to think £92 for PE kit is extortionate?!?!

[seeitoldyou]

My DD will be starting at a top grammar school in Sept. Up until now she has been at a below average state primary (which just got slated by ofsted). I am giving you this background to emphasise just how unfair it is that the parents of intelligent kids from poor or normal (us- 2 parents working, own home) backgrounds are essentially penalised for wanting our children to attend a grammar school. We, as a family, are so pleased for DD to attend this school as I think it will be the right place for her. But I can't help but feel annoyed that the school is charging so much for essential items. By the way, I have checked if I can buy some of the kit elsewhere and have been informed that I cannot as all the kit has the school logo on it! Don't even get me started on the actual school uniform........

SeniorWrangler- some really good points and I suspect you are right about the types of families the school wants to (and does) attract- judging from the new parent's evening and a lot of 'darling/sweetie' talk from the cosy clusters of prep school parents (who all know eachother) cluttering up the car park with their 11 plate land rovers!!! Oooops.....didn't mean to sound bitter- I'm sure they're all lovely and not cliquey at all

I will not be formally complaining about the cost of kit or uniform as we would not be considered to be a family in hardship at all. I'm not rollilng in money, but we are comfortable financially and are happy to live within our means. I would not welcome any scrutiny of our personal financial circumstances just to get a discount off PE kit; which we wouldn't get any way because we are not skint.

Maybe I am out of touch with the actual cost of secondary school uniform and PE kit. It really has come as quite a surprise to me. I would have thought £50 for kit would be more than enough. Oh and btw, the cost has gone up from last year and I would imagine it will go up again next year as the school is very open about their need to raise as much funding as possible for things the goverment stipend will not cover. They charge £5 per adult and £3 per child to enter the summer fete!!!!!! Being a family of 6, the costs put us off and we did not attend.

Thank you all for your support and great advice. I just wanted to vent my frustrations on MN and have already begrudgingly written the cheque

I'm very glad that our grammar isn't like your grammar seeitoldyou because it sounds utterly grim.

How does claiming that grammars use inflated uniform costs to socially engineer the intake constitute a good point? Especially when that point is plain wrong.

My kids have nearly the same as Fabby's and they've managed fine.

Dd goes to a prep school and her pe uniform comes to more than that OP. Infect I noticed she's grown out of it all soni need to buy, from school shop:

Pe top
Red shorts
Black lyrca shorts
Red long socks
Red gym skirt
Grey tracksuit
Cricket sweater
Trainers
Plimsolls

However we did take all this Ito account when choosing the school so can't complain, although wish dd would stop growing so fast!!

I agree that it's a form of social cleansing. All the children that I know who went / are going to grammar schools or ex-grammar schools or highly respected religious schools have had to fork out a fortune on uniform.

Our two local outstanding comps have uniforms that can be bought in any department store or supermarket, PE kits too.

When buying my DS's stuff (one sheet of A4) I saw the list for our local private boys school, it was about 3 pages of A4, and of course didn't include girls uniform. My kids are at a bog standard comp too. We can get shirts anywhere, and PE shorts, and a blue sweat shirt for girls PE, and jogging bottoms, and boys school trousers. Most other things are restricted to one shop or the school itself. But they do run secondhand sales, I have also had quite a few hand me downs, and the skirts are good quality so last a few children.

We had an insane list of PE kit when I started secondary. I remember the PE bag being virtually uncarryable and nearly as big as me! Didn't fit in lockers, so there was always random kit shoved everywhere.

IIRC we had to have
(specific) black tracksuit - adidas stripe down arms and legs job.
Reversible school rugby shirt (from school)
gym knicks (specific)
netball skirt (with name embroidered onto flap)
white aertex top (with name embriodered onto outside of collar - most parents just sewed on a name tape though)
school sweatshirt (from school)
Trainer socks
rugby socks
trainers (specific brand/model so didn't fit anybody well)
football/hockey boots
shinpads/gumsheild. (not sure I ever had a gumshield)
specific black swimsuit - but could choose own towel!
cagoul - they didn't do rain stopped play.

It was insane then and remains insane now.

By half term no-one took in more than aertex top, sweatshirt, footwear relevant to class and skirt/trakky bums relevant to weather. I do not recall EVER wearing the rugby top or the tracksuit top. No idea what happened to the trainers as I'm sure they never got worn out and foot size pretty much static since age 11.

When it got grown out of the only replaced bits were the aertex, plain cheap black trakky bums and swimsuit (with normal one that I'd be seen dead in elsewhere (developed early and wanted one with support ) The school sweatshirt was bought such that it fitted me by sxth form!

The only team I was on (girls' cricket) had a more relaxed attitude in a way - "get some whites; any whites", but it was still more kit!

Not sure I go with the social cleansing theory. As I said previously, my son attended the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe - one of the top state grammars in the country.
I had six other children, divorced, council house. He was the only pupil in his middle school to be given a place there. He got in on his own merit.

Do try and speak to someone there about what they actually will wear. Two years ago when Ds started his new school the games uniform cost me more than the actual school uniform. Two years down the line he has worn the track suit bottoms once and has never worn the track suit top,hoody,rugby shorts or shirt.In fact the only things he uses are the polo top and PE shorts. The large sports bag with logo and his name is gathering dust on top of a wardrobe having never seen the light of day.Could have saved myself an awful lot of money.

I´m in Germany & the children don´t have a uniform.

But could I just ask-what would the school do if you don´t have the correct sports kit?

Exclude from lessons?

What we found when I went to the local grammar (in England) was that there was so much sports stuff needed-gym, hockey, netball, tennis, but non of it "logo-ed"-only the tracksuit for anyone on a team.

blimey. I thought DD1's reception year uniform was bad enough at £70 for everything, including pe.

that amount for just pe is insane! we used to have black bottoms and blue tops plus trainers and hockey boots. nothing with a logo so it could all be bought cheaply.

why this obsession with everything being logoed these days?

I use my common sense and buy what I know my kids will need for sure and I don't buy optionals. I don't need to make use of the second-hand option because mine all hand on their stuff to the next one down (it's unisex pretty much), but the option is there. Even so, it costs nothing like £92 quid to set them up in Y7, that's about the total cost for the entire uniform, not just the sports kit.

Strange that the social cleansing claims persist despite me saying that our grammar (which is certainly up at or near the top of the table) takes the greatest care to keep costs down for parents and that the uniform is bought from the same stockist which supplies the same stuff at the same price to the comps.

Perhaps it's the less good grammars which socially engineer through the device of over-priced kit, because their results need a hike and they're poor enough grammars to think that stategy might work. It's kids like Marjoriew's at Royal Wycombe who keep the results in the top schools high, no need for these crazy tactics up at the top.

When my mother started grammar school in 1955 her uniform cost her father three weeks wages.
Having said that YANBU that is outrageous for PE kit.
No surprise to see some people taking this opportunity to do some Grammar school bashing.

3 kids, 3 different schools (so no hand me downs). All 3 need new pe kit this Sept. All have diff logos, one child has to have he surname on the front outside of every item. Middle child also needs hockey kit including stick.
Youngest also needs new footie boots. All 3 need new school shoes too.
More than £100 each I reckon!!!! Yikes beans on toast again:)

Sounds pretty standard to me?

I'm not sure of the cost of my own PE kit but when I started at a very ordinary North of England Comprehensive school in 1995 my parents had to buy:
Red Sweatshirt with school name (unbranded alternative grudgingly ignored)
White Poloshirt with school crest (unbranded alternative not allowed)
Green gym knickers
Green Netball Skirt
Green Athletics Shorts
Long Red Socks
Trainers
Hockey or Football Boots
Shinpads

I can't imagine that came to much less than £100 even 16 years ago.

My oldest (just finished Y3 at Prep) has to have a waterproof school tracksuit, netball skirt, cycling shorts, white poloshirt (summer), red polo shirt (winter), athletics vest, skin, long navy socks, short white socks, indoor trainers and outdoor trainers. All bought through the school.

But they do do sport every day and they do it outside in almost all weather so I guess it's worth it.

I think it depends on the quality of the PE kit and how long it is expected to last.

I went to a private school in the 80's which had a very expensive uniform. On the other hand it was pretty bomb proof. The uniform could be sold at the twice termly uniform sale/passed down and would last for years and years. Details of second hand uniform sales were given out so parents could stock up before their children started school.

On the other hand, My son's school trousers (generic supermarket) are in rags by the end of a term.

Having said that, I think a school that professes to be open to all children regardless of parental income, can't possibly expect all parents to have £90 left over at the end of the month to spend on P.E. kit.

Doesn't sound too bad.
We spend 250 every two years on our dd's uniform.

I got involved in the school's Parents' assoc and made sure I was in charge of the secondhand sale... Had my pick of the uniforms for my trouble.

Uniforms save us a fortune on clothes though.

merrymouse OP's grammar seems to be saying that they expect parents to be able to include £7.66 in their household expenditure each month for sports kit, not £92. And that's assuming a complete new set each year, so in fact it's probably less.

My kids' grammar hopes parents can put about the same amount aside towards the entire uniform including sports kit each month and if they can't then the school encourages the second-hand option or failing all else, gives help towards the purchase price of items required.

Sounds very much like my kids' school provides a cheaper option than many comps, though I concede that the quality of the clothing is pretty rubbish. Still, can't have it all ways and keeping cost down is clearly more important to our school which welcomes all comers, if not to all those other engines of social conservatism lurking in the leafy suburbs out there.

you want your child to attend stuck up grammer schools then you pay the price simple no good moaning or did you just come here and moan to let everyone on here know that your child is going to grammer school

Charleneanne, it's a 'top' grammar school. Please show the appropriate respect.

charleneanne- why would I do that? you don't know me or my DD so how would it benefit me to show off?!?

LineRunner- I mentioned that it is a 'top' grammar because her primary is a failing school!!!! So in comparison, I think we are very lucky that she got a place.

lmao top grammer school what a load of bullshit she just wants to brag about it my ds goes to local comp brill school he is doing very well and uniform is whit shirt or in summer polo shirt with logo and thats £9,00 for 2 black trousers black shoes pe kit white shorts whit t shirt if child is into football cricket rugby etc then that kit is needed and a plain black tracsuit for winter easy really

seeitoldyou I think you should approach your new peer group of mums with an open mind. The Range Rover crowd may be quite decent, that's a narrow-minded attitude to take, I hope the grammar will encourage your DD to find out what individuals are like before making judgments like that.

Grammars are supposed to be inclusive, so the RR crowd have got as much right to be there as anyone else.

Whatever. You've obviously missed the entire point of this thread. This is not about bragging. It is not easy sending a child like DD to a failing school where the class teacher regularly has to ask DD how to spell certain words!! And to check other children's maths!

I would check what is optional and what is necessary.
All dd has worn in yr 7-9 for pe is aertex blouse, black shorts, tracksuit bottoms and trainers.
Optional items were the pe hoody -£25 in shop, £3 at uniform sale (which I am in charge of.........), official tracksuit with school logo.
Way to go, be in charge of 2nd hand uniform!!! Or be friends with the person who is.