to think £18 steep for school jumper

[whatkatydidathome]

dd starts middle school in Sept. The uniform is burgandy so easily available from most shops but they insist on particular jumpers with a logo. These are only available from a small local menswear store (with very un child friendly staff). We also have to buy 2 rugby shirts with our childs name printed on them (as well as logo) so second hand not an option - these are £12 each - plus huge assortment of logo-ed track suits etc. Comes to about £400 - and will need to be rebought each year. I complined to council who said that it was nothign to do with them and that it was assumed that parents accepted the uniform cost when they accepted the place. This is not true as we are rural so this is the only school our children can attend. They also said that it was assumed that parents who coul dnot afford the uniform would make different choices about schooling .

Could this be a new mumsnet campaign? I have also spent a fortune buying new clothing for secondary school. I have no objection to buying a blazer but feel that parents should have choice as to where they buy it. I don't know why we as parents have to buy items of clothing with logos on from the most expensive school uniform shops uniforms still look smart with a sewn on badge. Is it really necessary for children to have a polo shirt, rugby shirt and sweatshirt for p.e? Rant over!

I panicked when DD's school became an Academy and had a whole new uniform, blazer, tie, shirt, trousers, skirts, pe kit(2). We definitely got off lightly as the whole outfit came to just under £100 and as she was already a pupil she got the lot free.
To save us costs, we do live on a deprived estate, each year we can return the blazer and tie for a new one. The only part of the uniform they really insist on is the blazer tie and pe kits. You can get any black cheap trousers and skirts and shirts.

When we picked up the uniform we exchange the old uniform and that was sent off to the school they sponsor in Sierra Leone, and they had the school logo on. Some people just sya things which sound stupid eh Spiritmum.

Friends school do not allow anything 'fashion'. This includes any shirt with darts in it or cuffs which are not wrist length and buttoned. Double buttoned shirts. Skirts with any style of belt or diamants or embroidery detail. Bootleg trousers.
Her DD wa sent home for wearing 'fashiion' trousers. In reality she is so skinny that even skinny jeans look like bellbottoms on her.
The school isn't charging astronomical prices like £165 for a blazer but by putting so many restirctions on style it is making it harder to find good quality reasonably priced school uniform

Do think we need a good Mumsnet campaign starting

I can't complain to our MP as she is one of the govenrors who voted this new uniform in. dd is terrified of going to new school (eg vomiting in mornings etc) so sending her with a patched up uniform is not really an option. I'd love a campaign. I do see the point about sweatshops and cheap clothes but I cannot even use that to justify this uniform as it has to be bought from this small local shop and the quality is not that great - ie no guarentee that it is ethically sourced or anything - just that they have a completely captive market and can charge what they like.

I'd join this for a campaign. Yes, please please do it.

Atm we only pay £8.50 for a sweatshirt with the logo on, and £7 for the shirts, as my dc are all at primary school, but the insanity of the demands when they get to high school is out of this world. I teach in high schools where they have all sorts of "uniform rules" and it's hideous. Particularly for those (including me) with more than one dc.

I thought that the schools had to provide at least two alternatives for purchasing uniform - well they do in our LEA anyway. Well worth checking for those of you who are only given one place to buy uniform or have to get it directly from the school.

OP I have the same problem and have another going into the school in September.

The way I am looking at it is this, it's a good school (am assuming that yours is too), you have got your children in it, obviously.

It would be very easy to send them to the undersubscribed school down the road where the local Govt. are pouring millions into but they don't have a uniform! Strangely enough, my friend who moved down here for a brief point in her life, sent her daughter to this 'crap school', there were only 15 to a class and she did really well there.

If you want a good school, you have to pay for it. The school will be getting money from the supplier, so it's all good for your children.

I'm having to shell out for new uniform at the same school. There isn't even a transition period.

