School expenses

actually i think you should just contact the school in the first instance.
dds school had a fund to assist in the purchase of school uniform. another local school helped with the cost of blazer and tie. if you are low income or in receipt of benefits you most likely will not need to contribute to costs of many trips.

We spent approx £300 on inform including pe kit, then a bag, stationery, books and there's a residential to allow them to bond at approx £100.

They need a computer and printer, most homework is accessed this way.

I just followed the St Philomena's uniform link.

DDs comp the blazer is < £30.
DD1 wore her only one for 5 years, so £6 per year.

Even if you reckon that most people only get 2 years that would be £15 per year, i.e. £5 per term which for something that is worn every day is pretty good I think.

Whereas the PE kit, worn for 2 hrs per week ...

Actually one thing that DC's school does do that caught me by surprise is that it bills for everything in the first few weeks.

So there are trips that DD is not going on until June/July that we paid for in October (run of the mill local zoo, not big exotic things).

It does mean we paid out a lot for school stuff at the beginning of the year so not so good if you'd rather budget over a longer period. On the flip side, that means most of the financial outlay is then out of the way!

Do you know any parents at your DC's new school? Every school is so different in the way it does things!

The biggest costs outside of school uniforms are -
Transport (if applicable)
Computer/ laptop & printer - schools put quite a lot of homework online and expect students to print stuff.
School Trips (usually optional and limited places but trips can often range from £250 to over a thousand for things like ski trips . The deposit payment is often required at short notice with staged payments over a longer period.)

Yes, it is indeed Rue - it's those unflattering cream socks that are the icing on the cake!

Is that St Philomena's in Sutton? Their uniform is something else!

For anyone not familiar: skirt

Some of the girls' schools (academic and faith) tend to be even more expensive. One of my friends spent over £400 on the St Philomena's kit!

If much of uniform is generic wait for pre-summer sales to get cheap(er) uniform items. If you write out a list and then buy a an item or two every week, you will soon find you're making headway without breaking the bank.

cantkeep yes, you are right, its a non catchment selective. That is terrible. Didn't look at the uniform before we got a place and didn't occur that it would be wildly different.

He has since retired, and the new head is rather more...inclusive!

However, looking at the secondary schools, it is definitely the selective schools who have uniforms in unusual colours, unique styles, specific blazers (rather than 'buy a black blazer, school sells sew on badge for £3'), lots of specific PE kit etc.

The one 'other' school which has gone for very specific uniform is one in a very deprived area trying to improve its reputation - they give 100% uniform grants.

cantkeep. That's disgraceful. Name and shame. Or at least give us some meaty clues - Mnetters will work it out. He sounds like the exact kind of head who will not enjoy seeing his school mentioned on MN.

Mam,asletts, if your DS's school is selective, then tbh it is sadly not uncommon for selective schools to send subtle 'our school is not for the likes of you' messages via the cost of uniform, to deter children from specific backgrounds from applying....

I looked round a primary for DS when we moved here where the head was very open about how he used a very formal, very exclusive uniform to deter children from a specific part of the catchment from applying to the school. I was shocked, a) because it happened and b) because he so obviously thought that i would agree that this was a Good Thing.

DD’s Secondary School (academy) hasn’t asked us for any voluntary donations apart from specific things. Eg an optional book signing where they could buy a book, an optional GCSE calculator and maths kit. No other donations requested.

Blazers are around £30 but they wash well and have a thousand pockets so actually very handy.

In total I think her full uniform came in at £150 plus shoes.

As schools are now asking for financial donations from parents (yes, sorry new secondary parents, you will be receiving those letters in the first term - they are voluntary though and there are strict DofE rules on how and what to ask for) I think some schools should reconsider the costs of their school uniform. If uniform is not very affordable they need to rethink.

just looked at the nearest comp and blazer is £28 They really don't look 80 quids worth of difference

I think schools vary wildly in the cost of uniform.

DC's state school allows them to wear "any black blazer" - I think we got one for about £20.

I looked at the uniform site for my son's new school and blazer was over a hundred pounds and tracksuit for PE coming in around£80!! Without all the shoes, football boots, kit etc. Is this normal? Its a state school.

Is your child in receipt of Pupil Premium?

If so - or tbh even if not if you are on a very low income - then contact the school and explain your position, exactly as you have here - you want to plan ahead, you want to budget, and the cost of uniform is going to b difficult for you.

The school WILL help. Some schools will use PP money to buy school uniform for you (we do for certain items e.g. school sweatshirt), others will have a specific uniform grant you can apply for, others will have a second hand stash of uniform for exactly this situation (my DC's secondary asks every summer for outgrown uniform to be sent into school - a small amount is sold at advertised 'second hand uniform sales' but the vast majority is discreetly 'recycled' to those who need it most).

Also ask about what is really needed, and what the school might sell to you at discounted prices (again as an example, DC's school sells a 'Maths pack' of everything needed, at the same price as they get it from their suppliers) or loan (e.g. textbooks / revision guides / dictionaries etc are loaned out for a tiny deposit or free.

As well as a core set of stationary (that's already been mentioned) we had to buy some specific art materials (think they were about £7). We also had to pay a locker key deposit and an equipment deposit. (£10 each, we won't see them again until DC leaves the school having not lost any keys or damaged any equipment!).

At DC's school we pay a set amount for DT materials at the start of each year - this does mean you're not scrabbling around for cooking ingredients every week, but on the flip side means a lump sum to find up front.

DC's school will provide a basic set of uniform items for DC from low income families - might be worth enquiring if something like that exists at your school?

Ask on a local buy and sell facebook page for uniform for sale.

cartridges even

Schools vary quite markedly with 'kitting out' expenses, even state ones.

I would be doing a recce of the school website for info on the school uniform etc... If most of the items can be bought non-logo'd then it reduces costs markedly. It tends to be the sports kit that costs most IME. The schools do usually send out info packs with details of uniform and additional resources required. However, it's often not until April/May that they do so.

I think if you budget for £250 (including school shoes, trainers etc...) you may come out of it with change, but you might not...

Agree about what's been said ^ about access to printer and a PC/laptop (and the cost of paper, print catridges etc...). I think at DC2's school they do have on-site homework facilities for the pupils who can't access these at home. It's a PITA having to stay on at school to do homework after a long school day though.

The schools often tell the DC they need dictionaries but I've not noticed them being used much (if at all).

I made sure that I bought things 'as and when' (once I sussed out what was required) to spread the cost. It was more of an issue for DC1 than DC2 because the former's uniform (bar shirts and plain trousers) could only be bought at one outfitters. All in, I reckon I spent £350 for him and about £200 for DC2. DC1's school has a policy for a uniform change for the 'seniors' (which required new blazer, trousers and jumpers) which added considerably to the cost. And suits in the sixth form!

Good luck!

starry. The fund I mentioned also paid for school trips for children whose parents were struggling financially. The other children never knew.

Do you know anyone with a child at the school already?