School Uniform !

Oldernotwiser

SuziQ wrote: »

This subject comes up this time every year. It is just a cynical attempt by some schools to get money from parents. !

If this is the case (which I don't totally accept) then surely any surplus is used to benefit the pupils? If it goes into the teacher's Christmas party fund then I'll agree with you.

space_rider

I`ve never bought my girls more than 2 blazers for their entire secondary school life. I get the first one that is big enough to last at least 2 years and then the last one stretches for the last 3! By then the girls haven`t wanted to button it up so it hasn`t mattered that it`s not fitted in the bust department. By the time they`ve finished with them they have never been fit for anyone!

I only ever bought my eldest the polo shirt and school sweatshirt as she never wore it so didn`t bother with the other 2.

irish_eyes_r_smiling

I think the OP accepts she needs to buy the uniform for her child, i don't think thats the issue.

its the fact that i school can have he monopoly over the uniform and that they may get funny and insist its got to be purchased from them and them only!!!

anybody having a monopoly over anything is surely dangerous and not good for our pockets!!!!!

SuziQ

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

If this is the case (which I don't totally accept) then surely any surplus is used to benefit the pupils? If it goes into the teacher's Christmas party fund then I'll agree with you.

Whether it goes to benefit the pupils or not,it may well be what the teachers think will benefit them-in my son's case the teachers insisted on a climbing wall in the playground which has resulted in 2 broken arms in pupils and which the rest are too scared to use now!. Education should be properly funded-we pay for it through our taxes (and before you point out I am currently paying no tax I did for 28 years!) Voluntary contributions are one thing,but forcing parents to buy substandard uniform at inflated prices in order to net the school money just isn't on in my opinion. If it was great quality and didn't take a layer of skin off my youngest then I moght not be so militant about it! The sizing is also difficult as they don't do as many choices as the big stores. I tend to buy smaller as I hate to see kids in huge uniform that buries them and all my 3 children are on the skinny side.Why would one school local to me charge £9 for an age 8 polo shirt with logo whilst the other half a mile away charge £12.50-for exactly the same shirt made by the same company with the different logo? If that's not a cynical rip off I don't know what it.

Oldernotwiser

SuziQ wrote: »

Whether it goes to benefit the pupils or not,it may well be what the teachers think will benefit them-in my son's case the teachers insisted on a climbing wall in the playground which has resulted in 2 broken arms in pupils and which the rest are too scared to use now!. Education should be properly funded-we pay for it through our taxes (and before you point out I am currently paying no tax I did for 28 years!) Voluntary contributions are one thing,but forcing parents to buy substandard uniform at inflated prices in order to net the school money just isn't on in my opinion. If it was great quality and didn't take a layer of skin off my youngest then I moght not be so militant about it! The sizing is also difficult as they don't do as many choices as the big stores. I tend to buy smaller as I hate to see kids in huge uniform that buries them and all my 3 children are on the skinny side.Why would one school local to me charge £9 for an age 8 polo shirt with logo whilst the other half a mile away charge £12.50-for exactly the same shirt made by the same company with the different logo? If that's not a cynical rip off I don't know what it.

I can see why it annoys you and I think that the PTA should have a say in how funds are spent but iIthink that the expression "cynical rip off" is inappropriate in these circumstances.

Personally I'd rather fund additional contributions this way rather than getting begging letters or being continually asked to bake cakes for sales. I don't think a couple of quid extra on specific school uniform is any big deal really, particularly over the course of a year.

mrcow

dmg24 wrote: »

I still can't understand why two blazers are required due to being 'large in the bust'.

They're not required.

Buying two is a waste of money.

Do what every other money-conscious parent does and buy one in a size bigger than you need to get some growing room and don't replace it until it's either falling apart or it starts looking like her wrist have had an argument with her sleeves.

stokefan

mrcow wrote: »

They're not required.

Buying two is a waste of money.

Do what every other money-conscious parent does and buy one in a size bigger than you need to get some growing room and don't replace it until it's either falling apart or it starts looking like her wrist have had an argument with her sleeves.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:made me chuckle

katiecoodle

May I suggest something? If the school doesn't operate a scheme where they 'recycle' leavers' uniforms, why don't you start one? I remember my mum taking me to root through piles of old uniforms for my school until we found one that fit. You could ask the school for permission, write to all the leavers requesting their old uniforms. Get a letter sent out to all parents actually, as kids grow out of them all the time! Then during the hols you can have a jumble sale type event in the school hall asking for token amounts for each item (say £1) and see if its successful. You've got nothing to lose but some time and effort.....and you might just get urself a bargain uniform.

mandragora_2

Have you explored whether your local authority run a grant scheme to support uniform purchase - it varies district by district, but the CAB website has a good overview of this and other issues relating to school costs:
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/family_parent/education/help_with_the_costs_of_education.htm


Check out the link on 'school clothing'.


The other thing you could do is contact the new school itself - there may be some kind of scheme in place there anyway - either discretionary support for families on benefits, or knowledge about other schemes available in the area.

And definitely don't bother with a second blazer - one at a time is plenty!

Loopy_Girl

AsknAnswer wrote: »

Well, it wasn't all there was to it, there was also the "your child is not allowed juice in her water bottle, we only allow water or milk - school policy" and being contacted by these childsmile people (who come to school to flouriode all the children's teeth) by phone to ask why I had ticked the box on the form which says I don't want details of my children stored or shared. I just feel it's another dictatorship and big brother.

I am one of 'those childsmile people' and the reason we phone and check is that many people tick the wrong box by accident. It also gives us a record of your daughter's dental health throughout her school life so that we can see how her dental health is doing and forsee any potential problems. The actual data used is figures only so that we can produce our figures to the Scotish Government so that we can continue to get the funding for this very worthwhile programme we do in the schools with also includes the fortnightly flouride mouthwash and also the brushing of the infants teeth.

And having juice in a bottle all day is just rotting her teeth as she has sugar and citric acid continually washing over them every time she takes a sip. Suppose that is going back to forseeing the dental problems. Mind you, I knew that even before I worked in dental:rolleyes: