UK Government must make it mandatory for State School's to offer logo free uniform options
We believe that it should be up to parents to decide where they buy a school uniform from and not the choice of the School or Board of Governors who are a select few parents often from wealthier families, some School Governors do not even have children at the School they are governing for, they may not even have children at all, so why should they get to decide the uniform our children wear! This is a Nationwide problem and it's about time the government did something. So no matter where you are in the Country please campaign your school to sign this petition we are aiming to have the Government change the rules to benefit parents instead of the Schools or Uniform companies.
We want the Secretary for Education the Rt Hon Nicky Morgan to make the Department for Education amend the current Government Uniform Guidelines to make it mandatory for all state Schools and Academies to offer a logo free uniform option. These Guidelines are due to be reviewed this year so now is the time to demand these changes.
We see many of the children in our School wearing discoloured, ill fitting and often tatty uniforms due to the cost of replacing them being so high and the quality being so poor. A more affordable logo free option could mean deprived families being able to afford to replace the uniform when they really need to rather than sending their children to school looking shabby in an old uniform.
These changes would mean parents who can afford and want to purchase a logo uniform may do so, but those parents who do not want to purchase a logo uniform can buy the logo free version from any retailer that sells the correct school colours. For example our School logo Polo shirt prices are from ??5.99 per shirt, sweatshirts from ??8.50. The logo free versions of the same items are available from a supermarket from ??1.25 for the polo shirt and the sweatshirts are from ??2.00. There are schools out there who are far more expensive on uniform costs, there is a School in Kent that believes ??65 for a School blazer is reasonable, there are Schools up and down the Country getting away with this. Our School is not the worst by any means with regards to price but we still feel we should have the choice, four times the price and then some just for a logo is too much for a uniform. Our School only offer one supplier and the quality is truly shocking. It is not best value for money which is what the current Government Guidelines recommend to state Schools. Some Schools are also breaching Sexual Discrimination laws and getting away with it, is yours?
We also want Schools to be forced to allow a selection of suitable shoe colours rather than forcing only black. Having a choice in shoe colour is relevant for cost reasons as the stores rarely offer black shoes in sales, the cheaper black shoes available from supermarkets etc do not come in half sizes or width fitting choices, meaning children often have to wear ill fitting shoes and they do not get replaced as often as they should be. By offering an option of dark colours rather than specifying an actual colour parents can afford the shoes that do offer this as we regularly see blues/browns etc for less than half price meaning parents could afford shoes that offer half sizes and width fittings. One of my children was on his third pair of School shoes before his first Christmas at School!
The Government needs to give the power of choice with regards to School uniform and shoe colour back to the parents by taking the power away from the School & Governing body, this can only happen if they make the Government Guidelines mandatory, currently the guidelines only make recommendations, which are not enforced. In fact our School Principal stated that "It's only a Guideline, we do not have to follow them". We want the Guidelines made mandatory for Schools to follow so that they can no longer ignore the parts they do not like and threaten parents with sanctions.
We are not against a uniform, we are not against Schools having logo's, we are just against School's forcing their logo's onto us, it should be a choice whether to have logo's on the uniform. We are against a lack of shoe colour options and lack of purchase options.
Anarchy will not reign buy removing the School badge or from blue or brown shoes being worn instead of black! Exam results will not drop because the logo was not on the uniform! We are asking for a common sense approach to uniforms and a choice for parents of all financial abilities!
If a uniform is not readily available from a variety of retailers i.e. on the high street so to speak, then the School should not be allowed to demand it as a uniform, as after all that is just a back door way of forcing a specific supplier onto parents.
Please help us campaign for change by sharing our page and writing to the RT Hon Nicky Morgan, she is on Facebook, write to your school Governors demanding change, sign our petition to give the freedom to all parents, of all financial abilities. Tell us your uniform stories. Even working parents are struggling to pay for these overpriced garments.
We have been tackling our School on this issue since April 2014 and will not let the matter rest until common sense prevails. Our School gave us a year to comply, so we sent our children to School in the logo free uniform version for the past year and they looked just as smart as those in new correct uniform and smarter than those in the older tatty uniforms. We only had to replace one item due to it being so badly stained at School, the quality of our generic clothing was far superior to that of the Schools chosen supplier and the clothing would have been good enough to use again this year had our boys not had a growth spurt! The growth spurt did not phase us due to the low cost of the plain Uniform meant we could replace the necessary items without breaking the bank. Other parents at our School have had to replace several items of uniform due to quality as well as staining, and were not happy as they had purchased the expensive logo uniforms!
Our children have not been singled out by other children over the fact they are the only ones in non-logo uniform and a lot of Schools already offer this option, so it clearly is not a problem for them, so why is it such an issue for some Schools?
We just want the right put our children in logo free uniforms throughout their School years and for other parents too afraid to take the stand we have, to have the same right. I'm tired of having to fight the School on this matter and want the Government to remove that fight by changing the Guidelines accordingly - Mandatory logo free uniform options!