1:15 p.m., a school day in Reims.
At the Sculpteurs Jacques school, parents greet each other before entering the white gate with their youngest children.
Dalila lets go of her younger sister's hand and she rushes through another door.
For several days, discussions have been going well about… the uniform.
This neighborhood school will be one of five establishments in the city to experiment with the unique outfit at the next school year in September.
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“It doesn't bother me, I think it can avoid certain discrimination within the school if they are all dressed the same,” says Alicia, mother of a little girl in first grade.
“It will standardize,” adds Dalila, “There will be no more marks, no more visible patterns that can be the subject of mockery.
And then it can be unifying to have the same coat of arms, the same label…” continues this mother of three children.
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The complete kit was presented to parents through visuals of the prototypes.
The children will have five light gray polo shirts, two navy blue sweaters and two blue sweatshirts.
“We didn't want to impose a bottom garment, we would have had to choose a skort and pants to satisfy girls and boys.
It will therefore remain up to the children's free choice.
We are going to go there gradually,” says Véronique Marchet, the first deputy at the town hall of Reims.
A badge imagined by students
The uniform will however be stamped Ville de Reims with a round badge.
The design of this logo will be thought of and imagined by the after-school children themselves over the coming weeks.
It will also include the name of each school.
“Ah, I didn’t know, it’s a great idea,” agrees Dalila.
At first I was afraid that this uniform would be dated and, ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised by the visuals.
My daughter who is in CE2 will wear it next year, she already loves it.
She says she's going to look like an English schoolgirl.
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Read alsoThe first setbacks of the uniform at school
In Reims, 900 students will wear a unique outfit from September 2025. The Voltaire, Maison Blanche, Sculpteurs Jacques, Mazarin and Alfred-Gérard schools are part of this experiment.
“I wanted it to be representative of the 104 establishments in Reims.
We have Priority Education Network schools, in the neighborhood but also in the city center,” explains Véronique Marchet.
In some establishments, a keychain will be given to kindergarten students.
A blouse will be offered to them instead of the uniform.
This initiative costs families nothing.
In total, the 200 euros of clothing are financed by the City and the State at each start of the school year during the two years of this unique outfit test.
In France, 87 schools applied to participate in this national experiment launched by the government.
Béziers opened the ball last February.