to think school can cock off with their "patented shade of grey" £17 a pop trousers?

[QoFE]

Normal state secondary school, new head so obvs we need a costly uniform change (less than 5 years after the last uniform change) to reflect the new regime

Despite significant parental opposition (I know because I went to the so called "consultation") we now have to stump up for logoed blazers and ties. Expensive but hey ho, suck it up, whatever.

Except an email has just gone out reminding parents that the trousers and skirts HAVE to be one specific and expensive brand and cannot be cheapy or second hand because wait for it....

they are a patented shade of grey looks like tesco grey to me but what do I know

WTF? Is this even legal? The trousers start at £17 a pair FFS and ones to fit a 6th former are nearly £30

Our entire uniform changed the year before last .they have just announced its changing again from kilt to pencil skirt plus new gym kit , everything is changing! And it's all supplier only right down to swimcaps! Normal state school, new head master. Apparently he didn't like the last uniform .the old skirts were thirty pounds to fit my child.they have strict standards for length etc and she's growing like a running bean! Lord knows how much the next lot is going to be,haven't dates look yet!

Noeffingidea. I don't agree it constitutes buying double the amount of clothes. Clothes still wear at the same rate. They only need clothes for weekends and for a couple of hours after school so you don't need as much as if they were wearing normal clothes all the time.

£17 isn't that expensive for a pair of trousers that can be worn for a long time. It's only £4 more expensive than the ones from Next that are decent and hard wearing.

It seems me and rainbows and unicorns are in the minority in our thinking 😜

We that would be runner bean ! Sorry!!

Alec we didn't wear school uniform at any of my schools (and in Leicestershire, at the time, we went to 3.)

It was good from my last school in year and year 10 but in primary school I really wasn't bothered what I wore (times probably have changed with kids growing up faster) but I know my Mum would have definitely preferred a uniform to choosing us normal clothes!

It's only £4 more expensive than the ones from Next that are decent and hard wearing My Mum used to say nothing is cheap if you have no money!! If you offer £4 less for a pair of trousers in a shop I'm guessing they wouldn't say no worries it's only £4...it's pennies... we can take the hit....no one could possibly think £4 is important! What bullshit!

When I was at school the idea of the uniform was so that it was affordable to everyone (and the kids were all the same so no one got teased for non fashionable clothes). Now school uniform is more expensive than casual clothes. One year in may ds2 (primary school age) grew out of his school shoes (I buy one pair of good quality shoes and had always been lucky enough that they fit my DCs from sept to July). I explained to the teacher and said ds2 would be wearing a pair of non black shoes he had at home for the next 5 weeks until the end of the school year. Teacher asked couldn't I just buy ds2 a pair of cheap black shoes. I said my grandfather was a cobbler who made the shoes for the footmen at the queens' coronation. I was always taught look after your feet by wearing good quality shoes. DS2 would not be wearing shoes that may give him sore feet and it was only for 5 weeks. Teacher accepted it, especially as the older ones at the same school came in trainers! At seniors I suppose things are different i.e. Men's dress shoes (for big footed year 7s) that don't survive 2 weeks playing football at break time!

Agree with other posters that it is much more relaxed in Scotland. Ds school.has an optional blazer and compulsory tie. The rest is black trousers/skirt and white shirts, and black shoes. Some of the interpretations make the kids look scruffy but I supose its at least affordable.

I am in Scotland and my son attends a well performing state school and we are required to buy logo branded uniforms, black shoes and a special,P.E kit, so you are not alone.

jessitika of course it's double the amount of clothes. It's like having 2 seperate wardrobes. If they didn't have uniform they would wear the same clothes they wear at weekends and during school holidays.
You keep saying £17 isn't expensive for a pair of trousers - is it so difficult to put yourself in someone else's shoes? It obviously is too many people. Don't you ever read threads about people having to use foodbanks, or not being able to afford heating, or asking for budget recipes to feed their families? Having to pay over the odds for school uniform which is really unneccesary is not really making things easier for them.
But let me help you out. The difference between a £17 pair of trousers, and a £7-8 pair (from Asda eg) is £9-10. That keeps us in electric for a week.

My two local high schools, one an academy with blazers, the other non uniform.

I went to view both schools last year..Head of academy said that is helped the children get used to wearing suits for interviews.

One teacher I spoke to in none uniform said he had worked in a uniformed school and it cut down spending half of registration dealing with uniform infringements and deal with real issues. They still have certain rules no offensive logo's. no vest tops. and a couple of other things.

For me looking round both school uniform became a none issue.

I send my DS in primary in slim fit , he needs adjustable waist because he has a very tiny one and looks ridiculous is straight trousers.

Why no secondhand ones?! That's stupid! Not everyone earns millions of pounds. If they're good quality and smart who cares?! There are people who don't earn and are on benefits and might just be disabled or looking for work? Has anyone thought about that?!

No I still don't agree it's double the clothes. You wear them less so you need less overall. Still only equates to the same amount of clothes overall just two different types.

But we will have to agree to disagree.

I still don't think £17 is particularly expensive compared to clothing them in "normal" clothes no matter who's shoes I put myself in.
It's all about priorities. Your children's needs for school should come first. I think you need to rethink things if you can't afford a couple of pounds extra for some different trousers to pay for a weeks worth of electric over the course of the whole year.

(On a separate note, if your income is below £16k you can apply for the warmer homes grant, same as old people can, the gov. Just seem to keep it quiet)

I don't particularly agree that the school is correct btw. To say a colour is "patented" is just an insult to the parent's intelligence. But I can see why they've done it in theory as others have said. To stop all the disagreements about skinny jeans and different styles etc.

I don't think I'm going to agree and I've said my piece so I won't be participating any further.

Im an admin assistant and I'd struggle to pay for this. £10 is three days bus money or a good bit of food.

Blanketdog if you were so hard upmfor £4 then chances are you could apply for the uniform grant. If not then it's about priorities.

Jsa is 120 pound every two weeks xxx

Yes but if your on JSA you can apply for the grant and get it paid for anyway.

Jessikita - uniform grants do not exist in many, many areas.

It's still available for most local councils

No it isn't.

It is.

We could go on forever here.

It is available in a few counties. In a few more it's available in exceptional circumstances (low income alone isn't exceptional circumstances it needs to be low income & a situation such as having to replace uniform because of Fire/enforced change of school etc

In some areas it's available only for children in foster care.

In the rest - nothing b

I'd do a spreadsheet if I wasn't on holiday with no pc access just a phone & limited data.

Jessikita the maximum uniform grant from the LA in my inner city area is £50 per annum. The school MAY offer a further discretionary award up to £50 pa. The average uniform costs are £300 per child, and that uniform in Year 7 will just not last for 5 years.

My LA is absolutely bog standard in terms of uniform costs, grants and bursaries.

It's getting tougher for poorer families, and for a child to be excluded from lessons because of their family's financial status is pre-Victorian.

I think fair enough if that is the school you applied for. I have little sympathy there. But changes in uniform is different. I would send DC is regular grey and if the school kicks up a fuss say you can't afford it and you are very happy for the school to cover the cost of new patented trousers using their pupil premium funds if it is such a problem.