School uniform sold in only one shop

[Schooluniformisapain]

Where I live the local “sewing shop” has the monopoly on school uniform in the area. You cannot buy it anywhere else.

The school badge has to be on each item of clothing and in most cases the child’s initials have to be sewn on too (this is a state school not private). You cannot buy the school badge so no chance of nipping to the local Asda to buy a blue blouse & sewing it on.

The girls skirts are distinctive “kilts” so a replica skirt impossible to buy.

The “sewing shop” is a teeny tiny shop from the 1950s with one changing room. As you can imagine trying to kit out hundreds if not thousands of children for all the surrounding schools from this tiny shop seems to be an impossible task and the shop are failing miserably.

To get any item of uniform you have to make an appointment online and trying to get an appointment is impossible. They don’t answer the phone, they did have online ordering during the height of Covid but they have helpfully “disabled” this facility. People queue for hours outside the shop to order and collect uniform. They will only let one person in at a time. The place is run by young school leavers who are very pleasant but unable to help with anything but the simplest query.

They don’t hold much stock as the shop is so small there’s nowhere to store it. When I took my dd to get fitted for her uniform (£300) we were told we could only have 1 school kilt (£36) as they didn’t have enough for all the new starters. I ordered another kilt 5 weeks ago as it’s impossible to get 1 kilt washed and dried for the next school day (dd walks to school and back and gets very sweaty) and they still don’t have it in stock!

How do they get away with this? They’re obviously in cahoots with the school and some sort of commission must be going on. I had to pay £27 for PE leggings and extra to have dd’s initials embroidered on (compulsory). It’s disgusting.

I have complained to the school about this but they just don’t care. Facebook is full of complaints from parents about this shop and their reviews are 1 star and yet parents are forced to use it and pay their astronomical prices (£21 for a lab coat which dd says she hasn’t had to use once).

It’s really put me off the school and in 2021 parents shouldn’t be forced to pay these obscene uniform prices.

That all sounds absolutely ridiculous

Absoloutley ridiculous and I believe state schools are not permitted to do this - worth checking the legislation on this.

As an aside, the kilt does not need washing daily, sweaty kid or not.

That's disgraceful! Poor customer service and stupid prices too. I thought schools were told they shouldn't be doing this now? We have to get everything from one school shop too but they can manage the orders

My dds senior school says we have to get blazer, trousers, skirts, shirts and PE kit from a certain school uniform retailer. They’ve actually got the monopoly on uniforms in the area.
I could see the point of the blazer and PE kit, but the rest of it, no I can’t.

Oh my god I feel angry for you! What a waste of everyone's time and money. Could you buy some uniform secondhand? Is it an academy or LA run school?
I'd be tempted to send DD in black trousers to prove a point but I know when I was at school, I never would have done anything like that and wanted to fit in!

Sounds like the place we have to get school cardigans for - which is fine - they take email orders at least now, but the lead times for OUR school cardigans because they're not a plain colour are like 2 months as they go via one specific supplier that will do very small order quantities.

Pain in the arse - half the time mine go in in plain supermarket ones - not encouraged but not banned.

bernadette I would never wear the same skirt 5 days a week to work so don’t expect my dd too. Clothes should be washed regularly and I’m surprised you think a sweaty skirt can be worn 5 days in a row without a wash.

Absolutely shit system

Can you buy old school uniform from anywhere and cut the badges off and attach it to cheaper alternatives?

That's what I'd be doing - Facebook marketplace?

Gosh, that sounds hard work. It must be a very good school.

My youngest daughter went to a private school and apart from her Blazer and jumper the rest came from M&S or ASDA. They weren't that fussed about what the girls wore on their feet either or the colour of their hair. More focused on what was going into their heads.

@Schooluniformisapain

bernadette I would never wear the same skirt 5 days a week to work so don’t expect my dd too. Clothes should be washed regularly and I’m surprised you think a sweaty skirt can be worn 5 days in a row without a wash.

I didn't suggest you leave it for five days. You wash it every night. That's what's unnecessary.

bernadette nowhere in my post does it say I was it every night 😂

Our school's uniform used to be available in a shop in a nearby town but it closed down a few years ago and now you can only buy it from one online store. Most items take a minimum of 3 weeks to arrive and they regularly change suppliers so the sizing changes. On multiple occasions I have ordered something in the next size up but it is the same size or smaller than the "smaller" item that my DC has grown out of. You can't even just send it back for an exchange. You have to send it back, wait for your refund and then order the next size up (if you don't have the spare money to order another one in the meantime).

