School Uniform grrrrrr

clevergirly

Hi I am new to this forum but am a really angry parent of two teenage boys. My elder son is in year 11 and so I wont need to replace his school uniform as he will be going into the 6th form and they can wear their own clothes. However, my younger son will be going into year 10 this coming September. Two years ago their secondary school changed their school uniform and we HAD to buy their school trousers from a designated "school uniform shop". Before this I had always bought their trousers from various supermarkets and chain stores including Tescos and Marks and Spencer and had always been pleased with the quality when washed and of course the price! The "designated" school shop charges more than DOUBLE the price for each pair of trousers compared to chain stores and supermarkets and the first year the quality was very good however the second year the quality of the trouser has definitely fallen very badly and in fact my younger son only got 4 months out of the school trouser as they simply fell apart. They are embroidered near the waistband with a self colour design and at first the school used to randomly check the trousers of school children to make sure they were wearing the trousers from the "designated" school shop however recently this has not been the case and I have now resorted back to buying trousers from chain stores (in this instance BHS which was the only store that had virtually the exact colour granite grey that the "designated" school trouser is. I have told my son that if he is stopped at school and "checked" he is to refer the school to ME and I will tell them that the quality of their "designated" school shop trouser is very very poor quality.

I am now waiting for him to be "checked" which hopefully wont happen but I wonder if anyone else is having this problem. I am sure that schools are doing this as they must be getting a "kick back" from the "designated" school shop for each pair of trousers that are sold.

We do not have to buy the "designated" school blazer at the shop as they sell the badges which can be sewn on any black blazer and I have never bought their expensive blazer at £40 when I can buy a plain black blazer for around £10 and a badge for £4.

Am I the only penny pinching mother who does this???? I just feel that we are being ripped off with regard to these school trousers?

Disgruntled clevergirly!

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thinkginge

im in a similar situation, exept my sons only 3!!! his nursery wants all kiddies to wear nursery uniform. at £7.50 per polo top and £19 for a school jacket.

i would need to buy at least 5 polo tops and their tshirts , jumpers and a jacket. the qualitys rubbish and the paint and glue they use just wont come out. so my son would be going looking like i hadn't washed his clothes

they're bright coloured polos etc and i had a word with the nursery and said, i would buy a uniform for him, but not theirs and my son would still look smart, adhering to policy etc. no way was i paying their prices for a 3 year old!

the_cat

http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/management/atoz/u/uniform/

Some useful info on this site, in particular the quote below.

schools can use their own purchasing power to buy in bulk and pass on savings to parents. Governing bodies should not seek to operate as sole suppliers in order to raise additional funds through the sale of new school uniforms

HTH

newmum1

thinkginge wrote: »

im in a similar situation, exept my sons only 3!!! his nursery wants all kiddies to wear nursery uniform. at £7.50 per polo top and £19 for a school jacket.

i would need to buy at least 5 polo tops and their tshirts , jumpers and a jacket. the qualitys rubbish and the paint and glue they use just wont come out. so my son would be going looking like i hadn't washed his clothes

they're bright coloured polos etc and i had a word with the nursery and said, i would buy a uniform for him, but not theirs and my son would still look smart, adhering to policy etc. no way was i paying their prices for a 3 year old!

I know exactly what you mean my daughter is 2 and her nursery has just brought in polo shirts in various bright colours and at £7.50 a go they are not cheap. I was not going to buy her as they are not compulsary but I gave in due to the fact that all her group had them, and I guess that whats they bank on. 6 months later nobody bothers to wear them and hers has got paint ,food, grass stains you name it and are only fit for the bin. I tell you what i wont be buying them again!!!

poe.tuesday

hum......

some interesting reading here

http://www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/uniform%20guidance%20-%20final2.doc

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/feb/18/shopping.schools

MrsE_2

cleverygirly

While I think strict school uniforms are a good idea, skirt length, proper shoes, heel height ect.

I think this one school shop thing is very sus.
A blazer badge or tie is fine & a good idea.

For my daughter I had to buy a red sweatshirt style jumper with the school crest on it.

It was such cr4p quality, always seemed to look stained & shapless.

Why couldn't they just wear a red jumper, I'm sure given the choice the girls would have worn a smarter top.

pulliptears

friends DD had this problem at a local catholic school. They checked the school trousers for a postage stamp sized logo near the pocket, hidden by the blazer. Trousers were terrible quality so she bought others that were identical all bar the logo.

She was found out 3 weeks later and her DD was made to work for the day in the corridor and given a detention. My friend went in all guns blazing over the incident but from memory she didnt get very far.

Had they have done that to my DD Im afraid she would have been out the door before they could utter the words "Official Uniform Stockist".

clevergirly

pulliptears wrote: »

friends DD had this problem at a local catholic school. They checked the school trousers for a postage stamp sized logo near the pocket, hidden by the blazer. Trousers were terrible quality so she bought others that were identical all bar the logo.

