To think school uniform is too expensive?

Oh be quiet.

P.s. one of the most important things that I learned at grammar school was not to wear a black bra under a white shirt.
My headmistress was right. It looks awful.

My exact thought.

You have a free education for your child. All you have to do is get them the right clothes. Basic parenting is buying clothing.

Our pe kit was white airtex shirt, short sleeves, short skirt, navy blue knickers/ shorts. Plimsolls. Hockey boots. Hockey socks which were grey knee length. Navy blue leotard. The navy blue knickers were bought from the uniform shop. We had to sew a stripe of blue and a stripe of white ribbon down the sides.
I think the sporty types wore plain blue tracksuits. These were extra to school uniform.

We ran round in the freezing cold weather in winter. Our knees turned purple. We were healthy. It was character building . Winter sports were cross country and hockey. Also netball, possibly in autumn. Athletics in the summer term.

We also had cookery aprons, science overalls. Extensive school uniform, including a winter hat and summer boater.

Grammar school with a large percentage of kids from poorer areas. All the parents coped. O

is there a second-hand uniform shop?

Why do so many Scot school girls wear such short uniforms? Even the little girls seem to wear such unpractical skirts. Is this a new fad?

And? What happened? Did they all spontaneously combust? Did the world end? Did they all fail their GCSEs and are now living in a bin?

DD1 is now 25 but her start at high school in 2012 coincided with a new head at the school. She dropped the expensive badged poloshirts and sweatshirts and asked for white shirts with black skirts/trousers with the school tie and a plain black pullover or cardigan if desired. Blazers were optional and only for seniors. Footwear was to be solid black in a bid to eliminate brands. The PE department asked for plain white t-shirts and plain black shorts or leggings with non-marking trainers (the head of PE was determined that parents shouldn't be paying a penny more than they needed to).

DDs school does have a form of the uniform for "Outdoor Education" (things like hikes, active school trips, field work etc). Its navy leggings/joggers, the PE top... and either the PE jumper or the blazer depending on what they are doing (so a half day trip they will leave their blazers at school while doing the fieldwork for example).

It bizarrelly looks smart.

The sloppiness has sod all to do with whether the joggers are branded or not.

If you say so. Mine wouldn't even dress like that in their free time. I remember my DD being upset that it was suggested that she wore joggers as she had a cast on her foot. She was 14 and refused to leave the house in such clothes

I managed to learn at school with an awful bloody uniform .Don't ever remember being uncomfortable due to clothes

That's the theory.

In practice children do need their own equipment.

I don't have children but I live in a very deprived area, I am currently putting together some pencil cases with various items. I will donate them to the local community shop and they can either give them to families in need or sell them for a nominal account.

From a school uniform shop's perspective, when wales did the consultation two years ago about school uniform this is what I said we discount all school uniform a comp bundle is £45 for 3 shirts and 2 sweats that's not dear, however what has happened is that some uniform shops speak to the schools and say buy with us and we give you 5% so then the prices go up, but the other thing they do is a pe top was £8 a T-shirt with school logo. But then the same uniform supplier jazzed it up meant only they could sell it and charge £25 this is what's wrong. I make a profit selling as cheap as I can but people are greedy. The Welsh office said that schools must have a minimum of two outlets that parents can get items, not many have done that and the other is no incentives must be used in the supplier choice ( not giving the school 5%). But it can continue if you have it already put it in place. School uniform is not cheap but we use products that are from a workwear supplier so they last so many of my mums come in and say they have lasted almost all year 5 items that your child wears 200 days of the year that is not bad. Just find someone who is not greedy we are all mums at my shop who know the struggle,

I remember being allowed to wear any dark coloured tracksuit bottoms for PE, think I got lucky, and my teacher wasn't a sadist (the boys teacher was though, homophobic bully too)

I'm so glad my children have pretty decent PE teachers, though my DD moans she gets a negative mark when she wears jeans to PE but that's a perfectly good reason to mark someone down, jeans certainly aren't appropriate wear (she wants the best grades possible this year though so is wearing joggers) and if anyone doesn't want to take part in that day's activity (with some exceptions, somethings are mandatory) the teachers just let them go for a walk or a bike ride (they have to track where they are going though and do a minimum distance of 5k or so). Some weeks the PE lesson is just going to the skatepark/pump track to have fun - so different from my experiences of PE in the UK. (But to balance it out, next week they're biking 7km, then doing the Cooper test, then biking 7km back)

Definitely not cheaper than normal clothes as normal clothes you can buy any kind from anywhere therefore get the cheapest but with school uniform you have to get specific items which automatically limits your shopping options.

No choice n the socks - black was not allowed at primary or secondary. It was white knee high.

Lidl is no good for any of the primaries in my SW town and we have 9. They sell white shirts and white polo shirts and those grey pinafore dresses with plain red jumpers. Uniforms here are all a specific colour polo (red in our case, but there is teal, navy, brown, yellow and green) and black trousers or shorts with a logo school jumper (ours is navy). Summer dress is red check.

To be honest I often wonder where these schools are that have a uniform but also let you just wear general plain sweatshirts and/or a pale blue shirt. They must exist.

But the children might be more comfortable and as a result might engage more with their learning, teachers wouldn’t have to constantly police ties, shirts and uphold other banal uniform rules. I’d prefer a less formal look with better learning outcomes personally. Joggers are fine. It’s school, not the crown court.

Honestly it's cheaper than normal clothes.. does your local school have a second hand. We have 50p per item or free. Local charity shops offer the clothes free. Very limited branding now too. Lidl does most vvv cheap. The children all look smart. Last year I paid £5 in total for dd uniform. I like new socks...dd is now asking for black socks so it be cheaper next year
Ideas how to get white socks white gratefully received. Yabu in my area of the Midlands as honestly it's so cheap. Can't say about the rest of the country

There isn't any good reason for it. However I dislike the idea of wearing sloppy joggers and a polo shirt as school uniform. It looks scummy

Yes of course.

@ChalkOutlines PE teachers are still sadists then? We were at least encouraged to get moving! That is after being picked last for the “teams”.

They did this in the 90s too. My black blazer had a sew-on school crest.

That’s the thing, from my experience in primary and from what DD says in secondary there’s a lot of standing around/waiting and turn taking.You can’t just randomly start running around, jogging on the spot , moving etc. because that’s breaking the rules.

It does bug me when a bundled up teacher is sneering at a child for being cold while standing around just like they are. Take your 7 layers off then and set an example of hardiness.