The other issue is that, if your child loses or damages an item of uniform, the school will only allow 7 days for it to be replaced before they put your DC in isolation for uniform non-compliance, despite the fact that the replacement item will take weeks to arrive. I once emailed these concerns to the school but they didn't reply so I assume they either don't care or no one else has complained about it so they don't see it as an issue.

And don't even get me started on the extortionate PE kit prices!

This is a huge bugbear of mine (I've started my own threads on it before! )
My DC school has a supplier that supplies a lot of schools in the area. Skirts have to be bought from the school supplier (£24 each) but boys trousers can be bought anywhere as long as suitable style and colour. "Girls" trousers have to be bought from the school shop. DS has 4 pairs of trousers - cost £30 (from M and S) DD has 2 skirts - cost £48.
Last year girls were allowed to wear plain leggings with PE kit (polo top, fleece and socks all school branded) This year they have introduced new school branded leggings and plain are no longer acceptable. DD is only doing year 11 compulsory PE so they will have very limited wear.
DH also pointed out the hypocrisy that the school are really proud of the eco credentials but encouraging us to buy a new item of clothing when she has a pair that I bought last academic year (and were deemed acceptable last year)

We have a choice of 2 suppliers which is a good job since I fell out big time with one and the won't get another penny of my money.
I use the school 2nd hand shop the vast majority of the time anyway as the prices are ludicrous.

We have to get items that are branded with the school logo from one supplier (Monkhouse Schoolwear) which means a trip into the city from where we live and despite them having branches across the UK I can only buy in person from one branch as its the only one carrying stock for DS school.

Don't get me started about their online ordering...

Oh my Gosh, that is worse than our school.

Logoed blazer, skirt, pe: t-shirt skort, socks, trousers, Jumper, Rugby Shirt...

Pisses me off with their "Christian values" while making it difficult for poor parents.

Fizzbosshoes, my son's school have the same unequal rules for boys and girls, and have done the same thing with the P.E trousers. Senior schools really are daft about uniform.

commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8414/

governing bodies should give highest priority to the consideration of cost and value for money for parents. The school uniform should be easily available for parents to purchase and schools should seek to select items that can be purchased cheaply, for example in a supermarket or other good value shop. Schools should keep compulsory branded items to a minimum and avoid specifying expensive items of uniform eg expensive outdoor coats.
Governing bodies should be able to demonstrate that they have obtained the best value for money from suppliers. Any savings negotiated with suppliers should be passed on to parents wherever possible. Schools should not enter into cash back arrangements. Exclusive single supplier contracts should be avoided unless regular tendering competitions are run where more than one supplier can compete for the contract and where best value for parents is secured

From the link. Also on gov.uk they suggest contacting Citizens Advice if you are forced to buy uniform from one expensive supplier.

How much fight do you have in you??

Secondary school here is similar- only one supplier. You can get trousers and white shirts from elsewhere but the rest is from this one, very expensive shop. Blazer, jumper, tie, PE top, shorts, rugby top, hoodie, socks. The PE kit has to have the house colour on the sleeve too which means you can't necessarily pass down to siblings as they could need a different colour. To make matters worse the shop is awful for customer service. They're known to sell items that have already been paid for and are waiting to be collected by someone else. They advise parents to buy 'compulsory' items that aren't actually compulsory.

Primary schools were the same until a few years ago when a competitor opened up so there are now two places to buy from.

It's similar at ours too. Girls have logo blouses which are £10 each and boys can wear any plain white shirt. However, boys have the additional rugby and football kit, which no one actually tells you isn't mandatory until you've already bought it ready for the start of year 7. I think DS used his rugby gear twice.

The skirts at the local school are more expensive than the blazers...

However 2 skirts, 1 blazer, 1 tie and 1 pe kit is approx £100 so isn't too extortionate. (Not exactly cheap, but not bad compared to many)

Yes it is disgusting profiteering. We have it worse here, 1 shop supplying multiple primary schools and 3 secondary schools. You have to pay extortionate amounts for nylon clothes. The only items we can buy elsewhere are shirts. It costs around £200 per DC per year, without shoes or bags included. I don't know how those on low incomes manage.