Poverty inquiry finds a growing gulf between richer and poorer children in school.

[Darkesteyes]

Just seen this in my Twitter feed. Sadly after seeing posts from many MNers on here the situation is not surprising to me. I dont have DC myself but know people who do and im always shocked when they tell me the cost of these things.
I thought the whole point of school uniform was so children could be seen as , and treated as equal on a level playing field but those days seem to be far in the past now and long gone. This is certainly rubber stamped when i see parents worrying on here about how they are going to pay for trips. As well as letters sent home asking for money at short notice.
Anyway im sharing this on here because there is a petition within the article that some of you may be interested in. The prices of school uniforms and everything else related to school seems astronomic. Am thats its come to this.


www.theguardian.com/society/2014/aug/31/inequality-schools-children-poverty-commission?CMP=twt_gu

[Stealthpolarbear]

Thanks for the link

[DaisyFlowerChain]

I can understand making work uniform tax deductible as it's a cost of working but children's school uniform is just madness.

Children come with costs, always have always will. There is already an allowance via CB unless a high rate tax payer to assist with costs. If parents can't pay for food or clothes then their priorities are wrong.

[Darkesteyes]

Well that didnt take long must be a record i should think

[Darkesteyes]

Daisy a friend of mine pays £56 for one blazer. That was last year. im assuming that the cost goes up each year It wouldnt surprise me.

[gamerchick]

It is pretty expensive must admit.. I forked put 72 quid on just the top half of the teens uniform. His trousers and shoes still fit from last term which I was surprised at.

The youngest was 32 quid just for his top half for primary and again his shoes which I bought near the end of last term still fit.. I could have done a jig

I thought blazers were binned off years ago.. I haven't seen one for years.

[DaisyFlowerChain]

It's not an unexpected cost though is it like a boiler breaking or a tyre popping.

If children go to school they need school uniform. Secondary education usually means more of it and a specific kind but they go at the same age all the time so it's not like it's an unknown.

So many parents seem to think the costs of feeding, clothing and housing their child/children should fall to the state and not themselves. If you don't want to pay for your children, don't have them. Nobody is forced to and contraception is freely available.

[Fanjango]

Uniform should be cheap but too many use sole suppliers. Our local school has a sole supplier if maroon blazers and pe kit. You can't get that colour anywhere else and it has logos that you can't but as a patch. The blazer, for my large 14 yo, is £46 and his pe too was £13, rugby top (also compulsory) was £27. That's not cheap and I can't get any of it second hand, Facebook page full of medium and small clothes but none his size. Try getting cheap trainers in an adult 13! I hate thid time of year. Uniform is anything but cheap!

[Darkesteyes]

From the link.

According to Bryson, one school laid on a trip to New York for those who could afford it, while children who couldn't were offered a trip to a local cheese factory


If schools are going to create division like this then whats the point of a school uniform in the first place.

You cant have schools using excuses for astronomical costs for school uniform saying that uniform is so everyone is treated equally and then schools go and do things that create a division as above.

Seems to me they want it both ways.

[Darkesteyes]

In another, young people who "forgot" – or could not afford – to bring in their own ingredients for home economics saw the food they had cooked during the lesson thrown in the bin while their classmates were allowed to eat what they had made. Teachers explained afterwards that this was so that pupils would learn not to "forget" ingredients the next time.

In one school in the north-east, it became compulsory to buy a particular brand of tracksuit bottoms costing £40. Other schools have reportedly chosen dry-clean-only blazers.





JESUS WEPT

[80sMum]

But there have always been divisions between haves and have-nots, DarkestEyes. Are things really so different now?
In general, my observation is that standards of living have risen and most people are better off now than a generation or two ago.

[kormasutra]

Just spent £94 today on a PE kit with ds initials on, 2 jumpers and a tie.
State school in n/w.

Add on trousers/shirts/socks/school bag/stationery/shoes/black trainers for PE and the amount is eye watering:(

Only bought 2 of everything initially as I couldn't afford any more yet.
No blazer either which is strange in our big city.

[Darkesteyes]

Teachers were throwing food in the bin FFS.

What about not wasting food.

IMO division is getting even worse. Its not getting better. Poorer people are vilified like never before.

I never saw a teacher throw food in the bin to punish a poorer pupil when i was at school .

[bustraintram]

Throwing food away is unforgivable if it is as reported HOWEVER could it not be something like the ingredients were out of date/leftover etc and had to be thrown away as not safe to eat.

Re the America/cheese factory trip though, basically we are saying if it is impossible for everybody to go, then nobody should go. So if child A can afford it but child B can't, neither should go and that's fair. Child B isn't going to go anyway, why not let child A go if they can afford it?

[firstchoice]

Throwing good food in the bin is wasteful and a poor example to set.

Throwing food a child has cooked in the bin (presumably publicly)
to 'teach them to remember to bring the ingredients next time' is disgusting.
Those teachers should be ashamed.

[TeWiSavesTheDay]

The suggested scheme doesn't sound very good to me, it's not going to help those with parent(s) out of work to start with.

[NotSuchASmugMarriedNow]

Isn't this what child tax credits are supposed to pay for?

[OwnerOfAnInsanePuppy]

Interesting, thanks for the link.

[Darkesteyes]

If teachers put as much effort into tackling bullying as they do insisting on the correct uniform or asking for money from parents who cant afford it they could probably make a real difference.

Fortunately not all teachers are like this I still have very fond memories of two of mine.

[Nocrossbuns]

Haven't read the article yet but having forked out about £100 for my dc's school uniform (including coat) these last weeks I think that's nor very much as these clothes wil last at least till spring. Children need clothes, clothes cost money. Of course uniforms should be prices sensibly (official logo-ed stuff should not be 3x more than non-logoed stuff).

Everything is now expensive in the uk and most people feel the pinch.

[Nocrossbuns]

Also most schools operate a secondhand uniform service, there are charity shops etc. it is not impossible to be resourceful.

[scaevola]

Inequality started to rise under Labour (they were around long enough to be sure it was them, not hangover from previous). The current coalition doesn't seem to have changed the trend.

CAB has a good and long running campaign about the costs of school. I'll see if I can find a link.

[scaevola]

This isn't what was thinking of, but shows that nothing has changed in a decade: www.citizensadvice.org.uk/schools_leaflet_5_final.pdf

The coalition had some fine words about uniform policy, but didn't actually add anything (let alone an enforcement regime) to the existing (inadequate) policy.

[scaevola]

This is what I meant:

Adding Up Campaign

[FuriouslyFrottingFerret]

Our school has let children who get the pupil premium (which is attached to free school meals) have some of it spent on uniform in the past.

[Blu]

The price and rent hikes that families face, along with wage and job cuts, and supporting older teens and behind who cannot find work behind zero hours contracts or internships is shocking and a shame on the country.

Tinkering about with an admin heavy scheme to save (by definition) working parents the cost of the tax on school uniform seems to me to one of the least effective ways of addressing the real problems with meaningful solutions.

There was a long thread about this petition a while ago, wasn't there?