new school uniform's is a con

[james1900]

ever since schools have been sold and become private i.e academy
the local authorities who are running schools are over charging for school uniforms'

Average Cost of a Junior School Uniform 2019

The basic school uniform including a pair of school shoes and trainers costs around £160 per child on average—£180 with a blazer—if your school doesn't require school logos (giving you flexibility on where to shop). Prices range significantly depending on your choice of retailer and the age of your child, with parents paying anywhere from £70 to £250 or more to dress their child for school. Read below to learn more about average prices for school uniform by age and gender. Those needing to buy uniform emblazoned with the school logo will most certainly pay even more.

Average Cost of School Uniform Items

Excluding shoes, we found the average cost of a basic list of school clothing is £96 per child. Add in a pair of PE trainers and school shoes, and the average uniform cost jumps up to £162 per child. Since a basic, plain blazer averages £18, we estimate the total uniform cost including trainers, school shoes and a blazer would be £180.

As your child grows, so do the costs of a school uniform. Between age 4 and 11, expect costs of basic clothing to rise by over 40%, as you can see in the following chart. You'll also notice that the uniform for a girl will cost a bit more than for a boy. While many items are sold unisex (e.g., shirts), you'll find skirts tend to cost a few pounds more than boys' shorts. And if your daughter wears a pinafore, expect to add a few more pounds to the uniform cost estimate

And yet schools all over the world cope perfectly satisfactorily with having no school uniform without being defeated by this dreadful problem how do you know?

I like uniform, particularly for those awful teen girl years 7-9.

@Ligresa I realised that as soon as I hit send.
A nylon one and at least shorts and a cotton T-shirt for out of school.

@HappyParent2000 get saving now for secondary. That’s when it all skyrockets.

Ligresa we had huge problems with DD1's uniform when she was in Yr 7/8 - because the mandatory logo polo shirt was polycotton and set off her eczema massively. Schools need to think about these things too, and the most practical way of handling it would be to simply allow high street choices, with logo patches if the school is logo obsessed.

And before anyone says anything - wait until you've seen infected eczema in action. It's not pretty and it's painful. All because a school insists on polyester crap 5 days a week.

they can always see if there’s a place available at another school if they felt that strongly?? And don’t say that’s not a decision because ultimately it is possible to do!!

That demonstrates a stunning lack of knowledge of the English school system. In many areas it really isn't that easy just to move your child to a school without a stupidly expensive uniform, especially if it's an area where all or most of the schools are academies. Plus in many areas schools are massively oversubscribed: where I live, for instance, realistically you don't have a choice other than the school you live closest to geographically.

And yet schools all over the world cope perfectly satisfactorily with having no school uniform without being defeated by this dreadful problem how do you know?

We know because some of us have grown up in countries where there is no uniform, have friends and families in countries where there is no uniform and actually read the news beyond this uniform obsessed little island.

School uniform is not compulsory, if it was the school has to meet the costs. People need to stop buying the logo uniforms from the only shop that sells them, the schools get a percentage of the profits.

Well funnily enough, i read a lot of world news for my job and don't remember reading any fascinating articles on schools that don't have uniform

My friends kids are at school in Bristol with no uniform, she likes it but says she probably spends just as much in clothes.

Oh grow up. Did you think your kids weren't going to cost anything?

Not one parent on here has suggested that uniform should be free. Why are you trying to suggest otherwise, @Ligresa?

Parents can ask about the waiting list, but if there’s no place then there’s nothing a parent can do but accept the expensive uniform.
Or just because you are second on the list doesn’t mean you will get a place that year.

Then the child to consider who might feel settled. Made friends. And although the curriculum is the same, when they teach differs across schools.

It might be possible. But not for a few years and by which time the child is entering the exam years and options limited.

@Sunflowers211 isnt it only primary that uniform isn’t mandatory?

I think what some posters are refusing to grasp is, a jumper can be bought for £6 in a supermarket, but the school insists on a logo and makes it £28 in the case of my dc school. Multiply that by every item and this is why we are annoyed.

Those saying you’re paying for quality must have lucked out as I’ve never seen anything so tragic in quality as my 9 yo’s £42 blazer with a different shade of red to his tie.

MN is a complete anomaly to me. Every year there’s this debate over £200 ish on uniform yet posters seem to be loaded and think nothing of having a cleaner and multiple holidays. The mind boggles. I think people just resent paying for uniforms.

Have you considered that they may be different posters? 🙄

@Spingtrolls we have set up a fund for uni, holidays and school expenses when child turned 4.

We used the money we used to put into nursery fees, instead having more spending money.

