Uniform & Equipment

School uniform expectations for all in Years 7-11:

• Navy sweatshirt and white polo shirt with the school emblem.
• Black trousers – smart/tailored, the trousers should contain a zip to distinguish them from leggings.
• Black Charleston (pleated style) skirt. Only black Charleston style skirts can be worn. Straight or skater style skirts are not to be worn.

• Black Knee length shorts These should be tailored style shorts and no cargo or sports shorts.

• Black shoes or black trainers – only if all black. No boots.
• Piercings – one stud in each ear. One small discreet nose stud is allowed but nose rings and all other facial piercings are not. No other jewellery should be worn.
• Nail varnish and heavy make-up are also not part of the school uniform and will be removed if worn. No extreme hair colours.
• School bag – Students are expected to bring an appropriate school bag everyday. The bag should be large enough to carry an A4 book/folder.

PE Uniform:

The following kit is needed for all PE lessons at The Gryphon School. We recommend that all kit including socks and trainers are labelled with full name and tutor group.

Due to the nature of the activities we do, it is essential that any ear piercings are either removed or students bring in tape to cover these. In addition, we ask that all students with long hair bring in hair bands to tie their hair up out of their eyes.

For sports, the uniform for all Years 7-11 is:

• Navy blue and red reversible games top
• Navy blue short-sleeved polo top
• Navy blue shorts, skort, sports leggings or jogging bottoms
• Navy blue long socks
• White socks
• Trainers
• Sports boots with studs or moulds
• Gum shields and shin pads are strongly recommended

The following pieces of kit are alternative versions available to complement the above. If purchased, this can be used for any Gryphon sport activity.  Again, please ensure all if labelled.

Alternative PE kit:

• Navy blue and red sports polo (branded)
• Navy blue and red skort
• Gryphon sports hoodie

Those with pierced ears should only wear one stud in each ear. Extreme hairstyles and hair colours are not permitted since they are felt to be incompatible with uniform. In Sixth Form, there is an agreed dress code.

Personal property at school:

• If in doubt, parents are requested to seek advice about interpretation of these guidelines
• It is essential to name all items of clothing
• Lost property can be collected from the lost property store by the Geography cabins each day between 1.45 pm and 2.00 pm
• If your child is unable for any reason to temporarily attend in full school uniform, you must write to the tutor to explain why and indicate how the situation is being corrected

Suggested uniform stockists

Gryphon branded items as well as the new standard skirts and trousers can be purchased from:

• KITZ UK, South Western Business Park, Sherborne – From the shop or online
• South West Schoolwear, 10 Wine Street, Yeovil – From shop or online
• M & S, Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s all do very similar styles

Uniform styles and samples are available to see in the foyer at The Gryphon Conference Centre Reception area.

Pre-loved Uniform Shop

We have an outlet within school where parents can swap or purchase second hand uniform that is in good condition. This will help recycle clothing and enable those who find uniform items difficult to pay for, get things at a more sensible price.  Any school uniform that is in good condition can be donated into our Pre-loved uniform outlet.  You can also exchange uniform that is too small, with something we have in the outlet, if the swap is in good condition.

There will be various ways that parents/carers can access uniform using the school outlet:

1. A straight swap of an item if a different size is being sought and replaced with smaller item [when available]
2. A small charge for items to reduce the cost to parents/carers that can be used to purchase further items to increase stock levels – prices will be under £5.00 to ensure the service is used and is very affordable for families

The service will be available at some open evenings, parents evenings and other school events.  We will advertise specific dates on social media and via our school newsletters.  Alternatively, please come to the main school reception at any time to enquire.

Due to storage space, we are only taking the following:

• Standard school trousers
• Black pleated [Charleston style] skirts only
• Sweatshirts
• White polo shirts

(Please remove any name tags/labels)

Equipment

Each student at the Gryphon is expected to bring to school the following items of equipment:

• Pen
• Pencil
• Ruler
• Scientific Calculator
• Glue Stick
• Highlighter

Regular equipment checks will take place during the first period of each day.

All students should have a bag in school to keep their equipment in.  Bags should be placed on bag racks at lunch times for safety.

If parents have difficulty sourcing equipment and need support with this, please contact your child’s Head of Year.

Scientific Calculators

For new Year 7 students as well as current students in Year 8 and 9, any scientific calculator is useful, but we would recommend the Casio fx-85GT CW or the Casio fx-83GT CW.  These calculators are the market leaders for a reason and are excellent all the way through GCSEs as they have clear displays and intuitive inputs. They come in several different colours. The only difference is that the 85 has a solar panel and the 83 is 100% battery.

We strongly recommend all Year 10 and 11 students to also have a Casio Calculator.  They may already have a previous fx-83 or fx-85 model and these are equally good!

If your child is studying maths beyond GCSE or is very much considering doing so, the upgraded Casio fx-991CW is needed for A Level maths and would benefit students on Higher Tier GCSEs as well. It is more expensive that the GCSE model.

There are other brands that compete with Casio, please do speak to your child’s maths teacher if you would like any advice or information about scientific calculators.

Whichever model you choose, please make sure you label the calculator with your child’s name.