School uniform and benefits

notanewuser

HotBubblegum wrote: »

Also my daughter is a little on the larger side and 5.3 tall and size 8 wide fit shoe...So the visit to asda only frustrated because they do not go up to her size and not a lot of uniform was left, Ive checked online store too and they do not cater for a size 18 school shirt amongst other things.

14 years old, 5' 3" and size 18 is not a "little on the large side".

What's your food budget? Can you save money there to use on uniforms? Anything you can sell quickly? Unwanted Xmas presents etc?

FBaby

OP, I sympathise with all the upheaval you and your daughter must have been through recently, and the difficulty in finding her clothes her size (although I do agree that it sounds like she does need to seriously lose weight and indeed money could be save there). However, I can't sympathise with you not having budgeted for her uniform. It's not like it's come as a sudden surprise that she would need one. Why didn't you save a few pounds each week knowing that you would need to have money at any time for her to start school?

You might be finding hard financially, but so do many families. That's why budgeting is essential. I hope you find a solution soon for your daughter, but would also advise to start looking into budgeting skills for the future to avoid the stress you are currently experiencing.

dori2o

I have sympathies with the OP.

My eldests school (which happens to be the high school I went to) have a very strict policy. It certainly wasn't like that when I was there. The only thing we had to have was the school Jumper.

You can only buy the skirts / pants and Jumper from 1 store and the skirts/pants MUST have the school logo on the waist band. (Is there anything that is more stupid than this considering it will be covered by a belt?)

You can get the exact same skirt/pants from Tesco, but it doesn't have the logo.

2nd day of school in September, 40 children were sent home for having the wrong skirt/pants on.

The skirts are £15 each. The pants £17, from the supplier the school insist you use. From Tesco they are £6 each. They are exactly the same except for the logo. They don't look any different at all.

I fail to see what effect a certain skirt has on a childs ability to learn.

Next year my wife and I have agreed we are not buying the expensive stuff, except for the Jumper which you can't really get around. The skirts and pants will come from Tesco. End of story.

If they send her home, so be it. But we cannot afford to spend £64 on skirts and pants. Especialy when they might only last half the school year. I wouldn't spend that on my own clothes.

If they want her to wear those specific clothes, then the school can buy them.

It's time state schools were prevented from dictating where uniform (except for maybe 1 item, a Jumper or Blazer) is purchased. Especially when wallets are being squeezed elsewhere.

By the time you have bought shoes (£40 a pair and sometimes 2 pairs a year), Coats (£20-£30 if you get one for autumn/winter and one for spring/summer), socks, tights, PE Kit (£18 for Blue Shorts and a school logo'd polo shirt), outdoor trainers, indoor trainers (for the gym), tracksuit, Bag. Then with High School you have stationary costs, dinners, bus fares, school trips, sports equipment if they decide to join a sports team, it goes on and on.

For Infant/Junior schools I would even say it is not necessary to have any restrictions on uniform or where it is purchased. Simply state what colour the shirt, Jumper/pants have to be and allow the parents to buy from where ever they want.

tyllwyd

dori2o wrote: »

... For Infant/Junior schools I would even say it is not necessary to have any restrictions on uniform or where it is purchased. Simply state what colour the shirt, Jumper/pants have to be and allow the parents to buy from where ever they want.

I think I must be so lucky in my area - at my kid's junior school, they ask them to buy a sweatshirt with the school logo on (which is not expensive) and then after that they just say grey/black trousers or skirt and white blouse. Secondary school is a bit stricter but again once you've bought a school jumper, tie and PE kit, the rest can be school uniform type clothes from wherever you like.

I did think that schools were encouraged not to be too restrictive about where uniform was bought, to keep the cost down for parents.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

£11.50 (so just £5.75 each) for two longsleeved white school shirts from Marks and Spencers with a 41" chest. It's the largest size they do for girls.

And there are always the mens XL shirts in ASDA at a tenner for two. http://direct.asda.com/george/men-s/shirts/formal-shirts/2-pack-long-sleeved-shirts/G003686246,default,pd.html

welshmoneylover

BigAunty wrote: »

Budgeting loan?

Or a job perhaps :j

CharmCaster

I just hope the Op's daughter doesn't read some of these replies, poor kid is probably having a hard enough time without seeing the judgmental comments about her weight and associated food budget! Wholly unnecessary.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

CharmCaster wrote: »

I just hope the Op's daughter doesn't read some of these replies, poor kid is probably having a hard enough time without seeing the judgmental comments about her weight and associated food budget! Wholly unnecessary.

If you think 'perhaps you could consider seeing a dietician' is judgmental, you haven't been in a school for a long, long time.

CharmCaster

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

If you think 'perhaps you could consider seeing a dietician' is judgmental, you haven't been in a school for a long, long time.

That is for the child's parent(s) and GP to consider, not strangers on an internet forum that she may have access to.

skintandscared_2

welshmoneylover wrote: »

Or a job perhaps :j

Have to say, I'm sat here wondering why a family would move to a totally new area without either of the parents having a job to go to....