Are you buying school uniform?

[UsernameNotValid]

We're in Scotland so our schools go back in 3 weeks.

I'm normally organised for their return but I'm hesitant to buy DC's anything until we have a confirmed return schedule.

I realise it's planned to be full time but I'm not convinced and I don't know anyone who is!

I've got a set per day of the cheep bits (supermarket trousers and polos) to allow for extra washing. But only 2 of the logoed jumper, as I'm still half expecting DS to only be in half the week (it's school nursery and usually there's a morning and afternoon class, so could split to half week for each so their not cleaning every lunch).

So far the plan is to go back as normal, but not until the end of September, so they can do all the transition stuff they missed. I might get a few more jumpers if the other years go back as normal, and will just have to wash more until they arrive.

45 quid. Yikes

Theres no justifying that.

Especially when even if a school decided to have unifirm. Asda and sainsbury both do plain black blazers for 10/11 quid if you wabted to deel superior you could still spend 25 quid in m&s on ons if you like

Even though many point out there schools are single supplier and online and a simple skirt costs 18 quid and you have to pay postage abd for postage to return and the obly difference between the pe top and a polo shirt is the logo peope still seem to think it levelles everyone out. More like prices eveeyone out. They don't get the riff raff applying on the first place cos they can't afford the entry fee

Its all bollocks. Plus bullies bully so if its not primark jeans it your nose or your hair. Sort out the bullying instead. It dont go away cos "ifwemakethemwearblazersnoonewillknowitsashitschool academy " is in bright green on the front

Jfc I was trying to understand the mindset of people saying it isn't an additional expense and work out why they were saying that, because for me it's always seemed like an additional expense,

Maybe they don't see it as extra because they don't buy their kids other clothes. That's not because they go to state schools though. I maybe misunderstood what you were saying, tbh I'm not really sure.

Agree with you completely. Bullying is a really complex socialised dynamic that is not resolved by wearing a bloody blazer, and £45 (plus as you say, postage, return postage etc) is a bullshit amount to get off people so their kids can go to school.

Thankfully no change of actual uniform, skirts, kilts, blazers etc all still fit but I've stocked up on shirts and socks. I'll cross the shoe bridge when I come to it.

Mine don't change either unless we're going somewhere that requires it.

I understand that secondary age is different and uniform is more expensive then. But lower primary it really is cheap. If you're struggling to buy it, presumably you're struggling to buy normal clothes as well.

and they have to be washed separately 2 as you cant use softener.

You don't have to use softener with any clothes so you're making more work for yourself there.

Yes, just spent £300 on it. They will be back at school.

I live in a hard water area. And I have a child with eczema. So no i dont want to risk mo softener

You can buy non uniform massively cheaper, I got good quality items at the village car boot for 25p an item in the years when we were strapped.

Uniform is expensive, stressful and time consuming to source when you are skint. I have had this discussion with teachers at school. They don't understand because a majority of them have observed and read about poverty but not lived it.

Should add, when you're skint your friends give you clothes - but they can rarely give you uniform. As it is badly made, and gets worn hard, it has little secondhand life.

Uniform is rubbish for the poor, and more people are poor than previously (and let's not get into next year) and many local authorities have cut their uniform allowance plus academies don't have that.

I'm not skint any more, and buying uniform is therefore easy. But I still begrudge the money on low quality items when for a fraction of the money my kids could wear better made non uniform clothes.

Should add, when you're skint your friends give you clothes - but they can rarely give you uniform. As it is badly made, and gets worn hard, it has little secondhand life

Often its designed to stop you being able to hand down anyway. Different coloured piping or embroidery for different houses . Names sewn onto the front or back of pe tops. Different coloured ties or shirts for different years.

@SarahTancredi I agree with all those points. And then the constant changes!

People with money spend a lot of time saying uniform helps people without money, but they rarely ask those without money their views.

They also bang in about "knowing the rules" when you apply. No comprehension of the fact therss little choice for many people.

When I applied for dd2. There were only 3 I had any hope with. 2 out of thise three had the same supplier. 2 out of the three, well any saving in the uniform department would have been negated by the fact 2 would have required tickets for 2 buses.

And 2 out of the three now also require the expensive tartan skirts.

