To think this is fecking expensive?

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

I bought dd1's uniform for secondary school today. It has to be ordered from a certain supplier online, as it's all got the school logos on.

I didn't go wild, I bought 2 kilts, 4 shirts, blazer, tie, PE kit (2 t shirts, tracksuit, shorts, skort, swimming hat), and one knitted jumper. It came to £257, and I still have around half of the things on the list to get, e.g shoes, tights, sports bag, gum shield, shin pads and loads more. I reckon all in it's going to cost about £500.

Is this normal? Seems like a lot of money to me. It's a state school btw.

[AuditAngel]

I have priced up DS's uniform. I'm hoping his existing shirts and trousers will go OK in September. I'm looking at about £250 plus shoes/trainers/gum shields, coat etc

[AuditAngel]

Forgot to say, state school, not an academy

[CakeNinja]

Rooby I didn't know that about Tesco.
Although the family run shop (and I know the family) has been in business for around 80 years and would suffer massively if everyone did this.

Op sorry for thread stealing. Just wanted you to know you're not alone

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

Yes sue :)

I know I could have bought the shirts maybe a few quid cheaper in a supermarket but i quite often to struggle to find things in the right sizes in the supermarkets nearby (they always seem to have every size but the one I need!). And I thought for the sake of saving a fiver or whatever it's not worth the trauma of traipsing around looking for them, by the time I'd spent that much a fiver wasn't going to make much difference really :)

[StonedGalah]

Does she need 4 shirts though? Sorry if l've got it wrong, is she boarding?

[Icimoi]

Government guidance is that schools shouldn't have pointlessly expensive uniform. I'd be tempted to send copies to each of the governors.

[JohnCusacksWife]

I strongly object to this. We could afford this, just about, but it would be at the expense of a lot of other things. And there will be many, many people who just can't afford this, especially if they have more than one child at the same school. Schools can still have a smart uniform that doesn't cost the earth. I do wonder why so many parents seem happy to comply with these unreasonable demands.

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

No she's not boarding but she'll need a clean shirt each day and I know myself too well to know I'm not going to be doing a white wash every other day so that I can make sure she's always got a clean one. Especially in winter when I don't have much white washing to do.

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

I object to it too! But I guess I chose to send her there, I could have sent her to other schools nearby where uniforms aren't so full on.

It's a very naice school though

[waitaminutenow]

Just be thankfull you're not in rep of Ireland....you'd pay that for uniforms and then also have to pay for all of the books (either to rent or buy), insurance, photocopying, lockers etc etc etc....primary and secondary (although secondary school is way more expensive than primary)

[Littlefluffyclouds81]

Yikes! Thank goodness my grandparents had the sense to get on that boat!

[NRomanoff]

cake yes our academy has done that with the skirts too. Logo top and bottom to prevent rolling ip

[WhyCantIuseTheNameIWant]

Rooby,
Please tell us more about the tesco embroidery thing.
We still need to get year 7 u inform.

We are lucky, we can have "ordinary" shirts and trousers. But embroidered blazer, PE kit and tie. I think.

[Pengweng]

I just spent £200 on NURSERY uniform for my twins. Still got to buy shoes, spare wellies and spare clothes to leave there and new waterproof winter coats. I'm going to be bloody bankrupt in three years. Though their school uniform from Y1 onwards will actually be cheaper as most of it isn't logo unlike the nursery and reception stuff.

[Hairylegs007]

Cost us £150 including school shoes and rucksack here

[RoobyTuesday]

Whycant... Just google tesco embroidery school uniform service and you will find the website straight away. You nominate your school, thy then contact the school to set it up and then you can buy directly from tesco with your school logo on. My sons school has the option to buy either through tesco or at the local shop.

[LaurieMarlow]

Expensive nursery uniforms are absolute bonkers. Where are these people's logical facilities?

Across the board its unnecessary and unfair. YANBU OP

[ninaaa]

I agree, secondary uniforms can be ridiculously expensive if involving blazers and kilts (presumably a custom tartan that cannot be bought anywhere else).

But I do think you could save a little by buying second hand, fewer shirts and sports t-shirts, and buying anything non logo (shirts) elsewhere.

[Clayhead]

I just bought logo'd secondary uniform for £134 all in! Will need to buy a couple more shirts so about £20 more in the autumn once dc have decided if they prefer short or long sleeved. Been burned that was before so waiting it out this time!

[Fauxlivia]

Have a look at what the pupils actually wear. When ds1 staryed secondary we were told to buy expensive sweatshirts and it turned out that not one pupil actually wore it.
I would also make savings on the PE kit - buy one shirt and not official school shorts etc if you could get the same colour from a supermarket. With mine, I bought the official rugby top because it was distinctive and the socks (maroon so hard to get from asda) and bought cheap shorts/trackies. They hardly ever wear PE kit anyway, so I considered it a monumental waste of money.

More inportant to have enough of the uniform they wear all week imo.

My attitude is that the school are taking the piss if they insist on everything being expensive - it's against the state guidelines on uniform and if the school dont like it, they are free to give me some money to pay for all this stuff!

I did make sure my dc wore school ties and blazers and decent shoes (not trainers) though because those were everyday items.

[Idontseeanydragons]

We spent only slightly less on DS's uniform in year 7 and that was with the pants and shirts coming from Asda! The pe kit caught us out but it turned out that they really didn't need as much as the school implied so when it needed replacing we just bought the basic stuff rather than separate football kit, waterproof jacket (essential according to the school literature. No it's not, nobody wears it) etc.
What really naffs me off is that when DD1 starts at the school she'll need logo'd skirts as they are the only one acceptable. They even request Muslim students wear logo'd hijabs!
It just all mounts up.
Thank God DD2's school doesn't bother about logos, as long as it's school colours they're fine.

[flora717]

It's probably what most people spend on their work wardrobe though.

[bstokegirl]

Blooming heck! I was so put out when our dd didn't get her first choice of secondary as it has uniform. Second choice doesn't and dd has not been at all hard to clothe, loves H&M and Primark. It has saved us so much cash, as have army boots and vintage. Have rarely complained about the lack of uniform since. PE kit is uniform however, and we've had to replace that several times, at cost, despite sewing name tapes onto everything.

[ScorpioMermaid]

Our kids secondary school, regardless of pupils families income, provides the blazer, tie and P.E kit (shorts and tshirt) for every pupil in year 7. jumpers are optional so up to parents to buy. they have just introduced new trousers/skirts which are compulsory as of September as they have the school logo on the hip. These will probably be provided for in September for the new ones too.

This was great for us September just gone as we had one start in y7 and her older sisters school was closed down before the holidays so they were all moved to the school where my y7 dd started and provided their uniform too.

[twinkletoedelephant]

I have twins in yr 1 ATM I have just started saving 20p's in a money tin for uniforms for secondary I am hoping I will have enough over the next 5 years :-). Dosnt help older sibling is a girl so can't share