And yet schools all over the world cope perfectly satisfactorily with having no school uniform without being defeated by this dreadful problem how do you know?

I don't know where to begin in answering that one. How do you not know? It's simply a basic, generally well-known fact that the UK is in the minority in the Western world in its requirements for school uniforms. You probably haven't read "fascinating articles" in newspapers about it because it's a non-newsworthy basic fact of life.

Primary school uniform is not compulsory. Secondary school uniform is. Otherwise school couldn't send kids home or put them in isolation for not wearing the right stuff. It's bullying really.

@aderyn19 that’s what I thought.
So @Sunflowers211 what do you suggest when a secondary has logo’d stuff? We have no option but to buy from the one shop.

I work in a school and the uniform is a complete RIP off,my daughter and son in law work there socks off but it's no joke when you have 3 to pay for,something has to be done, parents can't be expected to keep paying extortionate amounts.

Pinguforpresident yes, Schoolblazer. Only used (IMO) because schools get a decent kickback per order placed.

Interestingly, it is possible for slightly better quality items to be bought from them, so obviously some of it comes down to choice by the school.

My ds’ school (where dd2 used to go - she’s now at secondary) is the awful one. Girl’s summer dress is so things to be see through, winter pinafore shapeless and horrible (and now polyester); sports kit not fit for purpose despite being eye-wateringly expensive, etc.

However, dd2’s uniform, also only available through schoolblazer, is of much better quality (still not great, and still stupidly expensive), and more practical - a washable blazer for a reasonable sum, rather than a rip-off not even wool blazer for an extortionate amount; the summer dress is actually wearable without having to wear cover-up clothing underneath (which surely defeats the object of a cool summer dress?!), and so on. I’ve had a couple of conversations with dd2’s school about uniform, from which I gleaned that the school were quite instrumental in choosing types/different materials etc, which I found very interesting. I will be talking to ds’ school once he’s back - if the quality at least can be changed, then at least I’ll actually be getting something for my money! (Have just done the back to school order - ds needs new sports kit, and dd2 needs a few top up bits here and there; nothing major like blazers, no skirts/dresses/logo jumpers, and yet still the bill was over £400 😱 utterly outrageous, given that most won’t last until outgrown, due to poor quality, and none will be in any state to hand down)

How on Earth do countries with no uniform manage,eh?
Well, actually, just fine. We don’t have uniform here in Germany. In fact, as far as I’m aware, ds1’s school doesn’t even have any rules about what they can wear. In summer most kids are in shorts and T-shirts etc. Any colour. Any style. I’m not aware of any jewellery or hair rules either. 90% of the kids wear T-shirt and jeans most of the time, you know, normal teen clothes. They all look fine. Doesn’t impact learning at all.
I don’t think you could do away with uniform in the uk in one go because the kids are so very brand and label conscious and that probably would have an impact (wearing the “wrong” trainers etc). But a much more relaxed system eg black skirt / trousers with white top would surely be a step in the right direction.

Dd's skirts are £25 each, she grew about 10-12 inches in a couple of years and I had to keep replacing them as she grew as they would be deemed too short even though they were barely above the knee and she wore black tights with them. In her final couple of years they don't fit at all as she had a size 8 waist and 10-12 hips and they were cut for someone of more even proportions.

On what planet is that reasonable? We could afford it and I was able or alter the waists myself but it still pissed me off. There are numerous smart school skirts sold by various retailers, why do we need a specific shade of grey ffs.

Don't get me started on the fucking blazer. £50 and it started dropping to bits almost immediately, the seams inside the pockets apparently couldn't hold up under the pressure of holding a packet of tissues.

I have no objection to uniform, I object to being ripped off and Ron having ruled enforced that would never be introduced in any other setting.

No idea why Ron is enforcing ruled

my son’s school have changed the colour and logo of their jumpers four times within the past two years, and then had the cheek to send out a message to parents that only the new jumpers with the new logos would be allowed. they quickly backtracked after a number of complaints! we live in a fairly run down area with a lot of unemployment and it’s fairly common to
pass uniform along to younger siblings so as to keep the cost down.

Funny in my Ds none uniform school .He never discusses what anyone has worn . He wears a mix of branded and primark, decathlon clothes.

I went to a uniform school , we all knew who the poor kids were.

People. Who say if you don’t like it move school s are deluded . Who chooses a school based on uniform? If my Ds went to the next closest school it would cost me about £300 a year in travel. If you can’t afford uniform what do you do?

noblegitaffe they wouldn't need 200 quid worth of clothes every year.