School Uniform Supply Monopolies

TechnoBadger

So the school want to quickly 'up' its image and parents are the ones footing the bill? That's crazy - I'd like to think that the new uniform was sold to you at cost price or below! (Not much hope of that I guess). After an apalling OFSTED surely there were more pressing problems than an immediate change of uniform? The cynic in me says that the funds they raise will help pay for some of them of them to be addressed! How much is a blazer? I had to pay £65 for my son's first secondary school blazer. It was much the same as one I could have bought from a wholesaler for £12.99 apart from the embroidered badge. Needless to say the badge was removed and re-sewn on plain blazers from then on...

balletshoes

borderlakland wrote: »

DD starts high school in september and will join her brother (yr8) and sister (yr11) this year the school (after an appalling ofsted report) has decided to "up" the image of the school by ditching the old uniform of logo'd polo and sweatshirts, and changing to shirts, logo'd jumpers and Blazers with school badge, and ties.. badges can not be bought and sewen onto a blazer/jumper they have to be purchased from the school. admitatdly the quality doesn't appear too bad but time will tell how they wash and wear.
What really annoyed me is that there was no phasing in of the uniform, DD will be in yr 11 in sept and finishes school (apart from exams) in may but she still has to have a full new uniform which to me seems pointless. :mad:

when our local high school changed to an academy they brought in a completely new uniform including blazer and tie when before it was just a sweatshirt. Every pupil at the school, plus the new intake when the school changed to academy status, got a blazer, tie and PE shirt/shorts provided by the school, free.

All pupils starting at the academy now have to pay for their uniform - but apart from blazer and tie (and school PE kit and tracksuit if they represent the school in any of its teams) none of it is exclusive. So far the price of the blazer and tie are not extortionate - but the academy does have feeder schools in socially deprived areas, so I suspect that is helping to keep uniform costs down.

Mrs_Ryan

Evansangel wrote: »

Surely they cant force a child into detention every night?
I would come into the school and take them home at the end of each day.

Detention is meant to be a punishment for bad behaviour and not having the exact uniform isn't exactly bad behaviour

They got round that by having lunch-time detentions. Basically, after lunch we had half an hour in which we could go outside or do whatever but they were keeping people in then.. If an after school detention was to happen there had to be a form signed by the parents but the parents just refused to sign them. That was entirely the point - it was disgusting. A lot of these children had parents who were out of work or on a low wage and they were bascially being punished for this. I think the LEA got wind of it in the end and ordered the school to stop.

elisebutt65

My DS2 starts at his brothers 2dry in Sept. His brother only has to wear smart casual now for 6th form, so I've cut the sewn in logos out of his old polo shirts and sewn them onto M&S ones for littlie

I still have to buy the logo-ed PE shirt/shorts, rugby shirt and tracksuit though as you can't get them anywhere else, but they are really good quality. I only replaced the trackie bottoms after 2 years as DS1 grew out of them. Sadly DS1 is 4'6", whereas his brother is 6'3" so can't hand them down yet.

rosalie-lavender

My daughter takes her last exam on Monday. Her school has until recently used just one uniform supplier that gave a donation to the school for every item of uniform it sold. Like a lot of the other schools mentioned here, the blazer has the logo embroidered on the pocket and is very expensive. At a recent parents evening the school left samples of uniform from another local supplier who was cheaper. The headmistress said that if parents were interested she would make the store an official uniform supplier. Perhaps she wasn't aware that the parents had been buying the uniform from someone else for years.:rotfl:

A local market stall holder opened a shop selling school uniform and had managed to do a very good copy of the school logo. The quality was better and the what I used to pay for the blazer now covered the cost of the jumper too. There are now two alternative uniform suppliers and I think sales are dropping fast for the original supplier.

On the last day of school before my daughter went on study leave I told her on no account was she to allow her blazer to be ruined in the general silliness that sometimes goes on. After tomorrow it will be washed and taken into school along with her jumpers and ties so the school can pass it on to someone else. Mind you she is so tiny for her age, it will probably be passed on to a year 8 or 9 pupil not a year 11.:rotfl:

I have seen similar discussions to this before. It is quite refreshing that no-one has come along with the snobby attitude I have seen on other forums, that implies if you can't afford the uniform you shouldn't be sending your child to a certain school etc etc.

pigpen

We weren't told the prices of the uniform until the induction day by which time it was too late to change schools.. but I would gladly pay my left arm to provide the uniform for the sake of the better education they get.

How much were your blazers if you don't mind sharing? I am yet to find anyone who pays more than we did! I jut want to know I'm not the only twit who willingly pays it!

jellyhead

I don't mind buying logo uniform, but I just wish it could be better quality. The very cheapest stuff from supermarkets is far superior to the sweatshirts we have to buy with the school logo on. Unless we bought new every few weeks the kids look terrible anyway, because their sweatshirts are like rags.

pigpen

jellyhead wrote: »

I don't mind buying logo uniform, but I just wish it could be better quality. The very cheapest stuff from supermarkets is far superior to the sweatshirts we have to buy with the school logo on. Unless we bought new every few weeks the kids look terrible anyway, because their sweatshirts are like rags.

Take them back to the school and complain.. seriously.. if you bought something from a shop and it was crappy after a few weeks you'd take it back.. just because it is a school doesn't change the fact the goods are poor quality... a few people taking back shoddy clothing might spur them into getting a decent quality!!!!

And write to the governors and complain too!!!

dark_lady

I dont actually have children but have been reading this thread with interest. I am shocked at how much parents are having to pay and i am absolutely disgusted that schools are keeping kids in detention for not having the right uniform if the parents are on a low income. Punishment for being poor and discrimination to boot. Some teachers either have no common sense or an "Im Airight Jack attitude.If it were me i would be threatening them with going to the local paper about it or better still, approach a womens magazine.:mad:

nextyeartina

i used to spend what was a small fortune to me on the "proper" school uniform. i felt it double when i had 2 at school. when my 3rd started primary & my eldest high school, i started buying tesco's uniform apart from the cardys. there's only a couple of years between my youngest, i pass down the cardys. if they're still in good condition after that, i'll pass them on again. last year i took advantage of multiple tesco uniform offers. it cost me £16 for 22 items delivered :eek:. hoping something similar comes up this year. i think if uniform is compulsary, then school should sell the uniform at a discounted price. at the end of the day, it's for the school's benefit, not our purses/wallets

t, x