It is my understanding that school uniform at state school is not compulsory, and in fact in law the Head and the Governors can only suggest a uniform and not actually impose it. Is this not correct, certainly for primary schools. In our primary school from the age of three for nursery, (of which I am a governor)we are supposed to dress dc in formal shirt and tie, jumper or cardigan with logo, trousers or shorts for boys, skirts or pinafores for girls and girls are only allowed to wear trousers on really cold days. I think this is ridiculous, and it is being raised at Governors as even the children have requested a new uniform code. I have sent my dc in their own clothes for nursery, and then shirts or polo shirts which ever they felt like, trousers whenever my daughter preferred to wear them, no ties ever, supermarket jumpers no logos.

I think the country has gone mad, many places of work for adults have a less strict dress code than our schools, and our dc wear them out quicker and have a pesky habit of growing too! I would support a national campaign for sensible school uniform, boycott school uniform etc.

Incidentally our local secondary school, with a very good reputation just has polo shirts and sweatshirts as its uniform and funnily enough the kids are still polite, hardworking upstanding members of society, who statistically do very well in their exams....why do we need blazers at all?

Too right, Sparkle. There's hardly any such thing as 'dress down Friday' in the workplace because every day is dress down, yet we are foring primary kids to dress in ties and formal shirts!

And at some point this year dd1 will be judged to have handwriting good enough to write with a pen - and will be presented with a regulation fountain pen, for which we have to pay the school a fiver.

Oh yes I'd join a campaign for sensible - "fit for purpose" school uniform.
Our school won't allow girls to wear boots in the winter - so the girls walk to school wearing Mary Jane shoes - how ridiculous is that?

The logo'ed thing has got a bit out of control, don't you think? One of the arguments in favour of school uniform was that it made everyone the same - rich & poor but it doesn't achieve this, with logo'ed shirts and jumpers costing around £10 from the school and around £2 from the supermarkets it's quite clear which children come from an affluent background.

And I don't get why schools are so passionately opposed to comfortable foot wear like trainers as part of school wear - for kids running around all day they make very good sense.

Why do schools - primary schools in particular feel the need to promote a corporate identity through logos? - whose ego is being massaged - the Head Teacher?

A sense of belonging to a school community should go beyond a logo - but I guess a logo is an easy thing to introduce and promote, introducing a real sense of belonging which goes beyond superficial labels, well that might prove to be a little more challenging.

Scooby, in our case it is very definitely the head's ego that is getting massaged. He even specifies what snacks can be taken on trips so that he can bask in the glory of having a fruitshoot- free school.

Oh that sounds familiar. On a normal school day, the kids gorge themselves on fizzy drinks Kitkats and crisps for lunch but on a school trip it's strictly water, no fizz chocolate or crisps, one year they even insisted that parents wrapped their children's food in reusable containers (which ironically many school dinner parents had to buy - failing the "reduce" part of environmentally responsible) - all to win a competition about reusing to reduce waste. I wouldn't mind but the school really doesn't give a stuff about being environmentally responsible - as they told me, it's too much bloody effort.

Rules like this make the Head Teacher appear vain & weak - still put a suit on and anyone can look important!

Op, yanbu. £18 is ott, we pay £13 for ours and I consider that too much, given the poor quality and the fact that it looks 'baggy' very quickly. Our school cardigan is gold, so no option to buy elsewhere, but I do send dd in a grey jumper quite often, it looks much smarter. I am the only parent who does this though, and am aware that dd stands out wearing it.

you should be able to ask for minutes from the Governors' meeting under FOI, which you can do anonymously.

YearOfTheCat - just interested, how do you ask anonymously? I mean surely they know who it is? I requested some minutes recently, by the way, and was told I had to do so in writing.

The Schools Admissions Code, which I quoted earlier, has legislative force. So schools should not be enforcing expensive uniforms, because inevitably it is discriminatory. complain! And I would complain to an MP regardless of whether he/she is a governor - if it puts them in an embarrassing position, then good.

spiritmum surely you can talk to this head teacher - if you were not sympathetic and kind you could easily be blackmailing him

Of course the whole uniform thing is to keep out the riffraff, and it always has been.

