Has your school informed you of new legal uniform requirements?

[AplineDaisies]

As its now the requirement that only 3 pieces of uniform can be branded (including p.e kit), I'm wondering if schools have started communicating this to parents?

DD13 has about 5 pieces of branded school uniform. No comms from school yet on reducing this in line with the law as yet.

Anyone else?

But if the alternative is not being allowed to wear a jumper while other children are allowed to wear a jumper then it isn't following the guidance. The school will know this, they're just banking on people not challenging it.

Op, you mentioned that DD has around 5 pieces of branded uniform, but are they all compulsory?

if so it would be worth checking with school whether they will relax the rules before you buy replacements. But if they’re optional, not compulsory, the school doesn’t have anything to update you on?

They definitely need branded blazer, jumper and one p.e top. However now I can see on website - new policy must have gone up in last few days- that branded shirt not needed.
So it's not much of a change.

Yes but I swear it’s more than three. Blazer, tie, plus sports tops and shorts.

There will be peer pressure, though; and the very raison d'etre of uniform is potentially at risk (maybe also bullying) if you have 'optional' items that most kids just so happen to have, whilst only a few poorer kids' parents can't afford them.

There are lots of things in life that are not strictly compulsory, but everybody knows the consequences if you don't fall in and do them anyway.

That's a good point, actually: book bags. When our DS was in primary, it was just known and accepted that they had to have a (not cheap) school-branded book bag and nobody thought any more about it.

I wonder if they count as 'uniform' or not?

Yeah, it wouldn't be great if the law meant you as parents had to replace all the branded items with non-branded immediately

DS’s school has blazer tie PE top and shorts. Lots of other PE items such as sweater but they’d say it was optional.

Doing away with compulsory blazers would help costs by the sound of it.

I agree. Blazers are expensive, uncomfortable, restrictive and serve no real purpose other than to look 'smart'. I'd happily get rid of them.

Mind you, even ties are pointless imho. I get that they're seen as a specific brand-identifier of the school (and maybe an individual house within the school); but they're actually just really silly things that hang down with no purpose at all. More and more men never wear them as formal wear, unless at a wedding or funeral; and socially, women virtually never do. They look especially silly on developing adolescent girls.

Primary no change. The Girls in our secondary school have lost their choice to wear a comfy coloured blouse instead of a shirt and tie like the boys. (Before girls could choose between blouse or shirt and tie but that used up one branded item so they decided to get rid of that.) A blow for equality but lots of angry girls will going to school in a tie in hot weather.

Also I've had to spend a fortune on designer leggings instead of the cheap ones from the uniform shop. I was hoping we might get a term or two before the arms race took off but no. 😢

I have one in primary and one in secondary and both schools have items which come to more than the new government guidelines yet neither have issued any update on which item I can drop which is frustrating.

DD’s school is branded blazer, jumper, skirt, PE kit which includes top, skort and hoodie. They haven’t communicated anything

DS in primary’s only branded item is the jumper/ cardigan

Although if girls choose to wear skirts which are branded but could wear non branded trousers I assume that doesn’t count as it’s technically not compulsory

I’m in Wales and in our secondary school they have to have branded:
blazer
jumper
pe top
pe shorts
pe socks
tie

If girls want to wear a skirt and if boys/girls want to wear shorts these also have to be the branded ones. All available from only one supplier.

google tells me this is in breach of the guidelines for Wales, but I think it’s actually just advisory from what I can tell.

My sons primary school for the past couple of years have provided the option to buy non-branded polo shirts and have provided guidelines on the style of trousers etc. I think the new rules help with initial outlay of uniform costs but there is still ongoing replacement costs when they inevitably lose some kit in school! and no one likes digging through the lost property boxes.