School to become an academy - unfair uniform pricing

Spendless

jellyhead wrote: »

Our school uniform is very reasonable, despite a couple of complaints I've had over the years.

The PE kit was a killer though, especially when he lost it during the first term and they would only give him 2 weeks leeway for me to buy another. Because it was the first term and he didn't know what he needed his bag contained the official rugby shirt, official PE shirt, shorts in both colours, trainers, football boots, shin pads and football socks.

Total cost including bag was over £100 and that was with me buying a cheap bag, cheap football boots and cheap trainers.

When school doesn't provide lockers or pegs and forces the children to dump their bags in a pile outside the lecture theatre I really think they should expect more items to go missing and allow more leeway for parents to replace those items

When DS needed football boots for the 1st time last year Mr S refused to buy cheap ones. He said he was an adult running a small side line in sports gear when he realised that football boots weren't meant to hurt -lol.

There's no lockers at my son's school either, which leads to the no coat wearing even in the depths of winter scenario with him.

Mrs_Arcanum

Spendless wrote: »

When DS needed football boots for the 1st time last year Mr S refused to buy cheap ones. He said he was an adult running a small side line in sports gear when he realised that football boots weren't meant to hurt -lol.

There's no lockers at my son's school either, which leads to the no coat wearing even in the depths of winter scenario with him.

Same with ours. Or like DS they have rucksacks the size of Bergens which they can fit their coat into and wander round like turtles all day.

rising_from_the_ashes

dizziblonde wrote: »

I used to work at a school that had a brown and yellow uniform - gawd it was vile! Was a private school - I always had this theory that the higher the fees, the viler and more ridiculously coloured the uniform.

OMG we used to have a brown uniform in winter & green in summer - the scarves & ties were brown & yellow - it was vile!

Jumty

embob74 wrote: »

What a great idea if people only knew how to do this. One year I managed to buy a new black blazer for £2.50 in a shop sale. My mum carefully took the school badge off the old blazer and sewed it onto the new one. Voila - a new blazer for £2.50. It was months before anyone noticed it wasn't exactly the same as the school's blazers and that was only because DD kept boasting about our bargain!!
I love thegirlintheattic's school's policy in giving a badge to sew onto bog standard jumpers. All schools should do this. Perhaps sell the badges for a few pounds and make money that way as I'm sure it wouldn't cost much to order badges in bulk.

Our DC's school has an iron-on badge that we put onto jumpers and shirts from the supermarket.

The badges cost us £1.10 or five for a fiver. So it's much cheaper than buying from the school uniform shop.:T

TechnoBadger

Oooh, what a long thread! I'm sorry, but I've not read it all. I supply (no, I'm not after any business ) the uniform for the primary school that my children used to attend. The service is in competition now with a High St shop which has 'Sole Supply Arrangements' with other local schools. Because my service is just a hobby, run via order forms and a website, the parents can buy their uniform at under £6 for an embroidered sweatshirt, £4 for a polo shirt etc. The what would otherwise be a sole supplier is less than impressed... So he charges less for school uniform to this particular school than he does all of his others! So from him a sweatshirt is under £7.50 compared to around a tenner at the schools where there is no competition.

So I suggest that a group of parents put it to their Chairman of Governors that they want a proper second supplier (bear in mind that local suppliers probably won't compete properly) or slowly start supplying yourselves! Why forever not? I'll happily name my suppliers, who will deal with schools, if anyone wants me to. No axe to grind, not on 'commission, just fed up with the monopoly that is school uniform supply.

looby75

My son went to visit his high school today and has come home with the uniform list, it looks like the school has finally listened to parents and you can now buy the school badge separately. That means I can get his school blazer from M&S with the 20% off school uniforms for under £25 and buy the badge for £6.50 rather than pay the £45+ for the one with it already embroidered. :j

shellsuit

looby75 wrote: »

My son went to visit his high school today and has come home with the uniform list, it looks like the school has finally listened to parents and you can now buy the school badge separately. That means I can get his school blazer from M&S with the 20% off school uniforms for under £25 and buy the badge for £6.50 rather than pay the £45+ for the one with it already embroidered. :j

That's great news Loobs! :T

I got a letter today, to say because DD is taking GSCE PE, she needs a red PE top, with her name embroidered on it, instead of the sky blue one she's already got and is still in perfect condition.

I can't grumble though, I knew she'd need one (DS had one), just gutted as the one she has now is still like brand new, so have asked her to see if any of her friends have sisters who want it, or for her to give it to one of her friends who isn't taking GCSE.

looby75

shellsuit wrote: »

That's great news Loobs! :T

I got a letter today, to say because DD is taking GSCE PE, she needs a red PE top, with her name embroidered on it, instead of the sky blue one she's already got and is still in perfect condition.

I can't grumble though, I knew she'd need one (DS had one), just gutted as the one she has now is still like brand new, so have asked her to see if any of her friends have sisters who want it, or for her to give it to one of her friends who isn't taking GCSE.

Oh I hate it when that happens. Nessa lost a load of weight in her last year of GCSE's and I had to buy her a new Skort for PE because her old one kept falling down when she ran. I asked the school if they had any second hand ones I could buy from them or if she could wear tracksuit bottoms for the last term before the exams but they said no. I think she used it about 6 times, it was still brand new when she finished for her exams. Luckily one of my friends daughters was starting the school the following September so I gave it to her so it still got used.

Sometimes I think schools think that money grows on trees.