Many are fucked on that either way.

We are told £18 for a jumper is reasonable. Acrylic of course.

I've argued so much at school about this.

People who've never been skint tell me the uniform helps.

You can get a pack of 2 generic sweaters in a range of colours in most supermarkets now.

No excuse fir charging 15-20 pound for one.

I thankfully have not been super skint when having to feed/clothe kids and I consider myself fortunate for that. But neither can I afford to be ripped off this way. I do not have as much uniform as I would like in order fir it not to be a worry with regards to getting it washed and dried in time and dealing with having to wash pe kit ready for next day when the pe top is white and the bottoms black so its 2 loads not one and neither full if that makes sense.

Yy @labyrinthloafer I also am sick of people who have never been skint telling me that uniform makes things easier for me. I do have a bit more money now than when buying primary uniform but secondary uniform is more expensive so that doesn't help much. I've been paying through the nose for my family to supposedly be "levelled" for over 10 years!

Also the shoes. At secondary school they need, as a minimum: smart school shoes (which they'd never wear or be seen dead in for any other purpose), trainers for general PE, then some kind of specialist sports shoes (football, rugby, hockey etc). Some schools even insist on two different kinds of sports boots, as well as the trainers.

Add to that at least one pair of casual shoes or trainers for them to wear outside school, then seasonal footwear eg wellies or flip-flops or whatever.

Assume all pairs have to be replaced on average twice a year, irrespective of how much wear they've had, due to growth. If you have a girl then you might be lucky and her feet might stop growing around size 4 or 5 so you can still get them non-VAT rated and make them last a bit longer. Boys' feet though just keep on & on growing! Size 6 & above no longer count as kids' shoes so you're paying the full price for 5-6 pairs of men's shoes every six months until they turn 16 or even 18. If you have multiple DC this is hundreds of £££ every time!

I understand of course that they would need to have some kind of shoes anyway, that exercise is important and specialist sports footwear can't be avoided. But to add uniform on top of all that just shows a total lack of sensitivity to families' financial realities.

I've always thought the 'levelling' thing was nonsense anyway. It's often quite easy to tell which children come from better off families because either they have the logo items when others have generic, or they've got fancier bags, lunchboxes, coats, or whatever. Not to mention being able to replace uniform regularly so it's always shiny and new, while families with less money can't afford to do this. It's never stood up as an argument and now less so than ever.

If you do decide to be super skint, be sure to do it within walking distance of a wealthy town with lots of charity shops .

If you do decide to be super skint, be sure to do it within walking distance of a wealthy town with lots of charity shops

We do actually have alot of charity shops , used to use them quite alot. But we arent allowed to complain about being charged 6 quid fir a top that turned out to be primark any more ...

( nothing wring with primark obviously but tops are often not even 6 quid brand new)

Never seen uniform in them though for the reasons listed above.

Dd2s primary school has termly second hand sales although to be fair the jumpers have gone shit now , having had one dd go through already the fact sone of hers were second hand and both those and the ones I bought new were fine to hand down, the newer ones I've had to buy new fir dd2 look like shit so can't see that helping too.kuch for the logo stuff now.

Dd1s school dont do secind hand sales

Yeah boot sales, hand me downs, charity shops all work but not for uniform because uniform means specific items. You can clothe your kids fine on not much money if all you need is a top or a pair of jeans or whatever, just pick up bits as you see them and sometimes you get lucky and get nice bits that way. But you'd have to be really really lucky to find the specific school jumper that fits your specific child at that specific time when you need one. Or three. So lucky, in fact, that it's never happened for me.

We did have a second hand facility in primary for a bit but the quality control was questionable (I might have been skint but I'm wasn't going to dress my kids in stained jumpers covered in fucking cat hair) and there ended up being arguments about where this mountain of tatty poor quality clothes should be stored because the school didn't have room and neither did any one of the parents in their own homes. So it stopped.

DD went for her uniform fitting yesterday for her first secondary school uniform. I was prepared for it to be more expensive but the total price was eye watering and I've yet to buy shoes or trainers.
Her new school insists on school skirts and cardigans with an embroidered school logo on and PE kit with the school name emblazoned on. It doesn't help that her time is split between mine and her dads house so we tend to need more uniform.