She was found out 3 weeks later and her DD was made to work for the day in the corridor and given a detention. My friend went in all guns blazing over the incident but from memory she didnt get very far.

Had they have done that to my DD Im afraid she would have been out the door before they could utter the words "Official Uniform Stockist".

Yep the postage stamp sized logo is the same at our school and the Blazer just covers it. Well I am going to give it a try with these new trousers and see if he gets caught. Then I am going to raise a petition if they try and make me buy the official "designated" school trousers because I know I am not the only parent that has noticed the quality of the trousers be so poor.

The PE kit is another bug bear as they have to have the official school white polo shirt with school logo on it. They cost £15 each which is very expensive especially when your son has chosen to take PE at GCSE and needs at least 2 but possibly 3 or 4 of these shirts with the amount of PE lessons he will be doing. The jogging bottoms are also expensive. School logo'd, made out of cotton style with zips at the lower leg and although lined again are around £15 each and wash pretty badly.

I am not against a uniform, on the contrary I think it is smart, makes everyone feel that they belong and obviously makes everyone look the same so rich and poor cannot be singled out however I think that schools should look at picking a uniform that is easy to buy, easy to wash, and comfortable. I think personally that the days of blazers have gone. I think that most boys and girls would much prefer to wear some sort of smartish trouser or skirt with a polo style shirt and possibly in the winter a plain v neck sweater. I know talking to my elder son that is what he would want but then he only has about 6 more weeks of wearing a uniform at all and then he can go to school in the scruffiest jeans he has as the 6th form has no uniform.

Anyway I will let you lot know if my son gets caught with the "BHS" trousers as opposed to the "designated" school shop trousers!!!! WATCH THIS SPACE.....

duchy

I'd be more concerned about the standard of education the school offered.
It all sounds very petty. If the quaility is that bad then plenty of parents will complain and the situation will be resolved. The parents could work with the school to pressure the shop to improve quality rather than teach their children that they can cherry pick which school rules they follow and which ones they can break. Parents can't undermine schools authority like this on one hand -and then complain the schools have no discipline on the other.
Of course the other alternative is to move your child to a school you don't want to fight with. No-one is forcing you to send your child to this particular school.

alwaysskint96

My DD2's school has just introduced compulsary polo shirts for summer uniform- instead of them being able to wear short sleeved white shirts/blouses :mad:

These polo shirts are £16 each and have the year clour ( my DDs is gold) around the collar and cuffs. They are only worn one term per year- so if the child grows then they are no good for the following year- and cannot be passed down to siblings as the trim wont be suitable for another school year.

GRRRRR

anonymousie

alwaysskint96 wrote: »

My DD2's school has just introduced compulsary polo shirts for summer uniform- instead of them being able to wear short sleeved white shirts/blouses :mad:

These polo shirts are £16 each and have the year clour ( my DDs is gold) around the collar and cuffs. They are only worn one term per year- so if the child grows then they are no good for the following year- and cannot be passed down to siblings as the trim wont be suitable for another school year.

GRRRRR

I have 3 kids at fairly sensible ,uniformed sate schools.

We did have be annoying to the infants though- I was not forcing DD2 into tights at 4 because they said "no trousers" -I had a "battle plan" re descrimination ready for the govenors but actually the head just had a big grump at me "flouting the rules" one day and changed the polic after!

DD1 is 14 and the skirt has to be "the right one" but is avaiable from at least 3 local stockists. I got a bit miffed when she had been in the school a year and they changed to a 3/4 length "school stockist only" blouse, as I had stocked up in BHS sale. BUT new blouses weren't compulsory for existing students for a full 12 months. THe blouse as £12 but actually are lasting well-nearly 2 yrs now (and they may, just do the 3rd year before she goes to non uniform 6th form!).

DS wears a blazer but he loves it- he can keep all his stuff. M+S blazer, school badge- excellent value.

The junior school changed PE uniform which has annoyed me as we have a ton of old stuff for the 8yr old to wear up- I wont change it till they moan -expensive tracksuit for 2 lessons a week in winter vs the tesco joggers we already have- nocontest!

RE the very restrictive polo shirt policy- I assume this is fee paying school? If not I'd fight it all the way (again I sssume these are junior age kids?). £16 a polo shirt for 1 term is unreasonable in the extreme.I f you are fee paying I'm afreaid they can do what they like.

RE the OP and the "designated trousers" do they actually come in a range to fit all kids??? My DS is very leggy and even getting high street trousers to fit is hard (we are off to John Lewis this holiday to try some of their trousers as they are waist/leg lengths -he is even outside the tange for M+S "long" now)