Would you pay this for one pair of school trousers fuming!!!!

[Dickorydockwhatthe]

School have emailed to say as from September they will be changing the school trousers and skirts and that we will now have to buy from the uniform shop. The changes are that they have the schools initials in black embroidery on the black trouser 🙄. The skirts also have the same but are below the knee etc.

They apparently negotiated a good price and one pair of trousers of skirt could range from £18.50 to £24.50!!!!! Are they absolutely mad I pay £10 for two pairs which fit the school criteria, they are standard smart black school trousers we have never had issues over ds uniform. I normally buy 4 pairs or at least 3 no way could I afford or justify that now!!! I also have to buy a new blazer has ds has only lasted a year due to the poor sizing. Small was was a good a fit but next size was abasolutley massive and the guy at the store himself said there was a vast difference in sizing so I dread to think what the trousers are going to be like. I'm so angry at the school as they are punishing everyone because an minority are disobey the rules. Not mention to they are probably getting commission for uniform sold 😡

It is ridiculous. And it doesn't end up with the kids looking smarter as parents can't afford to replace uniform once it is worn out/ torn/ too short etc.

The uniform shop near me will embroider any school logo onto plain tops or other items for £2-3 so that might be an option?

Refer them to the official government guidance on school uniform - www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/514978/School_Uniform_Guidance.pdf - especially the bits about not going for unnecessarily expensive uniform.

Exactly marv

Plus oversized uniform looks stupid too seen a few.kids wearing stuff far to big presumably because parents can't afford to replace any sooner than absolutely vital too.

Plus let's face it how many people can actively walk onto a shop try on one style of something and get it.

My kids can't be so unusual that it takes multiple sizing up and down and a variety of styles and different supermarkets to find a skirt that fits properly.

Usually by the time it fits round the waist it's pretty short. Not helpful when you have a kid who say needs a 9-10 for the length but needs a 7/8 or 8/9 for the waist.

Academies. They can do what they like and parents have no come-back. They can change uniform, curriculum, school hours, school holidays and it's very hard to complain. They have no interest in maintaining buildings long term. All the while, the "head" and other "managers" are taking an immoral salary away from frontline services.LEAs may not have been perfect but they worked for the common good and were much more reasonable and accountable.

Governing body should have a complaints procedure for uniform. It would be interesting to know

The consultation process they went through
How they selected the supplier - was there a tender process?
Did they assess the financial impact? Was it discussed?

You can submit a Freedom of Information request to the academy for this information.

I pay £39 for one skirt for DD(8)
£21 for one pair of trousers for DS(12)
£19 for one skirt for Dsis(13)

Bloody stupid as the logos on DS and Dsis' are under the blazer anyway and they look otherwise identical to Asda cheap ones so much so no one has noticed that they have 1 logo pair and 2 asda ones each, have done for the past 2 years DD's is tartan so sadly no way around it, the material is admittedly good quality but it's a pain to wash and she is 8 so is a) very messy and b) grows out of everything in 5 minutes!

It sounds rediculously. I don't think scho should be able think force parents to buy a new uniform. If they wish to change the uniform it should be phased in with think phenomenon new pupils. It seems like a big unnecessary expense for parents otherwise.

Definately think reception and yr 6s should be exempt from.changes too.

Reception get lucky and lose things too often for this expensive shit to be justified

And well why make kids who are leaving soon change everything when the stuff they have will do.

Don't yr sixes always have clothes taht are on the small/short side as it's just not worth replacing

Get mucky

Dniece has this for her school skirts - a logo near the waist that has to be visible, to stop girls rolling their skirts up to be too short They used to have the logo near the bottom but girls were still able to display the logo after they'd rolled up the skirt, hence the change to its position...

I would email in (and get as many others to do so too - is there a school facebook page or twitter account that you can put the information on to make it as easy as possible for people) and point out that you don't have the budget to accomodate a 500% rise in the cost of school trousers (the £5 to £25), particularly without consultation. In order to comply could they please let you know how you can get hold of logo patches that you can sew onto the trousers yourselves in order to ensure that you dc can continue to wear proper logoed uniform... Because obviously you want to support the school but assume that as the government requires them to ensure that the prices of school uniform are reasonable** - and as the cost of the official supplier is now so high and unreasonable, you're sure that they must have a reasonable priced uniform solution - this is the only one that you can think of but obviously if they have a different one then you would be happy to use it!

