School Uniform Supply Monopolies

Sensemaya

pigpen wrote: »

I feel the badges which can be sewn/ironed/printed onto appropriately coloured garments is a better idea.. The school states what colour jumper/sweatshirt and doesn't dictate cost or where you buy it from and you buy the badges and sew/stick them on.

Or the garments which have the badges are limited.. eg.. just sweatshirts maybe add blazers or poloshirts for some schools.. Allowing coats, hats, trousers, shirts etc to be bought from anywhere.

Totally agree with you.

ianeck

My daughter will be starting high school next september (2014). We are currently doing the open days. School uniform is a major consideration and we have found schools are not forthcoming with revealing any monopoly before you apply and we have had to extract the information.

It is a real issue and with a compulsory trip we expect to have to fork out £800 for Y7.

The favourite school has a compulsory extensive list of specified sports gear only available from one mail order supplier at prices that reflect this. The general uniform skirt is around £25 and trousers almost £30. Is this really necessary? The blazer is £32 so that is not bad.

We all want our kids to look smart and school uniform is vital but generic items with a specified colour are perfectly fine. Then a compulsory blazer badge and tie can be sold by the school to finish it off. Perfect.

We can then buy from wherever we chose and make use of the 3 for 2s etc.

I object to being trapped in a monopoly for seven years and cost is not the only issue. What happens if suddenly you need an item of PE kit in an emergency on a Sunday? - you are stuffed. The other issue is if 50% of the cost is mark up (as suggested) and if a school fiddle factor has to be included too the quality will not reflect the price. Buying for kids by mail order is also a nightmare.

Surely over priced uniforms cause kids to rely on just one of everything and to buy bigger sizes to ensure some wear. This will make the kids look scruffy over time and surely this is shooting the schools in the foot. That is if smartness and not profit really is the objective?

Maybe I was dreaming but didn't I hear Cameron warning schools not to take advantage in this respect? If not he should be.