School Uniform grrrrrr

GlasweJen

At my old school the suppliers were found to be paying their weekend shop assistant less than £2.50 an hour and making her work more than 10 hours at a time without a break. We all stopped wearing uniforms on the grounds of refusing to trade with an inethical company.

We also held a protest (catholic school) about not being allowed to wear trousers. When words, marches and petitions got us nowhere we managed to convince some boys in 5th and 6th year to wear skirts to school and they changed the rules overnight.

bestpud

katiepops wrote: »

On the subject of poor quality, am I the only one that thinks the quality of M&S school uniforms is not what it used to be? I got two pairs of M&S school trousers for my youngest (in year 1) in September, and within a week I had to resew up the crotch seam on both. He'd gone through the knees of both within the next four or five weeks, and consequently had to have new trousers before Christmas. I can't remember where I bought the new ones from, but they didn't last long either. So I got him a pair from Asda just after Christmas ... and I have to go and buy some more this week as he put the knee through a week before they broke up for Easter ... and he also needs new school shoes too, for the third time since September ...

No, I've noticed too. They've been going downhill for a few years now imo.

Their blazers are still good I think but the rest is no better than anywhere else - just more expensive.

Lillibet_2

Sorry if this has already been covered, I have only scanned the thread, but would it not be possible to salvage the logos from the old items & stitch/wonder-web them onto new (cheaper/better quality) items? This is what I would do in this situation & woe betide any staff who thought this was unacceptable!

That said, I would only apply this where the policy/supplier had changed after my child had started at the school, if I had enrolled them knowing the rules before I accepted the place then by knowing the rules I would be accepting them & would adhere to them.

suzejf

The complaint about extra schooling costs such as uniforms (and trips or PE kit) is valid. I am working on a national campaign by Citizens Advice (backed by other charities) about education costs (state education) and what sort of impact that is having on families on an already tight budget and how it affects the choice of which school to choose for their child (if they think their child might be disadvantaged in some way due to extra costs).
CAB is encouraging parents to get involved by letting their schools know if they find school uniforms are not widely available and hence not competitively priced. New Government guidelines are meant to be part of schools' admission policy as from September 2008, requiring that uniforms and PE kit are widely available, not just from one school shop.
The CAB campaign is encouraging schools to review their policy on uniforms and extra costs such as trips (which if part of the curriculum, donations from parents must be voluntary, and schools should make this clear). CAB is also urging local and central Government to make schemes and grants to help reduce such costs for those in need, more available and more widely promoted (many parents don't realise many schools have their own schemes in place, or that many councils have grants for uniform costs).
If you believe your school could be doing more to reduce costs, contact your local Citizens Advice Bureau, who may well be running a campaign on this issue. There should be campaign cards you can fill in and hand in to your school. The more pressure there is the more likely schools will do more to work with parents.
Sorry for long reply but thought it important to highlight this campaign!!

msmicawber

Excellent, suzejf, and more power to your elbow. I'll be contacting my CAB (since the school governors aren't interested).

snoony2

I have three daughters , all of primary school age. Fortunately, although logo'd school uniform is available it is not compulsory for them so I usually pick up pieces in high street stores such as M&S, Next etc.

I find that the cardigans I buy for them can fade quite quickly with washing and at around £10 each I'm not too keen on replacing them regularly, particularly if they still fit. Anyway, this week I bought a navy blue Dylon fabric dye and bunged all the cardis in the washing machine with it - they've come out looking like new! Only a little money saving tip I know but maybe it will save someone else a few pounds too.

MrsE_2

Lillibet wrote: »

Sorry if this has already been covered, I have only scanned the thread, but would it not be possible to salvage the logos from the old items & stitch/wonder-web them onto new (cheaper/better quality) items? This is what I would do in this situation & woe betide any staff who thought this was unacceptable!

That said, I would only apply this where the policy/supplier had changed after my child had started at the school, if I had enrolled them knowing the rules before I accepted the place then by knowing the rules I would be accepting them & would adhere to them.

I think thats a great idea.

As is the dye to renew clothes.

Carbootycat

Hi. For the boys trousers that have an embroidered logo near the waistband I would be inclined to cut it off when the trousers were worn out and try to sew it on another pair of trousers. It may work if the teacher didnt look too close. Both my GSs will be going to a compleatly new built high school in Sept. They will be in years 9 and 10. All the puples were given a vote between four new school uniforms. They both voted for white shirt and school tie,Black blazer with school logo on this is the one that won the vote. The blazer ,shirt and tie will have to be bought from the school but trousers and shoes as long as they are black can be bought elsewhere. As can shorts and trainers for PE. Airtex polo shirts for PE bought from school. I hope they dont change the uniforms every few years as they have done in the past.
Why is it everything looks ok with my posts until I have posted them then the spelling is all wrong.:eek: