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

Agree with Poppy. An overall package that has a single item, or a very small number of relatively basic items (e.g. trousers + tie + PE shirt) that are specified, with the rest being generic and available cheaply, seems to me to be fine. A large number of specified items, no.

So £17 trousers but all else available from any supplier is fine.

£17 trousers plus specified blazer + tie + logoed PE kit of numerous items is NOT fine.

Barbarian . epic typing fail

PoppyPopcorn DS1s new "super campus" school in Scotland attempted that shite, until we all pointed out that it's in one of the most deprived areas of Scotland, and although its catchment area is wider so some parents could afford it, the vast majority would struggle.
So they made the compulsory colour one that was available in supermarkets. Thankfully because at the rate DS1 takes the knees out of trousers, we'd end up spending the national debt if they were £17 a pop!

About people insisting that black skinny jeans or leggings are tailored trousers- isn't that easily dealt with by putting 'no jeans, no leggings' in the uniform code? Schools can clearly specify style, colour, length and material without insisting on one exclusive brand
Every school I have worked in had specified plain, black, straight legged trousers with no logos or embellishments.

The schools where they had endless battles with parents who don't get it have gone down the route of being very prescriptive/single supplier (complete with obligatory local press article of sad child with parent because their obviously non-union item was, shock horror, not in the uniform).

The schools where parents read the uniform and follow it have a couple of school specific items but the rest can be bought wherever.

Sadly, when you end up with a large enough group of families adamant that school rules only selectively apply to their children, the school's have to respond.

Badges are fab. I unpick and re-sew on new blazers when required.

*schools
Keep getting autocorrelation apostrophes.

Forgot to say - it's the fact that they are saying they are patent grey trousers that should be their undoing because that makes it so bloody obvious that they can't be bought anywhere else so anything else to highlight how unusual they are (like the woven blue thread in them) should be seized on and used as extra evidence that they don't meet the requirements!

If they are going to give you sticks, you might as well use them to beat them with

The schools where they had endless battles with parents who don't get it have gone down the route of being very prescriptive/single supplier (complete with obligatory local press article of sad child with parent because their obviously non-union item was, shock horror, not in the uniform).

So those parents and kids still made trouble, even with a proscribed brand? There will always be some awkward buggers who think the rules don't apply to them, whether that's regarding uniform or behaviour or any other school policy. The answer to that shouldn't be to penalise ALL parents and cause possible hardship for poorer ones.

We had the same thing at our school, entire new uniform being brought in this September.

However, the school did listen to feedback.

I quoted the Education thing someone posted above and wrote down current costs of uniform compared with the costs of those they were proposing.

As a result of the feedback from all the parents, they dropped the blazer and now it's tie, jumper and tartan skirt for the girls with trousers optional. Although the jumpers were £24 each, DD has opted for trousers which are a lot cheaper than the skirt option. Shirts from Asda and one tie at £5.

It really should only be one or two items with a logo with the rest being available to buy on the high street to allow parents to keep costs down as much as possible.

My DS1 (12 but tall and has rugby thighs!) went through 8 pairs of trousers last year, the thighs kept ripping! I bought Marks but still a lot of money when you add it up.
Here in Scotland if you are entitled to free, school meals you receive a school, clothing grant. It's not huge but enough for generic uniform, shoes, jacket/ washable blazer. Do you not have it in England?

What a pile of wank from the new HT. My local, high-performing state secondary manages to be very hot on uniform without stressing about whether the 'black, formal' trousers come from Asda or John Lewis. There are even cheaper/more expensive versions of the school logoed sweatshirt available locally, so parents have a choice. I usually have to shop around to find trousers to fit my lanky, skinny teen; if there was only one outlet available I'd be landed with the expense of altering them as well. Then he'd be guaranteed to put a hole in the knee in the first week. Totally unworkable.

God, I'm dreading secondary with all this fucking bollocks that has nothing to do with education or attainment. DD is at a non-uniform primary and it causes zero issues, and teaches the useful lesson of choosing suitable clothing for the day's activities (I don't think tights are a good idea today, mummy, we've got swimming after school). It is, in general, a very unmaterialistic school so all these fads like JoJoBows I only ever hear about on MN.

So those parents and kids still made trouble, even with a proscribed brand?
Some schools just went very prescriptive. The ones where they went to specific supplier, said people just found a nonspecific supplier to be awkward about.
But, fewer people were awkward after the shift to being more prescriptive so it still succeeded in cutting down the amount of time spent dealing with issues.

I don't like going to single supplier. I've said that many times. I'm just saying I can see why some schools are doing it.

