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

Some uniform suppliers are rubbing their hands and these ridiculous changes. And as you say, it seems to be new Heads who decide to change it - not a high priority

I support the wearing of uniform. But it should be stuff that's easy to source and cheap to buy.

Both my sons' schools seem to have it about right (although new Head decided to introduce logoed jumper, to some resistance). It seems to be Academies that have a hrad on for blazers and logoed everything

Patent my arse. Ask to see it.

Have no issue with compulsory uniform, but mandating a specific supplier is a dick move.

at at these ridiculous changes

even at ds private prep school lots of the boys (including mine) wear supermarket school trousers and shirts.

It's a blatant move to discourage less affluent families and so improve academic outcomes. All over the news today re the attainment gap between students from better off and deprived backgrounds. Use the pp's link above to resist the move. Patented? What nonsense.

Tbh, I think it depends on the school uniform 'as a package'. DS / DD's school specify skirts / trousers (not that expensive, but more than e.g. ASDA) but specify nothing else. Badge for blazer + tie very cheaply available, everything else standard black & white, no brand specified. Rugby top for boys, specific skirt for girls for PE are the only specified item of sportswear, and they are sold at cost price by the school.

So the 'overall package' is very reasonable, despite the single specified style of trousers / skirts (and they are flexible - the specified style is not made in DS's bamboo-stick size, so we have authorised alternatives). I would be much less accommodating if e.g. blazer and PE top and tracksuit and jumper were all specified, pushing the overall cost up.

Beating in mind Pantone have pretty much cornered the market on colour ownership I'd say they could do one. Ask for the patent number and/or Pantone number.

Can't ever agree with wanky overpriced uniforms from one supplier who is probably offering backhanders to the school. They should be as simple as possible and you should be able to get everything except for maybe an iron-on crest in a supermarket.

I'd be really annoyed too. I'd try getting a petition together?

I'm not "people like that" though! My kids school shoes are good quality sensible black flats. The items of uniform that need to be logoed are logoed. The items that don't are from tesco. End of.

But now I'm expected to spend £200 plus on uniform for a Year 11 kid ffs. Who will wear it for less than one school year before going on study leave!

One of the reasons they do this is because of some pupils (frequently backed up by parents) insisting that black skinny jeans or leggings are tailored trousers. I think there are better ways to deal with it such as isolation (generally hated) for persistent rule offenders.

Maisy perhaps. I certainly couldn't afford either expensive uniform or expensive school bags or trainers. My kids had uniform from Asda, shoes from Tesco or shoezone and school bags from sports direct, usually under a tenner. That seemed to be pretty standard at their school.

Oh and anyone who has ever worked in a school will know that a "consultation" is all about "what's going to happen whether you agree with it or not".

I'd understand this for a private school but not for a state school!

I'd go for the Tesco ones and see how long it takes for them to "spot the difference".

We're in Australia and uniform shops are often run by the P&C (PTA equivalent) so do fundraise for the school as well; but even so, our particular school has a red polo shirt which is logo'd and colour striped collar on the genuine article, but you can get away with a plain red polo at 1/4 the price from the cheapy shop. Ditto the red sweatshirt. Black trousers/shorts/skorts etc. are easily found in cheapy shops too (although the skorts are stocked in the uniform shop).

I just don't see the point in trying to force low-income families to fork out for unnecessary clothing that only has one use - school.

DDs new junior school, so only there for 4 years, have a specific shade of royal blue polo top. With logo, along with logo'ed cardigan. £9 each! For primary! Its cost me nearly £60 just for three tops and two cardigans which will be lost in 5 bloody minutes

If they end up with whiteboard pen all over them I'm going to be so pissed off. They have picked a particular light royal blue which I just can't find as a plain polo anywhere. No second-hand uniform either. For primary it really takes the mickey.

The school I teach in (I'm Scottish) has very relaxed uniform rules in comparison. Kids can wear black skinny jeans. The only 'rule' is you must be either wearing a logoed hoodie/top/polo or shirt and tie. Shirt and tie is compulsory for the two upper years. Much easier than all this 'specific pair of trousers' faff.

OP don't worry, you don't come across like one of those people who try to get around everything. I think people are just explaining why some schools have gone down that route.

This doesn't seem to be a huge issue at my kids' school - on the whole the parents are incredibly supportive of school and make sure their kids conform
It's not much at the school I teach at either. It's common sense really, follow the uniform spirit and we can keep it open. We only have 3/4 compulsory school things and the rest can be bought wherever as long as it's in line with the uniform. PE kits etc can be bought through the school shop, or you can just use white polo shirts etc.

There's always some who complain and push it but they are in the minority.

It would be lovely if state schools had to organise their uniform "pick and mix" style from a range of widely available options. For example...

Blazer: black, navy or red
Skirts/toursers: black, grey, navy
Shirts/polos/blouses: white, blue, yellow
Jumpers/Cardis: red, green, navy, black, royal blue, brown

No other colours allowed but each school chooses its own combination.

Can't believe people are having to have branded PE kit either. Rules at my kids school is tshirt and shorts, jogging pants for winter months and a hoodie if you're cold. No offensive slogans and no football shirts. That's it. The primary school sell white t-shirts with the school logo on for PE if you want to buy them, think they cost £4.50.

The new head teacher sounds like a right twat.

Ours has a specific style of skirt and trousers, but it is a mass produced plain Banner brand one so it is not overpriced. It also comes in a wide range of lengths/sizes. I prefer it to how it was at my high school where you could wear any navy skirt and some people could afford whatever was the fashion skirt for that year and some felt bad wearing a hand me down one. In dd's school a hand me down/donated one would be fine as it would look the same as everyone else's (they wash well.) Also less time wasted discussing whether something is too skinny etc.

But can't they have affordable compulsory trousers?

This - and while I admit that there are probably at least 50 shades of grey (see what I did there ), I can't see why they aren't ablate use one of the cheaper hues to make their school trousers and skirts from.

Fair enough "you have to get these from us so they're all the same" - that's why it's called a "uniform", but there is no need for them to be stupidly expensive, and no reason why they can't be second hand - what if you have a couple of kids at the same school - clothes are often f=grown-out before they are worn out.

Err, you cannot patent a colour. Not possible.

What about the inevitable dulling of the colour that happens? My washing machine can take a pair of dark grey trousers and turn them at least 3 shades lighter after only about 3 washes.

"Yes school, those are the patented trousers that you must have spent an outrageous amount of money on but, alas, my washing machine has lightened the shade. Oooops!!"

£17 for a pair of trousers hahahahaha, they'd be left whistling if it was me. No chance.

I think this is so wrong. When I went to school we had a school tie, and a badge you sewed onto any blazer of the right colour.