The cost of School Uniforms

I help with eldest GS school uniform and fortunately in his primary school the cost could be worse. I’m not looking forward to him changing school at the end P7! Some schools really have become OTT about the uniforms. What is the actual point of a different colour top for PE for each year group?

gillybob I thought that this was going to be one of those threads and was going to suggest sending them in onesies and plimsolls!

I do understand as two of my DGC will be going to senior school and the one here introduced a strict new uniform last year. It's not an academy as there are none here.
I will offer to help out if needs be because I know the cost is very high.
There will be little in the way of secondhand uniform as it was so recently changed.
Then, of course, there will be all the extras - do they have to buy all their own sports equipment, laptops etc?

However, DGD has been very excited to explain to me exactly what the uniform will be. I did wonder how long it will take all the Y7s to get fed up with it.

At least no hats are required as they were when I was at school.

Erm I wish we could get away with Onesies and Plimsolls Calli but sadly not .

The list of what they need is crazy and now that both girls are at secondary school everything is twice over. The school is very strict on uniform and recent letters say that children will be sent home if they turn up in anything other than what the school dictate .

I completely understand gilly

When my just turned four year old started school 2 years ago, we offered to help with uniform and shoe expenditure.
The school insisted on the embroidered polo, sweatshirts and PE shirts were ordered via the school.
I can't remember the exact amount but we all were a bit .
The following year our grandson had obviously grown and so uniform had to be renewed through school.

This year we have two grandsons starting school this September.
We have given son and DIL who live a distance away money to help with purchase school uniform.
Ironically all grandson's uniform are purple and not available via outlets such as M&S.

Things have changed re my other grandson who will starting at same school as older brother.

The school have now said that parents can purchase school uniform without the embroidered logo.

However the only store selling purple seems to be Asda.

Daughter has several pieces of embroidered uniform that are in good order, so these will be used by her youngest son.

Net result this years spend quite a bit less.
Each boy has one new embroidered sweatshirt and Polo shirt for first day, school photos and trips.

I am sure however that supermarket uniform will not be any where near the quality of the outlet.
But items from shops are much cheaper to replace
In the first year grandson 'lost' two brand new sweatshirts which had to be replaced.
All uniform marked in obvious place and also hidden in sleeve.

Probably best not to mention cost of shoes, trainers and pumps!!!

On the last day of term the HT put out a rack of lost property which no-one had reclaimed. For a small school it was quite extensive.
If not claimed she said it would be washed and kept in school for emergencies. I was surprised that parents had not chased up any of it.

These rules sound exactly the same as my grammar school in the 1950s, but the uniform lasted for years. I am a strong believer in school uniform, but it is the wearing of it which is important, not the cost. Is there a parents association which can investigate the high cost, and where the profit is going?
This is a subtle way of making a school selective, by putting parents off from applying because of the high costs involved. Your daughter and son in law must raise concerns with the school, the Governors, and their local MP.

This is a subtle way of making a school selective, by putting parents off from applying because of the high costs involved.

Of course it is eazybee . It’s a very hard school to get into as it is, as they operate a policy of taking all children direct from selective primaries (which just happen to be situated in very expensive villages) leaving few or no places for local children. My DGD was originally given a place at a school many miles away from home (despite this school, being on the doorstep) but we went to appeal and won, so I suppose we should have known what we were letting ourselves in for, cost wise.

That can't be the reason here, as we have Hobson's choice.

My grandsons school made such a song and dance about the secondhand uniform, put it on a table outside where reception is, kept sending texts, emails and so on.

I would have been embarrassed rummaging through it.

I have noticed that, what shall I say, better-off parents are quite happy to rummage.

Someone I know who was very well off bought DD's old uniform from a school sale

My GCs Academy school in a very nice area runs second hand uniform sales which are very popular and used by most of the parents. As the items are donated the school has a good income from this. Perhaps you could suggest to the PTA that they start one gillybob after all if the uniform is so expensive it should be good quality and should wear well.

Presumably parents are aware of the uniform code before they accept a place at a particular school. Maybe one of the reasons for the school being sought after is that they are hot on discipline and appearance. Its swings and roundabouts. If the school gain some extra funding this way maybe it’s a reflection of the cuts that been made to schools and this is one way they can actually pay the staff. Or maybe it’s an overblown academy which is paying huge salaries to its senior management and has to maintain that. An example of Tory policies that don’t actually benefit the children.

My boy is going to the one that's closest, for practical reasons, and also because we're in the catchment area, and you have to have very good reason to go elsewhere.

The “or maybe” fits the bill crystaltips . Daren’t say any more.

The cost of school uniforms last year drove many (working) families to use the food bank for the first time as they couldn't afford to clothe their children for the new term AND buy food. This year the Foodbank is piloting a School Uniform Bank and it looks as if it's going to be quite successful; local charity shops are handing over donated uniforms as are ex-pupils. Local businesses and individuals are giving cash.

If schools had no policy then parents may be cajoled to buy things in fashion by their children which can change from week to week. DGS1 infant school just merged with primary school and changed colours - voted by parents. Don't have to get the logo uniform but blue was colour voted in (red before) and available in most supermarkets. DC primary school was purple and quite common in Scotland.

When their "policy" is to force parents to go to one expensive shop for uniform instead of buying generic clothes of the right colour from a more modest shop - and then the school takes a cut from that expensive shop's profit from selling those expensive uniforms - it starts to appear that their real motive is not equality among the children, but the inflation of their own profitability. That is wrong!

My grandsons primary school has a very basic school uniform. It is in a very working class area.
My friends grand children have obviously quite posh uniform which is where they live.
I guess this school is already in an afluent Cheshire school .
I really wonder how much they pay for their childrens uniform, compared with my grandsons.
I do agree with school unifom but it should be really be very basic and as inexpensive as possible.
There was an interesting post a long while ago now who struggled to buy school uniform and because of that those children could not get to a grammar school education.
Why grammar schools is/or are still very divisive.

There was an interesting post a long while ago now who struggled to buy school uniform and because of that those children could not go to grammar school
This is nothing new, my Dad 90 years ago could not go to grammar school as his mum couldn’t buy the uniform needed and that was a very long time before logos

I am a great believer in school uniform but it ALL schools should have one where it can be bought anywhere apart from the tie and a badge that can be sewn on. Blazers should be washable. PE kits should be plain. The school could keep a set with logos to lend out for matches.
My pet hate is piped blazers - why?

My youngest daughter has 4 at school 2 primary 2 secondary, for her, no problem with clothes, happy to swap with other parents at little cost, shoes are an issue, you can’t really swap and sports kit.

It’s also not easy david if you have a tall child or any other slight ‘difference’
I have just started a link with a local community group to pass on bags of generic school clothes from the charity shop I volunteer in as we get way more than we can sell although we sell them at 50p a shot They are often brand new with labels still on so a terrible waste
To me life is about links and need more now than ever

There is a quiet large group in our area that organise uniform swaps.
They set up in a school hall at the end of school year and people can bring uniform from any local school and swap for larger sizes or senior for primary.
Great idea.

I’m always amazed at how parents moan about the price of a uniform but then don’t bother to sew name tapes in!
School lost property bins are full of unmarked clothes.

I agree with most posters above. There should be a generic uniform in the school colour, navy, green, blue, brown, whatever, with just a sew-on badge for the jumpers and a tie for the boys.
Where I live they have scrapped ties for girls and they wear their blouses open-necked, and I think it looks better. The same with sports gear, lots of schools have generic tracksuits and sports shirts with just a sew-on badge. Much fairer on everyone I think.
Yes, agree about name tapes too, even home made ones if the professionally made ones are too expensive.