Parents complaining about school unform costs

Sarahlou_2

skylight wrote: »

I agree - my Dad did weeks of extra shifts too, to pay for the clothing and sports equipment I had to have at Grammar school.

And I wouldn't dream of putting my littlies in designer anything! (Unless its dirt cheap off Ebay lol!)

I would hate the thought of sending my kids to school in own clothes. It would be far too costly - they already compare winter coats and shoes.

These days I do not buy school stuff ready for September term (apart from new schools). I buy what they need replacing throughout the year and they make do in September (unless its needed). There is this fascination with sending a child to school with everything new in September regardless of whether or not the stuff from July still fits!

I'm so glad I read this - my DS is going back to school with the sweaters he had last year (i bought them slightly too big ). Everyone I have mentioned this to thinks I'm mad/tight/scruffy (delete as appropriate)! But there's nothing wrong with them at all!!

iceicebaby

I can remember as a kid at the end of August my mum making us try on last years uniform to see what still fitted, and just replacing the items that didnt fit.

I always had to have a new pencil case though!

jellyhead

Our high school says they are allowed ordinary navy jumpers, but they have to take them off before entering the building! They're not allowed to wear plain sweatshirts in the classroom, it's school logo or nothing.

Sarahlou_2

:rotfl:

iceicebaby wrote: »

I can remember as a kid at the end of August my mum making us try on last years uniform to see what still fitted, and just replacing the items that didnt fit.

I always had to have a new pencil case though!

That's what I made DS do bless him! He is meant to have logo polo's on (£7 a shot)- but I only buy them in summer, when you can actually see them! The rest of the time he wears his jumper over plain ones (£3.50 for 4!).
I did get told off though when he went on his school trip in July. It was the day we were going on holiday and in a rush I put a plain polo on and no jumper(it was boiling). The school pointed out that if he wandered off people couldn't tell where he was from - fair point I guess.
Although I thought it was ridiculous to put a name tag round his neck which he almost strangled himself on ten times before he'd even left!!!!

courteener

I'm tall so I need extra long everything which is never in the value ranges.
I've also been in adult clothing since I was 11 because the approved school ranges did not fit me.

I have really wide feet so that means Clarks width fitting for my school shoes, PE trainers, at home shoes and at home trainers. I've gone from being size 1 aged 11 to size 9 aged 14 so some years my mum has had to buy me 6 of each of the above in one year. that's 24 pairs of shoes and trainers at £40 a pop in one year!

I have also changed shape a lot. I used to be chubby and a little bit taller than my classmates. Now I'm really tall and much skinnier than before.

We have to have separate PE kit for indoors, trackies for hockey, shorts for football and the summer, and netball skirts and navy knickers, plus a rugby shirt for rugby, a PE polo shirt and a school fleece if we compete for the school, which I do.

We are not allowed to have coats in classrooms and our lockers are not big enough to stuff coats in so nobody wears a coat. We all wear thermals, T shirts or vests under our school shirts plus the blazer because the school sweatshirt is too michelin man bulky to wear under a blazer for most people and you have to wear the blazer (but you have to have at least one sweatshirt for school trips.)

Last year my Mum says she spent over £2000 on my school uniform including shoes and she'd like me to add that she has never been able to kit any of us out in those uniforms for a fiver ads you see either because of our school' requirements or because of our sizes.

jellyhead

Gosh, your feet grow fast! My son says why can't he just have trainers and shoes, and wear the same ones at home - he forgets or loses them all the time though!

My eldest son can now wear nike trainers and they seem as wide as clarks, not a great deal cheaper though. He still needs clarks shoes for school, and he has trainers for home which he wears all the time, with school shoes when the occasion calls for shoes instead of trainers. So he only has 3 pairs at a time, but I always end up buying extras for when they've been in a puddle, or he's temporarily lost them etc.

I'm glad I don't have your mum's shoes bill though!

jane130

today I have had to go and purchase for each of my teenagers ( 2)

2 x polo shirts @£ 10.50 each
2 x Sweatshirts@ £18 each
1 x red PE polo @£9.99 each
1 PE hoody @ £22

thats £89 for each child without any trousers/skirts,shoes, coats , bags etc all of that i buy as cheap as I can thank heavens . I have bought the pe stuff big enough that it will last a couple of years

last year I didn't by the school pe kit and the kids got sent home with notes asking me to correct the uniform infringements - just because it didn't have the school logo on it !

mspig

jane130 wrote: »

today I have had to go and purchase for each of my teenagers ( 2)

2 x polo shirts @£ 10.50 each
2 x Sweatshirts@ £18 each
1 x red PE polo @£9.99 each
1 PE hoody @ £22

thats £89 for each child without any trousers/skirts,shoes, coats , bags etc all of that i buy as cheap as I can thank heavens . I have bought the pe stuff big enough that it will last a couple of years

last year I didn't by the school pe kit and the kids got sent home with notes asking me to correct the uniform infringements - just because it didn't have the school logo on it !

My sons school is the same - everything has to have a logo on it or they send notes home telling you that they will have to suspend your child until they have the correct items.

Last year was worse for uniform as he was going into year 7 so everything had to be bought, this year hes needed a new blazer £25.00, new shoes £36.00 and a couple of new trousers at £12.00 each and a new bag and pencil case.
However my 6 year old for new uniform hasen't cost me that much for all of it.

The thing i hate about his uniform is they have two stores you can buy the uniform from, but a mail order place for the P.E kit which also charges a delivery charge of £4.95 on top of the dear items.

barnaby-bear

Dazi wrote: »

I am going back a few years now, but can remember how glad I was that addidas started making orange shorts so it saved me having to buy the orange shorts from the 'official' suppliers at x 3 the cost. hmmmm the school were not impressed but when faced with half the school in the addidas ones they backed down. Also they suddenly insisted that sweatshirts had to have the official logo on them, a group of us also insisted that we should be able to buy the said logo and sew it on, and guess what.....we were allowed.

Also wish to say that I did not buy kids 'designer' clothes for out of school etc....couldn't afford it, my kids were bought up on Primark before it became fashionable to shop there, in fact my kids would look up and down the street before going into Primark incase some of their mates were around :rotfl:

I'm sorry but really legislation is needed if a school insists on orange shorts - utterly ridiculous - I can but only hope that the supermarket pricing issue will force schools to abandon the tendancy to try and colour the kids in to make them look like Mr. Men/Tellytubbies....

JBD

I thought this legislation had already been introduced so that parents could buy cheaper alternatives. I agree with replacing uniform as they need it rather than inthe summer holidays. So far this year I have bought 2 pairs of school trousers at £8 each , 2school shirts for son from Asdas, 4 polo shirts for daughter from Asdas and a pair of shoes each from shoefayre at £12 each. Will probably also get son a new tie as the clip on his old one has one wonky. I honestly don't know how people can afford to pay hundreds of pounds for school uniform and still have to buy clothes for out of school as well. I know it would be impossible for me and also for the parents I know as well.