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........

and to kit ds out for full uniform was just over 400 and the bugger has gone and grown again and now in men sizes so even dearer

aliceliddell The Sutton Trust has never accused grammars of operating a system of social cleansing. It likes grammars and is funding a scheme at Pate's at the moment to broaden access. It wants to broaden access but that's not the same as accusing Headteachers of grammars of condoning a policy of social exclusion using overpriced uniform and kit as a means of exclusion. Could you link any report where they say this?

merrymouse believe me, if I can kit my kids out for the grammar, anyone can.

merrymouse makes a good point

Exclusive expensive uniforms and holidays keep the 'riff raff' out'.

I was glad my ds didn't fancy the very good ex-grammar school, as we would have had to shell out for special embroidered trousers wtf?

Not to mention the 'school trips' to Mexico or Egypt.

My apologies, the things I have read aren't by them, then. Will try to send you a link to that research. I'm thinking Anti-Academies alliance? NUT? Rowntree? Some idiot rambling that can be dismissed as left-wing propaganda, anyway.

Apologies if this is a double post, it booted me off the website as I clicked post message.

I think it is unfair to say to the OP that she should pay the price as she chose a grammar, they are schools funded by the tax payer and therefore everyone bright enough should be able to access them reagrdless of class or income. I say that as somone who doesn't even like grammars.

At least when people choose to opt out of the state system they do not expect me to foot the bill. However grammar school are paid for by the taxpayer. It really grinds me that I am expected to pay for grammars knowin they are designed to cast aside bright working class kids from troubled backgrounds like myself.

I think that £92 for a PE kit is a bargain.

Do pupils at comps wear cheaper shin guards than those at grammar schools?

Try Fiona Millar at Local Schools Network, fairly sure she's done research on social cleansing by uniform. Comprehensive Future? Barnardo's?

But, twinkly, the taxpayer also pays for comps. Do you think comps are cheaper to the taxpayer? What about when their own pupils set fire to them. That must be a big cost to the taxpayer. Just an example.

twinklypearls- exactly! We pay our taxes, have always worked hard for what we have and considered ourselves very lucky for DD to get a place at an academically selective school as this is the area where she excels. If I had a child who was a talented athelete I would similarly look for a school that had excellent sports facilities.

I don't agree that the system is designed to cast aside bright working class kids, but I would certainly be interested in the admission figures which indicate what type of school the majority of grammar schools have come from. I'm hazarding a guess that the majority would be from preps. I hope I'm wrong.

this from the OFT

schroeder- that's really interesting. Especially the part where schools are advised not to have a sole uniform supplier as it is breaking the laws of competition. Having just one supplier puts parents in a difficult position. I for one am the type of person who seeks out a good deal everywhere!!

Gumshields were only £1.50 at our uniform sale, so £5 is a rip-off!
I am disgruntled that the girls have to buy their skirts from the school (£18 each in my dughter's size) where the boys can just buy any old black or grey trousers. The girls also have to have shorts and a skirt for PE.
The whole lot (uniform and PE kit) has cost about £160, that's without buying new trainers and studs which she will need before September.
The only items I can buy not from the school are white school shirts and grey socks (not the PE ones), and some plain black tracky bottoms.
There was some second hand stuff for sale but very little, mostly shirts which had seen better days and over-sized blazers.

That is for an 'ordinary' comp by the way. I think the uniform at ours is the most expensive of the 3 schools in our town.

The irony here is that very bright or gifted children who win places at good independent schools will more often than not get lots of help with uniform costs and the cost of trips (often 100%). Yet parents are expected to fund all this themselves in the grammar system.

It's the exclusive supplier issue that's the bastard, for grammar, state, academy, whatever.

So when exactly has the OFT ever taken enforcement action? There's a state secondary in my town in an area of deprivation and the basic uniform costs £180 per kid. Exclusive supplier. The OFT and DfE are not remotely interested.

spottyfrock- we could have got a 50% scholarship for DD at a very good independent school, but as she got a place at the grammar we turned it down as it would have been a financial stretch for us to pay the balance of the fees. If she didn't get into the grammar, I would have taken out a loan or re-mortgaged the house for her to attend that particular school as she loved it. I thought grammar was the right choice for DD because anyone regardless of background who scored highly in the 11+ got a place. We're in a difficult category- not rich enough to pay for private, but not poor enough to be given full scholarships or any other concessions.

Puts me in my place, ds needed a logo polo for PE (£5.99) which annoying was only sold at school. I was irritated. Now I see I'm lucky, otherwise he needed navy or black shorts/ tracksuit and trainers.

Yes, very often it's the middle income families who lose out most in these situations. Very bright kids from low income families often get 100% remission of fees+uniform+trips+travel costs. The excellent indie school my kids used to go to before we moved gave 9 such children this package in y7 the year my kids started. Lots of others had varying degrees of help depending on household income.
This meant the child from a home where total income was 15k would manage to attend without any worries whereas the child whose parents earned 30k total may only get 30% remission leaving their parents to consider whether they could afford the remainder.

The fact that it is a grammar school is not relevant. The fact that it is a state school is.

I spent about £100 on DS1's PE kit when he started (state) secondary school last year. Even the socks had the school logo on. Luckily he didn't lose any or grow too much and will be wearing it all again in Y8. Don't get me started on the blazer.

The school DC 2and 3 attend have changed their uniform for next year. The school shirts (you guessed it, only available from one shop) are £10 each. Usually I buy 3 shirts per child, so that is £60 on school shirts when I could get a couple of packs from M&S a lot cheaper. While I can find the money for these fancy shirts, I pretty sure there are some parents who are going to find buying them financially painful. I think it's quite naughty of the school to insist children wear logoed shirts, especially as the juniors didn't have to before.

Mine are at private school and came with a long list of uniform requirements from their trial day, including black PE shorts with a red trim along the long £18, bought from M&S sewed a red piece of ribbon along leg, £5.50.
You can do this with so much of the uniform and tbh quite a lot I haven't even pretended it's from the school list any more they've just worn a red polo shirt rather than the logo one, nobody has said a word.

along the leg not the long

There are 3 secondary schools where we live - we do not have grammar schools. The uniform costs for all 3 are pretty much the same as you have mentioned - pretty standard then.

SkellyBones- I will be using similar tricks for the next lot so that I have a reliable original version to copy from!!!