Aibu to send my son to school in non uniform

I just looked on George. You can get an actual coat for £18. Might be worth this over the rain coat I mentioned earlier.
The £55+ 18 takes you to £73 for his main uniform plus coat. PE kit you can talk to school… but that’s him set up for first day.

Not to mention picked on for “being poor”. Children are brutal OP. This won’t be fair on him and you need to get his proper blazer/jumper. Could you ask on Facebook? There’ll be others in the area who have children at that school who will have outgrown their uniform.

If you do buy the plain blazer, it is worth keeping the tags on until you know the school sell the badge separately. Not all schools offer this. It is an excellent way of saving money when they do offer it.

There will be a contact email address on the school website. Emailing this will ensure it is forwarded to the right people. It is also worth phoning the office as some schools have some admin staff in during the last couple of weeks of the holidays. Some schools allocate part of the pupil premium budget towards uniform and you would qualify for this support while on benefits. It is a good idea to reapply for free school meals to ensure your child is offered all the support they are entitled to.

Is there a Facebook page for the school? If yes, it is worth posting on it that you are looking for second hand uniform and the sizes you need.

Ask at your local church or food bank. They are likely to have a network of volunteers who live locally and might be able to source 2nd hand / free uniform

The uniform rules in the UK are so draconian and backwards thinking!

If you lived here in Ireland, the teachers wouldn’t care that his uniform isn’t quite perfect.

DS 17yrs (autistic) hates wearing shirts so he wears a white round neck t-shirt under his school jumper and school haven’t ever pulled him up on it. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sorry that you’re stuck with this shit. Hopefully, the school will be sensible. 🤞

You can't do that as he would get into trouble on his first day.

Also though, you can't magic money out of thin air.

Contact the school, see if they can offer any help with uniform. Our local schools PTA's sell second hand uniform that has been donated.

It is a sad position that you are in, and hopefully the school can help somehow.

Other PP have had some great ideas as well.

I can still claim child benefit for mine until 18 while at college,unless they are under Sen and can get the benefit for longer

To add, sort the main uniform now. Shoes blazer and tie. Guessing tie isn’t more than £5 so can be done for £55. Talk to school about PE kit when they’re back in office

Check the schools uniform policy on their website. It might detail ways they help families to afford uniform for new starters. For instance our school offer new year 7 starters who receive free school meals a £50 voucher towards uniform costs. Check if there is anything like that detailed on there?

Anxiety and depression is no reason to not be working , you are purposely putting yourself and your children in this financial situation, it is massively unfair on your children, you need to get a job asap

Why have you left it so late to try contacting the school etc? The uniform isn’t a surprise

So you’ve got shirts and trousers, a blazer is £40. Get the next size up so growing room. Get some school shoes from shoezone, order online as bigger selection even if there’s a store near you. Free next day delivery on all orders. Coat, I picked up a fleece lined rain coat from mountain warehouse for £15, they went up to age 13. They’re nice, and honestly the boys at my DDs secondary tend not to wear coats in winter anyway. I have no idea why! But a lined rain coat might be enough as he might only wear if heavy rain anyway. And if not…. That’s a problem for further down the line. George might have some too.
Then I assume there’s a tie which won’t be much. Plus a PE kit…. Again shoezone for the trainers. Buy what you can from George.

also check online for when the office is open, ours has set hours over the holidays when you can reach them, don't leave it to the day before school ooens

Are you on a WhatsApp group for new year 7 parents? Parents with older kids at the school.might know of uniform available or have siblings in older years looking to offload blazers etc

If you aren't, any of your son's friends heading to the new school from primary? If so, they might known of second hand bank to get new uniform?

I don't think starting the year wearing different clothes to the other kids is good for his mental health op, even IF school don't penalise him.

are you getting all the money you can claim off benefits if you've 5 kids in education?

do the older kids not have any uniform for that school or have you moved out of areA? have you tried the local charity schools?

from Sept schools have to limit the no. of branded items so it's worth checking you're not buying branded if you don't have to

Contact the school. A uniform will be found for him.

Speak to the HOY and explain the situation. My school has a fund for scenarios like this.

I do feel for you, I’m also on benefits and in temporary accommodation due to homelessness. I buy little and often so I don’t end up with an impossible feeling situation like you find yourself in, so I’d buy say jumper one month, a few shirts the next, shoes etc. not that that helps now, but hopefully going forward? Many councils have a crisis fund available for situations like this, if you haven’t already apply asap and outline exactly what your son needs with prices so there is no back and forth discussion and you hopefully get an award quicker. Best of luck

Are you or your DS vegetarian/ vegan? If so the vegetarian charity can offer grants - my friend got one to cover school uniform for her kids: www.vegetariancharity.org.uk/application-form.html

On our area one of the food banks also helps out with school uniforms. Also our school PTA collects uniform and sells it on very cheaply (they also discreetly give uniforms to people that need them).
DCs school is very strict on uniform and the students get detentions for not having the correct uniform, but the school is also very careful to check with parents if they need any help. You should have considered your money situation in early July when the school was still open.

Dont worry about a coat it will not be needed in September the kids all wear the blazer like a coat. You wont see any teen boy in a coat before probably December if then.
You can get a plain black blazer cheaper from m&s about £25 then get the badge separately from the uniform shop and sew it on.
Go in local charity shops as they may have uniform for the school people have handed in - ive just handed a secondhand blazer of my sons in to the local charity shop as its outgrown.
Is there a reason you werent thinking about this earlier in the year, in time to contact the secondary school before term ended to ask for help? They will likely be able to help this situation is not that uncommon.
A pp suggestion of going to the school on results day this week on thursday is a good one, staff will be there.

Most schools have second hand uniform items and there will be a couple of inset days when staff will be in before term begins for the pupils. Get in touch then and explain what you need. They should be able to provide it and don’t worry- many families do this

The school will have a fund for this.

Does the working DS not get universal credit as well? Do any of the college children work part-time or receive grants? It sounds like you are paying for everything but if you have 6 children and only one is in school, the others should be paying their way at home.

Nobody is likely to be reviewing emails at
the school. If they have a 6th form - try this Thursday as results are out or the following Thursday when GCSE’s are out as staff will be in.

They will either help you out directly or point you in the right direction.
But like others have said, try the local Facebook pages for hand me downs. Then you just have the shoes to get.