Help/Advice Needed On Costings For Secondary School??

Penny-Pincher!!

DD passed her 11+ last week and found out she is to attend a grammar school.

We have had the pack through for DD's new school and the costings are going to be extreme next year and have to find ways to budget a little better as I dont really want her missing out on anything as she's worked so hard to get in there. The uniform is going to cost £400+, but apparently being on Income Support we may get a little help with this (???), so will need to find out about this. I am also going to call the school this week and see of they have a school shop selling 2nd hand uniforms. Even if I can pick up a couple of skirts cheaper (standard price £55 each:eek: ) I will be happy. The blazer is £120+ and there is only one specialist shop that sells the uniform....and they dont take vouchers or reductions on cash...LOL.

There is a Geography trip to Switzerland next July so am considering setting aside £50 a month of stuff for her whilst at secondary...does anyone else do this? I'll welcome any advice on budgeting for secondary school.

Looks like Im not going to see my DD for the next 5 years as theres so much for her to do:cool: They recommend at least one sport after school activity, and she wants to do drama, computer club and homework club too:rolleyes: She has also just found out that she has to do Latin from year 8 which she is not impressed with...LOL.

Have just gone on ebay and have found a beginners guide to french, german and latin, so hopefully will win those.

Can anyone advise us on how we can budget better, or how you do it etc? I dont know how we will afford the trips but feel its important for her to attend and if I budget wisely, Im sure we will be OK.

An tricks of the trade also welcome. All her uniform is specially made handstitched with the schools name on it, so am unable to buy in the normal places we do now (matalan, tescos, etc).

What would you advise on buying intially for her?

Helpppppp!!

Thanks in advance.

PP
xx

holstar

can't really help a huge amount with most of this, but regarding uniform...
my secondary school (also a grammar) was supposed to get uniform from the official school outfitters BUT...provided the skirt was navy, the right length and pleated, then no-one was bothered about exactly where it was from.
Blazer...although we were supposed to buy from school outfitters, the school office sold badges seperately, so if you bought a plain navy blazer you could sew the badge on yourself (then the only challenge was getting badge the right way up lol)
we also had a shop for 2nd hand stuff...but be warned that by the time most of it got there it was in pretty dire condition so wouldnt last much longer anyway.

does your DD have any friends with older siblings who already go to the secondary school? It might be worth speaking to some other parents to find out how strict it all is about uniform.

HTH
hol x

Penny-Pincher!!

There is only one other boy going to the same school as her and the blazer is very unique (a certain purple) so unable to get anywhere else.

Its a right pain, but know its going to be best school for her. Even if I can buy a 2nd hand skirt in reaonable condition I will be happy. Probably get her one new one and try and get a 2nd hand one as a back up IYKWIM.

Thanks so much.

PP
xx

queenofthedump

congratulations to your daughter for being accepted in the first place you must be very proud. I wish you lots of luck in financing the whole shabang. I have years to save before i have to worry about secondary school but now you mention it i may start saving now.

mountainofdebt

My son is in the local secondary school and they also are pretty strict on uniform.....the school badge has to be on show at all times so the pullover comes with a embroidered badge as does the shirt and coat.

I've got around the shirt by telling him that he can't take his pullover off (lol!) and have bought cheaper ones from the supermarket (the 'proper ones are £10 each :eek: :eek:) but I know in the summer when we have the warmer weather he's going to want to go without but if I buy 1 big enough then it will be ok for the new term in September.

I was lucky last September as I had bought 2 pullovers the previous year that were too big for him so I didn't need to buy new ones and his PE kit (2 different tops :eek:) also still fitted him.

However I know I'm not going to be so lucky this year so I've been putting money away each month to use for his new uniform.

As you say perhaps you could get a spare one from a charity shop - would look around July time when school breaks for the summer!

As far as the after school clubs are concerned I wouldn't force the sports issue even though it is encourged......she will get far more out of school if she does what she enjoys, not what she is told to do - within reason of course! (btw how is she expected to come from these clubs - is the school within walking distance?)

