Parents complaining about school unform costs

JoolzS

I've seen this subject come up over and over again for many years. I have never understood why most schools don't do what my senior school did. At my school the uniform was grey or black skirt for girls, grey or black trousers for boys, with a grey or white shirt or blouse. Jumpers and/or cardigans could be grey or red. Eventually girls were also allowed to wear trousers (grey or black) from winter half-term until easter. Obviously, that bit is completely outdated, but I still think the rest is a good idea. I can still remember now which of my friends wore which combination of colours - I was always in a black skirt, white blouse, red cardigan combination, except for the year when I had a pair of grey cords . None of this uniform had to be bought from a particular shop - they just had to fit in with the colours.

Schools should simply have a restricted colour palette (that is easily available) and then allow pretty much anything within that palette so long as it is reasonable. I do remember tank-tops being fashionable at my school for a while and, so long as they were either red or grey, the school simply allowed them to be worn.

I did drive past my old school a few years ago and was a little saddened to see that the uniform now seems to be more conformist - sweatshirts with logos, etc.

Julie

tara747

OP, I was just wondering the same!!! My school had a uniform with badges etc, one single stockist, cost £££££s. These days, you can get it from Asda/Tesco/M&S for half nothing!!

I do like the old school badge and all that, but from a MSE point of view, it would be better if all schools did what JoolzS said and had a generic uniform (maybe with a badge that could be sewn on). Much cheaper!

And yes, I have seen the designer babies, it's ridiculous.

becs

I saw the piece on TV this morning as well and think the parents complaining about the cost of the uniforms are of children who have to buy uniform through designated supplier rather than being able to buy the supermarket uniforms. Some of the shops that only stock the specific school uniform are horrendously expensive and I think the parents are just frustrated that their kids can't just have the grey trousers/skirts etc that the supermarkets sell.

tori.k

Its not the basic's that people moan about its the over priced school compulsary add-ons.
My basic uniform bill for 3 kids shirts/trouser's x3 and shoes was £62
the school bill for just 2 fleeces 1 tie 1 full PE kit was £138.
I dont buy my kids a full school uniform each year just replace it when it needs it, if i did it would cost me more than christmas does

slummymummyof3

My childrens school insists on jumpers, blazers etc with the school logo on -if I were to buy it through the school supplier it would cost me £23 for 1 jumper - I buy M&S cotton jumpers (currently £5) and get them embroidered for £3.50.

elisebutt65

My mum spent hundreds on my uniform cos they had to be got from Harrods:eek::eek:

I'm peeved at my school cos they've just changed the whole uniform and everything apart from trousers and shoes is badged:mad:. I may try and find an embroidery type site online and get a copy made of the logo that I can sew on top shirts and stuff and get the uniform at Asda.

They had meetings before hand to discuss this and I suggested a sew on badge and the other parents complained as that meant they would have to sew them on:eek: FGS They could use iron on tape if they're that lazy! I can't even get the uniform yet as the shop at school isn't open until the week before they go back to school but it's going to cost at least £200 to kit out one boy!

bestpud

DD has to have logo'd polo shirts, cardi and PE top.

Then it's normal grey trousers/skirt and I guess the PE shorts can be bought elsewhere (but they are the cheapest item anyway).

They probably cannot enforce it, but everyone abides by it, and tbh, they do look smart when they are lined up, or in assembly.

The polo is a colour that I've never seen elsewhere and perhaps that was deliberate...

Having said all that though, the cardis are about £13 but dd has one a year now. The polos are £7 each but she has five and two of them she's had since she started three years ago, and the other three were bought two years ago.

The older ones need replacing this year as she has shot up and they are too small, but they still look ok.

When you compare the lifespan against cost and think she wears this stuff for roughly half the year, it doesn't seem so expensive iyswim?

I prefer it personally and find it easier than trying to decide which ones to buy, and whether the cheapest will wash ok etc.

I know it is not so good if the quality is bad though - my older two went to a school with a shocking sweatshirt supplier - they were horrible by November, no matter how carefully you treated them! I really begrudged paying for those.

I also agree, shoes are the killer when you have more than one!

I paid £45 for one pair of shoes and one pair of black pumps yesterday (another thing they have to have but I can't buy cheap as dd has wide feet).

When I had three at school, it really mounted up!

Tbh, people who say they cannot afford it have usually failed to appreciate the cost and not budgeted for it. It can be a shock when you think you will got to Tesco and pay £2-3 for shirt and are then told you actually need to fork out £7 per shirt!

ailuro2

Our school offers sweathshirts at £10 each, and waterproof jackets for around £19.

Thankfully they are not compulsory, so DD can have something that will last her all year from Marks and Sparks, mixed in with the 50p or £1 school skirts we pick up from Tesco out of season (we get the next size up from what she needs)

I understand wht schools want their kids to be in 'uniform' but I think it should be outlawed they have to be from one supplier who charges a fortune.

I'm glad we are where we are, and I agree that school uniform is way cheaper than putting them in their ordinary clothes.

I also agree the shoes are costly, but I'd be buying DD shoes anyway, so not really an extra cost. At any one time DD has her school shoes, a pair of trainers and/or a pair of sandals if it's summertime. She gets boots for winter term then goes back to wearing the previous summer's shoes if they still fit her.

squibbs25

My ds starts secondary school in September, i managed to pick him up a school sweatshirt (basically brand new) in a local charity shop for £3.50, i also put a post on our local freecycle requesting any unsed uniform to which a lady replied and gave us another sweatshirt and t shirt, my mum in law picked him up a pair of black school trousers in the debenhams sale. All in all, approx £45 pounds worth of uniform for £3.50

On the open evening at the school the supplier was there so i was able to pick him up another 2 polo tops, unfortunatley the supplier didnt bring any PE items with them so thats a little trip into town but i will be getting school shoes for him at the same time.

Sultana

I spent over £20 yesterday on 2 ties & a blazer badge. That's all I'm buying from the official supplier. The thing that annoyed me most is that I had to stand in a long queue of people waiting to be individually served as everything is behind the counter - you can't just pick stuff up and take it to the till like in normal shops.