To think a primary school cannot enforce the use of embroidered PE kit?!

[SmiteYouWithThunderbolts]

Today we were told that from September all children must have the school logo PE kit and for new starters in Reception, this needs to be ordered by tomorrow. The full kit costs £32 and has the child's name embroidered on as well, so it's impossible to hand it down to siblings or buy second hand.

Now then, I was always under the impression that somewhere there is a piece of legislation that says primary schools cannot enforce school uniform, let alone bloody PE kit that costs a fortune.

AIBU to refuse to fork out for the kit and carry on using the Asda joggers and t-shirts they've always had?

Do as medtrina has said, we did this a while ago when a new head tried to introduce the second new uniform in four years.

It meant cha goes were made, they gave an extra years leaway and only changed two items and we have the option of items without a logo. Parents did really kick up a stink tho.

They can be restrained from having an unaffordable uniform though. And sole supplier can be iffy too (though if it's just logo Tshirts and sweatshirts, they tend to get away with it).

Our ht wanted tank tops and caps... For a state primary...

There are logo sweatshirts and polos but we can get the right colour without the logo.

I know some primaries have school logos on their polo shirts and it makes them much more expensive, and caused problems, I can't imagine doing it on pe kit!

(mind you ds proposed secondary does this on rugby shirts, so we have that to look forward to)

bypass complaint! write a letter saying that you won't be buying it. the end

I would say I hate what I am about to suggest as I think some people are all a little OTT on child protection issues, but Name on a PE Kit? surely this makes a small child easily identifiable to a individual who might decide to hang out of a window and take photo's with a zoom lens then FB them with Tags, or worse tiny children with names, identified school , on a dodgy web site.

to be honest the risk is so small as to be laughable but nevertheless a risk the daily fail would love to have a field day with this...

"Tiny Tots labelled for easy Paedo pick up" I am a loss to the tabloids! okay clearly not.

Hahaha, missingmumxox, I hadn't even thought of that but if that's the angle it takes to get school to drop this ridiculousness, then I may have to resort to it.

They already have more extensive uniform than most state primaries I know. Shirt, ties, jumpers and blazer (although the blazer is optional until Y6). I just object hugely to being instructed to spend an absolute fortune on clothes that are intended to get wrecked. Nobody in their right mind buys expensive gear for school PE lessons. Team sports where the kit is important and represents something, yes. But not PE kit fgs. Where is the common sense!

This sounds like my grammar school PE kit of 45 years ago!

)Except we had to make the PE skirts in needlework (hideous) and embroider our own initials on the shirts. My mum embroidered mine in a horrible thick block that was truly embarrassing compared to everyone else's pretty chain stitch!)

It has no place in a state primary - uniform should be practical and cheap as it is so easily trashed.

order a job lot of white tee shirts etc off the internet and sell them to parents at cost ...

It sounds like a lot of money, but when I consider that I lost 4 pe kits in reception, quite possibly stolen, then suddenly it doesn't seem so bad. At least with the child's name on it is immediately obvious to the teacher if someone has the wrong kit on, and no one can nick it.
Think yourself lucky, they changed kit at my kids school last year and the full kit cost me £132 per child. I nearly passed out.

If my DD's primary school tried to enforce that, i'd tell them to do one, £32 for a kit they wear maybe twice a week for 39 week, i dont think so.

No need for a petition. If all the parents are outraged just don't buy it

What exactly are the school.going to do if you all refuse to participate? In fact what will they do if an individual refuses to participate? Can hardly expell s child in these circumstances.

While I agree that £32 is expensive (but significantly cheaper than ours) the pedophile comment is ridiculous and going to the DF would make you look ridiculous.

Far better to discuss rationally with the school than to stir up an angry mob of parents.

Do you meet the other new mums at preschool or play group. And write a joint complaint.

That's a lot of money and naming is stupid (DD2 never had a new PE T shirt)

Anyway DCs are advised not to have their names on their clothes for child protection reasons. OK school will argue they don't wear their PE kit in the street, but it does set a precedent.

I can just about see the logic of naming senior school hoodies as they are likely to be stripped off and left in a heap at matches, but it's still wasteful for small Y7s who will need another when they shoot up.

I'm not suggesting an angry mob, but schools are lazy, if lots of people complain about the same thing they have to listen.

If one parent moans they talk to you like a stupid child.

Of course you could just all buy ordinary kit and ignore.

This is what all our mum's did with impossible to get horrible Y7 pinafores. 98%!of us turned up in navy skirts on the first day and no one ever suggested pinafores again.

Could you play the child safety card?

Oh, I'm ever so worried about having uniform with the children's names on it, what if someone baaaaad reads it and calls them by name and they think it's ok and go off with them...

If they won't listen to sensible concerns about cost, perhaps they'll buy into dangerous stranger on every corner?

argh. not that actual child safety is a 'card'. I am talking about the hysterical 'man looked at my child from across the road' stuff.

Tesco's are doing a school embroidery service, no idea of the prices but at least you would get your clubcard points which could go towards a day out. The school also get 5% of whatever is ordered.

Oh, we're going through the same thing: logos on t-shirts that they wear for half an hour once a week at a cost of £9 per t-shirt, sole supplier from which the school gets a kick-back, all PE and school bags now have to be from this supplier too. Our uniform costs will triple. Its beyond wrong and Im probably going to refuse to do it.

When I was at school our pe kit was plain top and plain gym skirt in the school colours (so you could get it anywhere) and everyone had to embroider their initials on the front of both items.

It was hand embroidered so as long as you'd done it in a thread that didn't run colour on the fabric it could be unpicked and the item re-used. But it took enough time to do the unpicking and embroidering that there wasn't any 'disappearing' kit, and the whole lot was realistically cheap.

I guess we don't do that any more cos there's be loads of parents complaining about having to hand embroider stuff...

Ring the Daily Mail

I would literally just ignore the letter. Get the nearest you can get in Asda/ Tesco.
If they complain ( which they probably won't) say you can't afford it !

Playing Devil's Advocate here, but if the kit is high-quality, then £32 might not be such a bad deal, especially if the child's name embroidery is included in the price. If you buy it a size or two larger than the child currently needs, and temporarily alter it so you can let it out as the child grows, it could last a couple of years (£16 per child per year). Plus the embroidery could make it less likely for the kit to be lost. So maybe it will actually be more economical in the long run?

I don't have DCs, so feel free to tell me if I have NO idea what I'm on about

£3 asda tshirt + marker pen = well named

The nametapes go on the outside of all PE kit here, then the teachers can see if someone's not wearing their own.

i think an either/or letter to the school is called for.
Dear School HeadTwat,

As we are unable to pay £32 for personalised school gym kit, please let me know by return which of the following alternatives you will accept:
--Plain kit in school colours labelled by parents
--Child to be excused PE
--Child to wear borrowed kit with incorrect name

Many thanks,
Tunderbolt