is a special value proposition of RLC that students learn the importance of personal presentation. The way we dress can reflect our preparation and respect for, and understanding of, any given expectation or situation. We will often refer to the professional setting and even the job interview. We believe there is such value in building a sense of familiarity for whatever lies beyond for each of our students.

Perhaps our more immediately relevant response is grounded in our community. Over the past couple of years, we have been transitioning our uniforms to ensure they reflect the mission, vision and values of our schools. We believe it is important that our uniforms communicate the kinds of experiences that characterize learning at our school, even challenging the idea of “classroom.” Indeed, our daily classroom dress helps to ensure our students are outdoor ready, always.

More importantly, by arriving each day fully prepared for the day's activities and experiences, our students are demonstrating respect for themselves, each other, and the community at large. If students arrive prepared to learn, they are also positively affecting the engagement of each of their classmates and the overall efficiency and richness of the learning culture. Of course, the adverse is also true; as students arrive unprepared, they are subtracting from the overall experience.

Needless to say, the clarity of our uniform guide moving forward is an incredible and essential resource to our idea of community and honouring the very ethos of RLC.