From experience, the sorts of people who think uniform only selectively applies to their child also think other school rules only selectively apply. Trying to run a school with 1000 kids when you've got kids and parents deciding that they'll only follow rules as and when it suits them is a bloody nightmare.

brecon Your school sounds like mine.
We manage just fine. I think that's largely because 95% of our parents understand what sensible black school trousers, school shoes & non-fitted shirts are. It's not rocket science to follow a simple uniform.

As a result we only have to pick up a handful of issues.

It's ridiculous,I would have to complain. I wish dd's school would specify the school's requirement for school trousers though as it seems subjective and fluid. So depending on which teacher it is,trousers can be acceptable or unacceptable.
One of dd's friends had worn a certain style of trousers from September to May and passed the uniform check by the form teacher each week. The class got a new form teacher and her trousers were deemed against school uniform policy.
It would be helpful in that case either to have a reasonably priced school trouser or a list of acceptable styles from local retailers.

I do know of a school which has quite a specific uniform but which served a deprived community and which gave every child a full set of the specified uniform items when it came in, then operated an extremely active 'swap shop' for the items to be recirculated.

It also offers a full uniform grant for families on specified benefits.

So a uniform with specific items CAN be compatible with serving deprived areas / families well, but the school has to 'put its money where its mouth is'.

It is a shame that one of these wanky head teachers doesn't come onto these uniform threads and justifies their position.

At DCs secondary school you have to buy specific skirts/trousers with the school name embroidered on them. This is to stop girls wearing very tight trousers or very short skirts I think.

Whilst I disagree with uniform in principle, I don't think yours sounds particularly expensive. Nearly 30 quid for tailored adult size trousers is about what i d expect to pay, and in fact what I have been paying for the last several years.
Maybe Primark do them cheaper, but they won't be sturdy enough to last the year. M&s, John Lewis, local school shop all charge around 30 pounds.

DelphiniumBlue
I'd happily have no uniform as long as the students would follow a sensible dress code that's appropriate for school.

Most parents and kids would probably come in appropriately dressed, but I'd take bets that a certain group of students would use the freedom as an excuse to show off (hear it enough over school bags and trainers for pe already).

Nearly everyone in the country I grew up in went to schools without any uniform, and the place ticks along pretty well ... I actually like that there are uniforms here (primary) because it's so cheap and easy, but in so many of these threads there is so much bollocks about it that it would be much better not to bother at all. Not a fight you're likely to win, but I'd go to the governing body with that DofE text above and ask how mandating an exclusive patented shade of grey is consistent with this. If no joy: Daily Mail?

M and S school trousers were appalling when I bought them- crotch seems always went after about a month. Our school too have introduced new uniform from September even for the year 11's. Madness- should have just been brought in for each new year 7 cohort every year I think. Year 11's now all waiting to see in September to see who has got the new uniform. Shame as previously the year 11's had a different coloured sweatshirt which was what they were expecting since year 7. Now there will be no distinction between them and the rest of the school.
Very expensive too. State secondary.

Your child can't be excluded for wearing a pair of trousers that are grey if you've contacted them to explain you cannot afford the 'regulatory' pair and have bought him a similar pair, it is law that children must attend school so as long as you make every effort to get similar trousers within your budget there's not much they can do

This seems to work for LA schools but if your school is an academy they just do internal exclusions and won't listen to reason.

There was a new head at my sisters secondary school last year. All uniform changed - All girls school. Everything was labelled and to be brought from specific school shop 90 minutes away from where we live. They deliver, but at a charge of £10

Black pleated skirts with logo at the bottom - £32 per skirt (The school seemed surprised that she only had 2 )
White specific collar open neck whatever logo'd shirt - £10 per shirt
Logo'd cardigan - £25
Blazer - £125
The cardigan and blazer are a specific unpleasant shade of purple that I can not find anywhere.

PE tracksuit bottoms - £25 (again, specific, logo'd and striped)
Logo'd Polo shirt - £15
Logo'd fleece - £17.50

They were kind enough to give us the option over which tights to wear, they do however, have a logo'd pair of tights (small logo on ankle) for a whopping £9.50 per pair!

He's now told us he's considering a uniform change again in September 2018 as the name of the school will be changing. He's not very popular at the moment

Cantkeep away - at ds's previous school the supplier wanted to charge an extra £35 to make made to measure uniform for ds (he began secondary wearing age 7-8 clothes. (That's extra on top of the usual price. It was a suit not trousers & blazer so couldn't be bought elsewhere.

His new school the official trousers are £24 per pair & I know they won't fit him as they have no adjustable waist. Luckily a parent with an older sibling told me that no one can tell the difference between them & next.

Dd's skirts are £28 each.

Dd's skirts are