How much should I save for school uniform? When do you buy it?

[TakeMeBackToBlueberryHill]

What exactly do children need? My MIL has offered to buy DD's blazer and shoes.

I was counting up this morning and it seems a big expense, I'd like to be prepared.

Your school info pack/website should list the uniform requirements.
These requirements (logo'd items) will dictate where you need to purchase. I get DS's trousers and polos from Asda/Sainsburys and just but the school jumper from school shop as they have logo. If the uniform consists of generic items these can be bought from most supermarkets/M&S. I have a clean set of uniform for DS everyday but he is messy and I haven't always got time (inclination) to do a mid-week wash.

Depends on the school and what needs to be specific items with a logo and what is allowed to be generic uniform from a supermarket or M&S etc.

We have blazer, tie, PE kit and games kit (specific to school), then generic shirts, trousers, jumper (optional), socks, school shoes, trainers and football boots.

Depends on the school. We're only had to buy a blazer, pe shorts and tie that is specific to the school. The rest of the clothes are from Tesco, asda, matalan, etc

Ask if the school has a second-hand uniform shop - ours does.

All of dd's infant school uniform comes from Sainsbury's, she won't wear the logo jumpers, so it's only about £40 to kit her out excluding shoes. I usually buy it all at once in their 25% off event.

M&S polo shirts wash better, but it is easier to get it all together and just replace a few polo shirts at Easter!

I think I'd like to have 5 sets rather than rushing during the week. The website doesn't mention anything logo'ed although there are photos of children with the jumpers with the badge.

£40 sounds very reasonable. Do you think it's generally better to go cheap and cheerful? I wouldn't mind spending a little more if it'd last the full year in decent condition.

It depends, around £150 for us all in (private) last year and similar for state before but here it's mostly stuff you can buy at the supermarket

Really depends on the school. Full kit was over £150.
Stuff needs replacing during the year as they grow.
I initially bought end of August . Didn’t see the point before

Primary or secondary? Primary I used supermarkets so was reasonable and up till end of primary she mostly did 1 pair of shoes per year. Secondary the layout for starting y7 was about £250 as lots of it has a logo. She went through 2 pairs of shoes in y7 and 2 bags. Plus of course the coat that is not for actual wearing.

£40 sounds very reasonable.

I would love it if that was all it cost us!
High school. Very specific sports kit, I buy shirts and trousers from Asda (2 trousers, 5 shirts) but even so it cost me over £250 with blazer, shoes, p.e. Kit, tie, logo jumpers etc. You really need to get a list from the school or check out their website for info so you don’t have too much of a shock.

I got M&S shirts and trousers as the trousers are a better fit for ds. It was about £15 for a pack of two trousers or three shirts, but not that expensive considering they are going to fit for at least two years (onto the second year now).

6 months wear would be great. 2 years would be awesome. Not like I don't buy them a bigger size either lol.

I also bought some iron on patch tape to match the trousers so I didn't have to throw out a pair of perfectly good trousers because of a small hole. M&S trousers have otherwise lasted a year and a half so far in decent condition.

Rufus, where did you get the patch tape? I could do with some to cover small holes in DS2's trousers...

Sorry, @Rubusfruticosus

I used to get mine 3x trousers or skirts, 5xshirts, 2x jumpers. That worked pretty well for us but mine didn’t ever really get particularly mucky so that was enough to last a week. If you can stretch to it I’d definitely suggest having 5x shirts and bottoms, plus maybe 3x jumpers, and/or blazer. Especially when they’re little and potentially coming back messy every day - If you’ve got a whole week’s worth of outfits it makes life so much easier because you can just do a big load at the weekend rather than having to wash throughout the week.

I got mine mainly from M&S, good quality and lasted really well. But I also bought from Tesco here and there, and Woolies (back in the day).

I used Sainsbury's and M&S. Maybe a cpuple of logo zip jackets which we wridered through the school. They o ky did that once a year - the stuff was good quality and would usually last a couole of years.

Apart from the first term I wasn't that bothered about getting all new stuff every September, just when something was outgrown or worn out. That meant I could buy when they had a sale on - used to find buying just after the schools had gone back a great time for bargains.

My 2 have 2 x logo jumpers/cardigans, these are £9 each and I can buy at the school office. 3 x sainsbugs or Asda plain ones, 5 x polo shirts and 5 x trousers/skirts/dresses. I normally wait for the 25% off and buy from sainsbugs.

I do pick bits up in the sales M&S has 2 x polo shirts for £1.75 so I got them both the next size up, seems silly not to really.

I probably spend £150-£200 a year on them both, as they do seem to grow really quickly as well.

At DS's (state) secondary school, it cost us around £250 for one of each item.

Oh secondary school was a different matter entirely! Grammar school with a whole range of required uniform, and extras. But at least they kept their stuff for a lot longer once they were halfway through and not growing so quickly, so we didn’t have replace it that often!

I spent in region of £300 per eldest child of each sex entering yr7. Never manage 2 get school logo items 2nd hand.

DD yr 7 state waz about £500 in 2009 excl shoes.

DD yr 9 private was about £500 2011

Primary: nevsd more than about £40 per year. Found JL stuff lasted well. DD had 4 JL summer dresses for £13 ea and they lasted for two years. When she was little a friend had a girl the same age as ds and a boy same as dd so we largely swapped boy/girl clothes.

Thank you everyone. I did think £40 was too good to be true, around £200 was what I was thinking. She'll need shoes and boots for the winter too.

I'm definitely going to get five shirts, will see about logoed jumpers or cardigans and not sure about bottoms yet. Trousers seem much more practical for little ones.

Primary or secondary op?

I used to buy M&S multi pack shirts. A three pack a year meant the age 5, cd be discarded, the age 6's kept, the age 7's grown into. Three jerseys were enough with a bit of sponging although mine weren't messy eaters. DD preferred tunics to skirts. Buy woolly tights big, much easier to pull on.

DD grew and grew 9 fo 10, DS grew 9 inches at 14.