As far as the trip is concerned, it might be an idea to try and find out roughly how much it will cost and then divide it by the number of months you've got to pay for it. My son is going on a trip to the US shortly and the only way we could manage to do this was to put money away on a weekly basis.

SnowyOwl_2

For what it's worth...when I went to grammar school my mother bought me one single tunic (there were no skirts) and I wore the exact same one from when I started at age 12 until I left, aged 18. I had the same cardigan for about five years and it was replaced by a hand knitted one for the remaining years. I never had a blazer, just the school coat. I didn't have the school scarf, had to do with a hand knitted one. Lots of girls did without either the coat or the blazer.

Have a good look at current pupils and see what bits of the uniform is not especially popular. Maybe you don't need to buy every single bit of it, or could postpone buying some pieces for 2nd year, especially as your daughter will be growing lots in the interim.

Have you put an appeal out on Freecycle? You never know your luck. Or perhaps keep an eye on your local paper as items sometimes come up. This is not quite the correct time of year for second hand items, maybe in May or June as GCSE and A level pupils move on there might be more available.

Rikki

When my eldest started his present private school I bought the school blazer at their second shop all his trousers and most of his PE kit was second hand. His shirts where new and underware etc.
I found it useful to talk to parents of the school as the children didn't all wear everything that was listed on the uniform list. ie they said jumpers but none of the children wore them.
The PE kit was bought each term as I found out what was needed.

Prudent

Well done to your daughter! You may find the second hand shop quite cheap. my friend has four daughters at a school with an expensive uniform. Blazers are £20 in their second hand shop, skirts £5 and sometimes they are just like new.
What about putting any savings for school in an acount in your daughter's name -that way you won't pay any tax on the interest and it might be at a higher rate.

Penny-Pincher!!

Thanks for all the replies so far, really apreciated!

Have done some digging this afternoon and have found out that we can claim a clothing grant of £62.50 from our local council. Free school dinners-she is entitled to this ATM but she had alot of problems so she has a pack up daily. Also a £450 grant for learning to play an instrument.

How do free dinners work in secondary? Do they have a set amount? Can they top it up with their own cash if needed? Also, noticed they had drink machines around the school-what are the standard prices for these roughly? I will start sticking the odd 20p's in a jar for her...is this a good idea?

Will call the school tomorrow about a school shop and hopefully they will have one and will buy a couple of skirts if they have them and cheapily.

I dont think I will be able to get round any of the uniform as even the skirt has set pleats with a specific purple edge stitching around certain parts etc.

The school trip is roughly £500 but my folks have offered to chip in, but if I can save £50pm from July (DFD)-this should be enough. I have read that sometimes you can ask for financial aid for school trips but think this is a little cheeky. I hate being on benefits...I feel like a scrounger, but ATM we have no other real choice.

Thanks again for the advice.

PP
xx

Sweet_Pea_2

Hi Penny Pincher,
Lots of congratulations to your DD, you must be really proud of her.
I know you have mentioned before that your daughter is partially sighted, so doubly well done as this must make life at school more difficult for her. I was wondering if the school would give a grant or bursary or something to help with the trip because of her disability, or because of your own disability? I have no idea how these things work, but it might be worth a try.

serena

Hi Penny Pincher,

why oh why do schools have to have this silly expensive uniform?!

Our town is exactly the same. Fortunately, my children's school is not quite as expensive.

Try and get together with a parent of someone already at the school, as there are bound to be things on the list that are not essential.For eg. girls have blazers and gym skirts on the official list, but they all wear jumpers, and shorts for PE same as the boys.

Our school has a brilliant scheme for trips. we pay £15 a month, and all the trips are covered, and the school does a lot of them. The earlier trips are not so dear, but the GCSE field trips can be quite dear. So, try to save some money if you can, but don't be afraid to ask for help in financing them. Schools do usually have funds available, and they are there to be used after all.

Best of luck, and congratulations to your daughter.

Forgot to add, you should not need to buy any text books at all. These are provided by the school, so I wouldn't bother buying them. All my children did Latin, for a year and it is brilliant for teaching thinking and logic, which is probably why it is on the curriculum.