Ridiculous uniform policy for secondary

@TizerorFizz 55 years ago most places were still grammar/secondary modern schools as the comprehensive system was only just starting to emerge.
Grammar schools tended to have those expensive fancy uniforms you seem to like. The Secondary Moderns were more likely to be non uniform or casual "wear grey" type uniforms.
This meant there were children who would pass the 11+ but still wouldn't get to go because their parents simply couldn't afford the uniform and the extras that came with it.
For many families "getting on with it" meant "sorry but you can't go and that's that".

It was a comparison with 55 years ago when parents just got on with it. We went without - in our case heating and no inside loo - no bathroom for us. Of course people struggled to buy uniform. However it’s worn for many hours every day. We didn’t have loads of other clothes either.

I am not expecting this now but not wanting to have decent fabrics (eg cotton shirts) seems an odd decision to me. A school won’t look that closely at shirts. We never ever had three sets of uniform, nor have my DC. One skirt. Two pullovers and three blouses.One blazer and a coat they wore all the time. - how many shoes do dc need? Lists of shoes seem to be far more than mine had. One pair of shoes for school. A bit washing in the week keeps uniform fresh. At primary, one sweatshirt. A new uniform shouldn’t be brands but it’s easy to be more frugal.

A week’s wage for who?
The MC family that can afford it (aka your average wage) or the family on the bread line that struggles to heat the room or put food on the table?

There is a reason why people feel paying so much for school uniform is an issue. That’s because for a lot of people, it will mean paying it with CC because there is no spare money.

I spent about £455 setting up my DD for Secondary.

3x school uniform approx. £130
2x P.E kit approx. £110
Shoes £50
Trainers £50
Equipment £50
Black coat £40
Backpack £25

No wonder he found it expensive!

Home education is nothing to do with hot housing!

At my DS's non-uniform school. They all wore jeans, t-shirt and hoodie. But it wasn't a private school so most probably couldn't afford Mulberry anyway!

I always buy cotton and natural fabrics where possible. I was able to do that for Primary at very little cost. However, my DD's Secondary uniform is more prescriptive so not so much natural fabrics. However the cost is 4 times the price of Primary! I spent about 2 weeks wages on DD's uniform and equipment to start secondary. You can be as old fashioned as you like, but you still have to buy the uniform the school requires.

That was the same at my DS's school. Jeans, t-shirt and hoodie worn by pretty much everyone.

@TizerorFizz she currently has about 5 pairs of real Crocs and 1 of a knock off brand. About 3 pairs of lightweight canvas shoes, couple of fake converse. Several pairs of trainers (including a smart black pair she recently wore to a funeral) plus a couple of pairs of black boots.
She hasn't worn "proper" shoes since she was about 12 (16 now).
The Crocs probably are the most expensive of shoes we have bought (school shoes usually came from Shoe Zone/Supermarkets) but they are worth it. She sometimes has achy legs and often struggles to walk long distances - Crocs get the least amount of "I'm tired" complaining.
We've always bought them when deals/sales are on so never paid more than £25 on a pair.
I think they are the ugliest things ever - but she is comfortable in them and that's my priority.

When a week’s wages barely covers your food and essential bills spending that amount on school uniform is unreasonable.

I spend money on good quality clothes (well mostly I buy second hand so don't actually spend a lot) because polyester is nasty but I would resent the hell out of having to spend good money on clothes that my children wouldn't want to wear. That's money that can be spent on other things, or better quality clothes and shoes.

Only buy knock-off crocs, they're just the same but cost a fiver.

I think what’s interesting here is how little parents are prepared to spend. I said upthread, my dad spent 3 weeks wages on my uniform. Of course this was too much (average wage) but now we think spending anywhere near a weeks wage is outrageous. In fact a family meal at MacDonalds is what we want to pay. How little we value well made clothes that dc wear every day. They probably spend more time in these clothes than any other but we don’t see them as being worth being made from decent fabrics and of a higher quality to maintain the life of the clothes. We would rather have umpteen crocs and polyester rubbish. I feel proud to be old fashioned!

@SummerDays2020
Cost of one Secondary uniform: £42

£40 is the cost of blazer £20 trousers or skirt £9 tie and the cost of white shirt. - state catholic

Honestly, £42 is cheap

@Needmorelego You must spend more on crocs than a decent pair of shoes! My DDs had one pair of school shoes. Not ones in all sorts of colours. They had trainers for leisure and sandals in the summer. That was it. Loads of crocs is pure luxury.

You have obviously not dealt with a HT who insists you follow the uniform exactly

Ds had to drop out from attending the senior school we had chosen because the shape of his feet couldn’t fit into the required type of shoe the the uniform list specified

This is short sighted

I don't think the issue is with wearing a uniform. It's with it being so specific from a certain supplier. DDs school did this last year with skirts. It had to be one of two designs from a certain supplier, each costing £30. Realistically you need two skirts. But even so, I can get a decent quality school skirt from
Asda for £10. It's three times as much. A lot of families simply can't afford it

There usually is an alternative to slim fit uniform trousers, even if thats all thats pictured on the website or brochure. Your neighbour needs to either pop into a school uniform shop or speak to the school.

Even schools know you can't fit children into one size/fit trousers.

@DavidRosesEyebrows that's why I don't wear skirts or dresses 😂

@Needmorelego not sure it's the dress/skirts fault my fat thighs rub together😂

@DavidRosesEyebrows oh I do !
I had to buy a tub of sudocreme the other day to get rid of a sore spot.
That's my point though.... clothes should be designed to be fit for purpose. Chub rub shouldn't exist.

Well you're obviously lucky enough not to get chub rub 😂

I cannot understand why people have such an issue with uniform policies in this country. It’s bizarre.

I agree. We should just get rid of uniforms once and for all.
No sequins, no revealing clothes, no heels - that should be it.

@DavidRosesEyebrows exactly !!
There should be no need for an extra bit of material to make the first bit of material suitable 🙂

@DavidRosesEyebrows mostly due to modesty reasons. Petty coats used to be a thing too.