school uniform costs

theluvpies

ok sorry my first post is a help me post

I have just had to order my sons school uniform, he is going to senior school in september his uniform all has to have the school crest on and can only be purchased in one shop, which is on line or via the school, his pe kit can either be bought via the same on line company or a local sports shop.

for basic uniform alone i have just spent £100, on top of this i have to provide trousers, shoes, football boots, trainers, swimming trunks

costs are per item, vary according to size

polo shirt £6-8
jumper £16.50-22.00
pe polo shirt £7-9
pe games shirt £15-18
pe shorts £6-7 (girls pe skirt £13-15)
pe socks £5

optional items, must also be purchased from school supplier
jacket £20-26
hoody £15-21
they would like all children to have one of these jackets to wear to school, however children are not provided with a locker or safe area to put their coats and are not allowed to wear anything over their school jumper once in the school buildings
pe jogging bottoms for winter £7-12
dance outfit
shirt £5-6
joggers, not same colour as pe joggers £7-11
cricket kit £38-46
base layer for winter pe £25-30

now it just strikes me as the school having picked a very expensive supplier, the town we come from has a high level of unemployement and low wage jobs, many people are of course getting grants for school clothing due to their benefits, however we are a family who is struggling to make ends meet and the fact i have just been forced to spend so much on one childs school uniform, when normally this amount would pay for all 3 kids uniforms including shoes, bags etc

is there anything i can do to complain about this, i just want to get as much evidence and support as possible to try and get the school to alter their strict policy, i mean why should my son be given detention not because he hasn;t done his work but because i cant afford to provide him with the exact kit prescribed by the school

any pointers as to how i can act about this, i am also very aware that my other son is joining this school in a years time, and is bigger than his bigger brother so no chance of hand me downs, there is also a chance that they will not be in the same school house and therefore as the uniform is house colour specific they may not be able to share anyway.

any advice is much appreciated

:beer:

balletshoes

I don't know if theres any procedure you could follow for senior school, but just wanted to say, have you got anyone with children already in year 7/8 at the same school, who can tell you whats actually required for you to buy, as opposed to just the list you've been given?

My DD is going up to secondary school in September too, I've already sussed out with several parents of kids in year 7 now as to what they actually wear for PE lessons etc. Its definitely not all the kit the school advises to buy on the letter we were sent about uniform.

eta - I don't know the ethos of the school your son is starting, but my DD's one is - you picked our school, you chose to come here (its oversubscribed by a third of its intake number) so its up to you to dress and behave in the way the school expects, or have consequences.

Ellejmorgan

Mine is also going to high school, I was allowed to buy a plain black blazer and buy a badge from school and fix it on..Blazer was £11 in ASDA, badge was £3, blazer would have been £35 from school..

Check with school a lot of schools allow this..

Darlyd

Ellejmorgan wrote: »

Mine is also going to high school, I was allowed to buy a plain black blazer and buy a badge from school and fix it on..Blazer was £11 in ASDA, badge was £3, blazer would have been £35 from school..

Check with school a lot of schools allow this..

DITTO

To me it's like we are better off being single parents or from a family who do not work to get that grant, makes me so angry...

Spendless

The 1st year you kit a child out for Secondary school is expensive. I managed last year by cutting back on what I bought my younger child in Primary school and she's managed all year with what she already had.

If you buy some items with a view to growth you will be able to 'roll them forward' onto the next year. eg I bought 4 school jumpers they 2 were in current size, 2 to grow into. A year on and the 2 to grow into are now the current ones and I will buy 2 more in the next size up. I'd agree with the advice to ask the parent of an older child attending, especially about any PE kit. It's something I wasn't able to do last year, as the PE kit was just changing. Now I know that I won't buy logo'd football socks again, nor will I buy the logo's PE shirt. Mine doesn't play sports for the school which is the only circs I'd consider getting another. I'll just buy the compulsory rugby shirt and though I can buy a generic one in theory, in practise I can't as the school colours I am required to get aren't available on the high st.

Also even if the school is the sole supplier you may find somewhere else does a 'copy. My son's jumpers are solely supplied by the school and the badge is embroidered into it - am always quite envious when people talk about sew on badges -I wish! I discovered a local independant shopw as stocking jumpers, with the thread very slightly thinner and a shade different. You'd have to have eagle eyes to spot it though and you'd put the diff colour down to how many times jumper had been washed. I think I paid a couple of £s cheaper than via school for them.

theluvpies

ok so having been told on 3 occasions that the school would give detention to all children not wearing correct prescribed school uniform i discover that one parent tonight when she pointed out that the school was breaching government advice by having a sole supplier that the school backed down and said that plain white t-shirts can be worn under the jumpers, to her, to all other parents they are still saying the same as they said to me

i am visiting the school to demand the return of my £100 in the morning and to ask for the schools policy in relation to uniform and the mixed messages be sent to me before i purchase any uniform.

I object to paying £5 for something that in tescos i could get 3 for the same price all because of the badge

if they provided school sew on badges i would happily buy from the school and sew on, however they wont do that so i also wont be bullied into spending money that we dont have.

TechnoBadger

theluvpies wrote: »

...i discover that one parent tonight when she pointed out that the school was breaching government advice by having a sole supplier that the school backed down and said that plain white t-shirts can be worn under the jumpers, to her, to all other parents they are still saying the same as they said to me...

The Office of Fair Trading did look at this practice in 2006 and the full report is at http://www.oft.gov.uk/news-and-updates/press/2006/135-06.

It concluded:

'This study has shown that parents have to pay higher prices for school uniforms where exclusive agreements exist. This restriction on competition acts as a 'tax' on parents, which mostly goes to the chosen retailers. We call on school governors to eliminate these exclusive agreements.'

However the OFT said that although it has received complaints from parents: "These complaints do not lend themselves to enforcement action by the OFT (under the Competition Act 1998)."