**Can't remember what the exact wording of the government diktats about school uniform being reasonably priced are but I'm sure I've read it on here several times so somebody hopefully will be able to say. But it would be worth throwing this in their face at them in your letter in order to get your views in first and get it in writing first that it is unreasonably priced! And by suggesting that you want your dc to wear official uniform and are offering to sew on a logo (sorry, I know that's a pain for you!) it means that you are showing them a reasonable way to provide a logoed uniform (if say the patches were a pound or two each - still more money I know, but a lot cheaper than having it stitched on ready) and they are the ones that aren't offering any solutions or options - they can't accuse you of trying to sabotage their efforts in getting everybody to wear logos and smarten up, you are the one asking for a reasonable priced solution (as required by law) and they are the ones that are being awkward.

I would also ask them directly how much of a cut of their uniform sales they are getting from the supplier and ask if they are willing to forfeit this in lieu of having such an expensive change to the uniform. Or at least if they will make it an optional donation. Probably won't be a lot but it will concentrate their mind if there is no monetary benefit to them in the change.

Failing that I would be kicking up a fuss with the school governors and the local MP.

(I've just googled uniform requirements in schools and spotted this guidance document which might be of help in pointing out where their new policy doesn't fit with the guidance in being affordable and about the lack of consultation with parents and within the wider community and that it will act as a barrier to people wanting to join the school...)

tante exactly right! hereward but as an Academy they won't have a Governing Body they'll have a Board of Trustees. And as Tante alludes, wouldn't it be shocking (not) to discover one of the members of the Trustees has an interest in, oh I dunno, a uniform supplier?

got any seamstresses with embroidery machines
copy(some machines have computer scanners that can replicate anything)
make copies of logo and stitch them onto items
that are affordable

wouldn't it be shocking (not) to discover one of the members of the Trustees has an interest in, oh I dunno, a uniform supplier?

Of course, and the same applies for the schools FM, catering, IT, stationary, furniture etc. suppliers. It's privatisation in all but name.

Oh and I'd also price out a complete set of uniform from a couple of cheap suppliers (lidl, morrisons, asda, sainsburys etc - whatever you have locally), and then from M&S and John Lewis - both of which are these days considered to be the premium end of the standard school uniform prices (ignoring the specialist ones like uniform suppliers and schools that have fancy jumpers with a border woven in etc). Also if there are any other schools locally that use different suppliers see what their prices are. Then you will be able to really show them that the prices they are charging are exceptionally high.

At my ds's school to come only wear logoed school trousers, at £21 per pair. You just have to suck it up. I buy three pairs a year
I was cross at first but they aren't going to change.

Take it up with the governors. There's no legal requirement to make you buy the trousers

I would d be intrigued as to what happens with the smaller or taller kids who's skirt by the mere act of being talk means it's above knee

Or kids too small to fit them. Not unheard of for 4 and 5 yr old reception kids to still be in 2/3 clothing.

Would they be expected to pay out for alterations on top,

Our secondary school switched to one supplier, with recommended uniform. This was after having examples of approved trousers and skirts in the school uniform shop from Tesco, Asda, etc, but still school kids persuaded their parents to buy them short skirts and skinny black jeans. To be fair to the school, you could still get away with buying school uniform items from supermarkets, and it did seem to stop non-approved items of clothing. Also, the quality of the uniform from the approved supplier was good. I could buy trousers sized by waist and length for DS1 and DS2 wore DS1's cast-offs.

I would accept that it isn't going to change and that you will need to get the trousers.

If you cannot afford them, email the school and ask them if they have a hardship fund that you could apply for to pay for all/part of this uniform cost. Our school raises money for hardships funds in this way and would pay out if a parent could not afford trousers.

People above have suggested all sorts of cross responses to the school but it's far better to be polite and tell them you can't afford it and ask for help.

eleven I could afford those prices but no way on earth would i pay them. The OP is fuming that's it's unnecessarily expensive. Why should she pay 500% more ?

Would they be expected to pay out for alterations on top
our local uniform shop charges £2 an item for alterations, which with DD being smaller than the smallest they make, DSis being like a twig and DS being tall would soon add up, fortunately I'm good at that sort of thing so can do it myself.

What a waste of time and money :(

When you could just go to Tesco and not worry about something being half am inch above the knee. Ffs

DS1 starts high school in September and the original uniform information we had said that we had to buy his trousers via the school's preferred supplier, at a cost of £22. I raised this with the new head via email. The information on the school website now says that trousers are available at a range of retailers :)

Wonder What happens to parents when they have stocked over the few weeks after offer day only to receive a letter later on saying it's all changed and now they need X

Wtf are people who have he logod jumpers and ties etc ready and it's too late to return