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........

All children at Secondary school are going to need PE trainers, football boots, shin pads and a gum shield. None of this is going to be branded, and I doubt schools penalise children for choosing the cheaper gum shield. That is going to account for about £45 of the cost of a PE kit.

So we are talking about differences in cost in the rest of the kit - a thick, reversible, long sleeved top of some sort, a short sleeved or sleeveless top, a pair of shorts and a pair of tracksuit bottoms. We have had to pay more for these items because of the requirement that 2 inch high initials are on the outside of each item, but this is actually a good thing as it is very unlikely they will be lost or (based on my experience of Primary) stolen. So £50 for these items, if bought big enough, worn for three years (as DS has done). That is a cost of just under 33p a week. I don't think that is unreasonable.

Now, the £1000 a year I pay a year for transport for DS to get to the grammar school, that is unreasonable and will put many families off sitting the 11 plus (no free transport there for low income families as it is almost never their nearest school). But that is the fault of the school transport department at the local council for not sorting out a sensible transport policy and route with the local transport providers. This seems to me to be fuelled by a hatred of grammar schools, which means some councils won't work with them in being more inclusive, because some LEAs would rather create problems for grammar schools.

Here in OZ we can claim the cost of school uniforms when we do our tax returns

In our rural area councils are recalculating distance from schools on a house by house basis. Many parents who would have had free school bus passes last year find themselves having to pay this year. It's over £400 per DC. They will have no choice but to pay or send them on service buses which work out more expensive. Narrow, unlit counrty roads are too dangerous to walk.

They should stop free bus travel for 60+ first.

Secondary DC will need the extra footwear etc. but mine had choices of sport in year 7. I would check they will be doing football before buying the boots. I bought new boots for my youngest and by the time his group did football (after Christmas) he needed new ones.

it sounds about right to me. Like others have said, look into buying good quality second hand, I do, and I can afford to buy new.

I've not read the whole thread so apologies if this has already been said, but I think you're really lucky to be living in an area with Grammar Schools, where I am there aren't any and the choice is your catchment secondary school or private. Also as others have said, £92 for high school PE kit is about the norm.

I agree Nagy. Sodding Baby Boomers with all their cash and leisure time! (And limited appetite for babysitting.)

DD goes to an indy prep and has been in mostly second hand uniforms - from the sale and from contributions from friends - since day one. The one new set I bought in nursery she managed to lose in three wks -including the track suit bottoms, God knows how. We have various people's names sewn into the stuff, which is now passing to DD2. Some from a previous head girl - follow in her footsteps! I will be happier to pay more when they're older and can look after their things better. Although I like the recycling principle.

The cheaper stuff might not last as long. Parents have been complaining about the quality of our uniforms (God knows why when we've gotten so much wear out of them) and boy do I hope the new head doesn't do much about it as I suspect this will mean higher prices.

I am wondering if DDs will complain later though and want 'their own' stuff.

Yes, Yellowstone, it is a state school, not a grammer but definitely one which parents are very keen to get their child into and is also 'outstanding' according to Ofsted. Tbh, as I said, speaking to other mums the costs of uniforms seem to be around the same price. One mum even quoted me £650 so I am not sure what they are being asked to buy. However, there are those who come in cheaper. I did include rucksack (logo'd and non-negotiable), trainers (specified, non-negotiable). All stuff listed was specified as the jumpers/pe kit/rugby kit reflects the child's house - I chose to buy the shirts from there as they were a good price, roughly in line with JL and M&S). The shoes ... well, where do I start ... we were told that only certain types of shoes were approved so we will have to bite the bullet there as well - however, as my DS is tall for his age with adult sized feet I won't even get the no-VAT children's options!!! I can state, in defence of the price paid, that the quality is outstanding, really really good.

As I said before though, I would be happy to pay that every year for my DS to attend this school.

Daughter - the pe and sports kit we were asked to buy is for the sports they do anyway, not for teams. If my DS gets into the rugby team I will need to be a second set or maybe even a third to cope with fixtures and getting clean kit back in the bag!! I am hoping he won't prove to be too good at cricket as the cost of that kit is fairly high!!!

PiousPrat - what's to stop you shortening the hems on the black trousers that your ds2 is too short for hand me downs from your ds1?

Also do you really need 3 pairs of trousers for each of them? My ds has 2 pairs, one he wears and one that is a spare. I wash them once a week, unless they get muddy or something, when I put him in the spare pair while the fiorst are washed. He's not a football at lunchtime boy though so this has always worked fine. I would only fork out for more in the year if hey were wearing through or it did turn out they were being washed more frequently...

gillybean2 There are lots of items added into these lists which aren't school specific or are multiples (eg. 5 shirts!). This inflates the apparent cost of uniform.

roguepixie there are two points. First, you may be able (as well as willing) to pay £570 for your DS to attend that particular school, very many won't be in the same fortunate position. Second, logos and high quality kit does bugger all to affect the quality of teaching and learning in a school so there is clearly a need at all state schools, particularly the very popular ones, for costs to be kept to a minimum. If kids at our school can get the results they do in kit which cost £100, why not adopt the same sort of uniform policy elsewhere?

But uniform works out cheaper than mufti over the years. Imagine the pressure if there was no uniform and the dc wanted x, y and z. At the primary without a uniform around here it was only cool for a few years to wear GAP fleeces. (late 90's, early 0's). Also you have to deduct the cost of even cheap mufti from the overall cost - and personally I think full time mufti would work out more expensive especially as it would go out of fashion, not wear as well (unless of course it was very good quality) and need replacing more often. Don't have any issue with uniform or the cost of it here - I would have to buy clothes for them to wear anyway. A blazer lasts about three years - an ordinary jacket woudl probably last no more than one and I bet it would cost at least 35.00 so all evens in the end.

I have all this to come as DS is only two. There are some crazy costs on here.

Surely there are no school specific gumshields?? I use one for sport and have never paid more than £2.50. I lose them all the time so wouldn't bother with an expensive one. Also for those that need football and rugby boots, you could just buy football ones and change the studs for rugby? No idea what studs you need for hockey...