school uniforms moan again

[hightara]

well, i have only three at school now

tára's uniform........ got shirts and skirts from asda (two of each) bargain..... but the school have a branded jersey and p.e uniform which will be fifty quid.

the other two, one going into grammar and the other one out grown everything. (and his uniform is so worn out it cant be passed down to his younger sibling)

im okay with the black trousers........ but heres the bad news

Tára.s                                                                                                                          £ 15.00 asda

                                                                                                                                      £ 50.00

BOYS 
Charcoal grey trousers                                                   x 2                                    £ 18.00   approx  
Yellow shirt  £10.00                                                         x 4                                    £  40.00
School tie                                                                                                                    £    6.00
Navy jumper with 2 yellow bars in V neck  £17.00     x 2                                    £  34.00
Beau Brummel School blazer ( £50.00) approx         x 2                                    £100.00

Black flat shoes Black flat shoes

School Raincoat £30.00                                                  x1                                     £  30.00

School PE Uniform: Top £26.00 – Shorts £11.00 – Socks £4.00 ( x 2   )        £  82.00

then its shoes, trainers, football boots and schoolbags................................... £100.00     at a guess.

total approx. without sundries and school fees                                                     £475.00

and i'm being conserative.

from the school site 

Failure to comply with uniform/appearance regulations will result in student being asked to remain at home.

without the......... you shouldnt have had so many kids ....... life was different when we had them.

why oh why do they not have a uniform we could buy cheaply without blerdy brand named stuff you can only buy in the school or one nominated shop.

moan over

[ginap.123]

Same here CB, my mum made all my dresses from the material

[duck_a_lorange]

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@captainbovine wrote:

I agree with school uniform, but I don't agree with embroidered jumpers etc. This goes against the principle of every child being on an even keel with their clothing. The poorer parents find it hard to purchase the logo'd stuff.

when I was at school the uniform was just a basic colour, you had to buy the tie and the badge for the blazer but that was it. You could buy the dresses made up or just the fabric.

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I agree with every word of that.  

There is an "academy" near me - the blazers have striped "piping" round the lapel and down the front.  Not only does that make them expensive - the piping is filthy.  As are the blazers - because they are cheap polyester and they show all the dinner stains, because the kids have to wear them all the time (we didn't) - and you can't wash them.

I asked a teacher friend why they don't supply sew-on or iron-on badges instead of expensive embroidery and she said that these days you can't trust parents to do anything.  I don't agree with that. It's nannying - and expensive.

[**streety**]

I've been a little worried at the cost of my sons secondary school uniform.  Stuff I've had to get through school has come to just over £100.  I'm on benefits too (because of job losses), minus the help from family so not suprisingly my chq bounced
However all I need to now  get are football boots, Track suit, shoes, socks and shirts.  My daughter; skirts, tights, socks, shoes, track suit, trainers.... Blimey.  
It's ok, I have saved a little and I might be able to plead with their dad to contribute

[*elphaba*]

That is a painful bill, Tara! 

We didn't even consider the school that had an exclusive uniform (£30 a skirt and don't even ask about the blazer)  Not to mention the £600 a year travel costs,    Its a form of selection, I think, to ensure to get monied parents. 

Little elpha goes up to secondary in September and we have had to spend £55 on logo'd blazer, coat and rugby shirt but the rest of it can be generic.  

A school that genuinely understands that a child can be intelligent, mannered  and worthwhile even if their parents can barely afford their new pencil case is a school worth going to, in my opinion.     

[bankhaunter]

Its a form of selection, I think, to ensure to get monied parents.

That's exactly it, how can it be said that parents have a choice of school when the costs of an unnecessarily expensive uniform have to be taken into consideration?

When I went to grammar school in the fifties, we had the usual requirement to wear a uniform, discipline was strict out of school whilst wearing it but it was only blazer and tie that were specific items and those could be got from either the school outfitters or at a lower cost from the local Co-op.

If that was considered satisfactory for an old long established grammar school back then, surely it should be now for any school in the country?

[guardpig]

Question has to be what happened to quality.

My grammar school had a very exclusive uniform.  When I eventually outgrew the blazer(that took 3 years) , the braid and badge were whipped off, blazer went to tailors for the button holes to be moved over, new badge supplied and my brother got to wear it to his school as they had the same colour.  Mind that was in the wool, dry clean only and "DON'T YOU DARE SPILL FOOD ON IT" days.  Think when bro grew out of it it was passed on down to some other family as there was still wear in it, elbow patches being almost an essential.