Bunty Penfold!!! And MissCromwell having a conversation about schools? we are now in an alternative dimension...

Apologies for the hijack.

Tried that, Bunty. I mean talking to him, not blackmailing him. And the Governors are aware of his more, erm, interesting conduct - he's apparently been warned and his wandering days are behind him .

Scooby - our school did the opposite - we needed everything to be disposable b/c the teachers couldn't be arsed to get everything home. So dh ended up needing to make a special trip to the shops (we live in the sticks) to buy mineral water in a sports top bottle at night because the school didn't inform us of this until the evening before the trip. Not helped by the fact his dad had just died and he could have done without it.

Good morning Miss Cromwell

scooby and spirit I used to do a special DISPOSABLE PACKED LUNCH for school outings as my children loved a hands-free afternoon instead of toting plastic boxes.
Oh, the blissful days of freedom of choice!

Could someone tell me what the hell is wrong with brown paper bags?

If a school started telling me how to pack my kids lunches up I am afraid I would conveniently ignore forget. Or deliberately do the oppposite.

What silly nonsense.

gosh, reading all this makes me feel really lucky! Our school only insists that you wear the colours - black and grey for trousers/skirts/pinafores (and they turn a blind eye to navy!), and navy or red for jumpers/cardigans/fleeces. We can use any book bag (until now, mine have used the free bookstart ones in various colours), low heeled shoes (no colour or type specified) and logo items are optional (and cost around £10.50 for a jumper)

PE kit is just shorts and t-shirt, with tracksuits or jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt for winter. I can therefore get the entire uniform for both DS and DD for around £100 including sports kit and shoes....I could never afford the hundreds some of you are having to shell out and I would kick up all kinds of stink if they tried to force me too.......

I definitely think a campaign is necessary - it sounds like some schools are taking it way too far and putting already struggling families under even more pressure - what if kitting out your kids for school means not being able to afford the electricity bill or some other important living cost?!

Mrs Crafty : I have not "got my children into" the school - I have simply sent them to the only local school. We do not have an alternative down the road. I also already pay for this school via my taxes so do not see why they need to effectively force me to pay more via the uniform. I also teach so I know that actually the money is not really the issue - not on that scale anyway - more staff morale and parental support when it comes to behaviour issues. Yes class sizes can come into it but a few quid extra from a uniform kickback is not going to pay for another teacher :)

Mrs Crafty wrote...
"If you want a good school, you have to pay for it. The school will be getting money from the supplier, so it's all good for your children."

Is it not illegal for a school to raise school funds through uniform sales? I thought all profit goes to the supplier.

I believe the (state) primary my niece & nephew go to prefers parents to buy their logo'd sweaters, but is quite happy to sell a badge parents can sew onto plain ones.

However the book bags have no alternative and are not cheap (although do seem to last quite well).

I don't mind paying for book bags or PE bags as it is a one off cost and they can be handed down. However I really boject to having to pay for uniform, evey year, especially as they seem to have delibarately arranged things so as to cut out the second hand market. I also am really annoyed that the council/school head etc keep saying that we have "choosen" then school when we have no other choice unless we drive our dd miles out of our local area which we cannot actually do because we could not then get our other two to their local school.

I do object to paying for book bags, Pe bags, logos on jumpers and fleeces and coats, names school bags etc etc etc. Which is why I don't do it. It is a huge rip off, if not by the school, then by the supplier. We as parents try to protect our children from the effects of peer pressure, and then on the other hand we just follow what everyone else does and spend a fortune on these things, when generic supermarket items would be fine. If I have extra money to spend I would rtaher spend it on a decent pair of fitted school shoes than a logo on a jumper that will go baggy, get holes or get lost before the end of the first half term.

Incidentally my mum says that I was the only child at primary school not in a school uniform. I didn't even realise, she only told me the other day, so it was hardly traumatic.