Son wore his polyester bazers until he outgrew them regardless of state they were in.  The only good thing was them being washable.

[bankhaunter]

The quality of the blazers from the school outfitters was higher than the ones from the Co-op.

However even if in the long run the costs were much the same, parents didn't have to find such a large sum at any one time.

The more expensive blazers cost the same as my weekly wage when I first started work, not cheap.

[hightara]

the primary schools you can not get help with benefits........... as you dont have to wear them.....but you really do

would you send you kid to school without the uniform? 

many many years ago............. we went to grammar.........bless my mum she knitted the jumpers 

for three of us.......... and the rich ones  made fun of us.

looking back........ i loved what she done........and our boys dont give a **bleep** about desinger clothes

love make do and mend

[ginap.123]

Again I think it's down to the council Tara, as my friend who got the vouchers had 2 primary & 2 secondary age kids at the time

[purplepennyb]

Hi Gina (and others), uniform grants are decided at council level, all three around me have ceased them.

Sometimes PTA associations have uniform sales and even grants awarded by the Governing Body... perhaps it is something people could consider asking? Some secondary schools have office staff in through the summer.

[1311rose]

I just cannot understand in these times of less and less money to go around how so many schools think it is okay to have expensive uniforms.  Does it never occur to them that it would be a good idea to have a standard colour of uniform that is easy and inexpensive to get hold of.  If they really want emblems on blazers etc they could have a logo badge that could be sewn or ironed on.

In my days at school (many moons ago) we had quite a good second hand shop where you could sell outgrown uniform in good condition and parents could buy uniform.  It was ideal for the more expensive items such as blazers (we did not wear ours every day).  Actually come to think of it, why do so many schools insist that blazers are worn every day??  Surely a jumper or cardigan would be a more sensible item of clothing.

[dr-whos-assistant]

My daughters blazer is exactly the same colour as the blue one, heath park school heathtown its about £30 and is good quality she's had it a year and its been washed loads.

[chickengrandma-2008]

My daughter has just bought grandson's new uniform this morning, £189, but this doesn't include shoes, blazer or a coat for winter, or a bag or all the stuff he needs in the bag etc. etc. etc......

[*chez*]

hmmmm... it seems now that the kids can't wear their designer trainers to school.. the new must have is a designer bag, the plain black,strong, suitable size bag I intended buying is apparantly.. lame

[*pixachu*]

My son has a very decent plain black Eastpak backpack - it weighs a ton when full and he is not the sort to follow the crowd.

My daughter however, has gone through several school bags this last year. She buys crap fashion bags that last a term if she's lucky! She has to try to fit in....

I made a stupid mistake of buying my son new (larger sized) school jumpers for the last term as he needed them. Washed them 10 times each to get the fluff off... and then he wore them a month before the weather got warm here and they have been in his cupboard....

I had totally forgotten that at their schooul year 10 & 11 have a different coloured jumper! They are just sweatshirts with the school logo (only available from the school) but I had to buy another two in the correct colour. Will have to keep the other ones until my daughter catches up!

The girls all wear black trousers that have now been banned! They are skinny fit lycra ones.... so will be having a fight with my daughter about which ones she wears in September. I wonder if the girls will all still wear the banned ones....?

And how the school will enforce this new rule?

Must remember to sort the uniform out soon 🙂

[the-ginger-ninja]

I have 2 girls, aged 8 & 9 because they are both the same size I can't pass any clothes down. The school is about to change from Infant & Junior to all through primary and all the pupils are being given one free sweatshirt with the school logo on. I will not pay for them through the school when I can buy decent quality cardis from Asda or Matalan. 

We are lucky that the school is fairly relaxed about uniform, as long as it is the right colour and they gave out Matalan discount vouchers at the end of term. It has still cost me nearly £200 as both had growth spurts.

That is without shoes and trainers, shoes we have to have measured as they both inherited my deformed toes, little ones curl under the rest like little bananas. Getting ones that fit without doing more damage is about £40 a pair. 

Dreading the move upto Secondary school as the local ones are all strict about uniform.

[chickengrandma-2008]

I just sewed name tapes on grandson's new stuff today.  Three pairs trousers, three sweatshirts and five polo shirts.  Luckily she didn't want the socks doing, but she has all the sports gear to get yet!

[the-ginger-ninja]

Sharpie marker on care labels - not that it helps they still lose stuff.