to think that a state school should have affordable uniform

[brizzledrizzle]

An acquaintance has just been to look at a state school for her 11 year old. A single set of school uniform (blouse, skirt, jumper, tie, blazer plus PE kit which has to come from the approved suppliers) is nearly £250 even before you've started buying shoes.

It might as well be a private school.

Uniform for my dds state school is extortionate also. Almost £400 for 2 of them and that's before shoes.

I always think if they want to insist on the wearing of uniforms they should supply them. Obviously never going to happen though.

How on earth can a school blazer - a kids jacket - cost £130? Thats ridiculous.

Academies have expensive and ridiculous uniforms to keep the 'riff raff' out. One has been built in a part of our town where there are plenty of schools but they are too 'rough' for the children from the expensive new build estate. They have Blazers in reception and proper ties too at £250 for the whole uniform. People from the nearby council estate can't afford it so continue to send to the other school whereas anyone in the town who can afford the uniform and care enough about their child's education to travel in can go (no catchment). It's social segregation encouraged and bankrolled by the government.

whitelisbon you decided to home educate your child because you didn't want to pay for uniform

My middle son’s (state) grammar has a really expensive PE kit. He’s on year 11 and never wore half the ‘compulsory’ stuff we bought in year 7 (obviously never replaced). It was £250 for the branded school stuff (blazer etc) but most of that was the PE kit.

Youngest is at a secondary free school with the most sensible uniform I have seen. Any black trousers (even jeans okay - he wears tracky bottoms), any black shoes (no fussing about whether it will be classed as a trainer), any red or black t-shirt. There are school jackets & sweatshirts but you don’t have to wear them. He loves his jacket (not a blazer) because it has lots of zips. Even that isn’t massively expensive (about £25 iirc). PE kit is peanuts. Such a relief after ds2’s school.

Oh and ds2’s school is the only 6th form with a uniform in the city.

Is it a free school? Some of them use this as a way to select better-off families while pretending they are open to everyone. Complain loudly and write to your MP. It is an important political issue.

champagneandthestars no, it was one of the considerations. I already home ed one of my dc, for various reasons, and we thought about sending the dts to school, but decided against it, the ridiculous price of kitting them out in uniform was just one of the (More minor) reasons.
However our catchment school is in a deprived area, and I think it's ridiculous that the uniform is so expensive, when something like 60% of the kids at the school recieve free school meals.

They should scrap the whole 'school logo' on every single item shit. It serves no purpose at all.

Black trousers/skirts/pinafores/shorts, shoes and bookbags.

White polo shirts for school and PE.

Coloured jumper/cardigan. One colour for each school in each town.

No faffing about. Teachers still know what to look for. Less chance of weirdos finding out a childs school online from a picture their parents posted. Much easier and cheaper for parents to buy. Black and white always looks fresh and tidy so they can't complain about school photos. It's a win win for everyone.

I think it's ridiculous to have any type of uniform that you can't get from most supermarket. Having any logo'ed or special items is pointless.

If I were in charge I'd have no uniforms at all or at most something simple and generic. Kids do NOT need to be wearing blazers.

One of our local senior schools has no uniform but all the kids wear lanyards around their necks to show who they are.

When I was at school I fantasised about the uniform being joggers and polo shirts. I just felt like I could learn better feeling comfy.
The reality was I was in a 40 quid skirt (1990s so cost a fortune), blouse and jumper. Too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter. Surprised I learnt anything!

I agree that uniform should be cheaper in state schools as not everyone can afford it. There is nothing wrong with only branding a couple of items and allowing everything else to come from supermarkets. Also having a second-hand shop where people can take outgrown stuff back to for others to use.
£250 would be seriously cheap for a private school though. My kids' private school uniform and sports kit for the whole year cost just over £1000 each, and that was with the shirts coming from Sainsburys!

“£250 would be seriously cheap for a private school though. My kids' private school uniform and sports kit for the whole year cost just over £1000 each”

Yeah, well. That ties in well with all the “ oh, anyone could send their children to private school if they only cut back on the booze and fags” posts. And the “There are loads of bursaries and scholarships” posts.......

DD2's state high school skirts come from one retailer, and cost £26.99 each. I was really shocked by this, but I probably just need to get out more.

Yanbu

This whole blazer thing is bull shit. 2 will cost you around 50-60 quid.so shoes and blazers alone that's 100 quid gone. Even with the rest of the stuff from a supermarket it's easily 250 + and let's fave or cheap asda white shirts are fab for primary but you want something a bit less see through for secondary. What with bras etc.

And they all seem to have weird jumper tank top things these days as well as blazers.

And then if course there's the equipment list.

YANBU petition here there’s just no reason to charge so much

I agree BertandRussel, there is no way someone on a bursary could afford these prices. There is a second hand shop at our school, but no guarantee they will have everything you need.
It's the PE and games kit that is the problem. The actual daily uniform costs less than £100 of the total. I have bought all the PE kit huge for my kids, in the hope it will last a good few years. Cricket whites (which they have to have 2 sets of) alone cost over £200. Just to be worn for a few weeks in the summer. It's bloody ridiculous!

Most other Western countries manage to get as good school results - or often better - without the need for any school uniform

It's yet another way of forcing ordinary people to buy stuff

blazer: £38
Jumper £6
shirt £3
skirt £14
tights £2
tie £5
pe top £15
pe fleece£15
pe skort £15
pe trousers £15
trainers £12
pe socks £5

£145 for one set. and who does not have more than one shirt or pair of tights?

What's with all this logo or crap anyway.q

No one sees the pe kit.

You can get shorts and hoody and t shirt from Tesco or cheap feom sports direct.

And special sock? Wtf is that about. Again available cheap at SD or online

And why do you jeed a blazer and a jumper.

One or the other ffs.

And ties. Waste of 5 quid they just dangle in your dinner or get singed on Bunsen burners.

Every state secondary school round here has similar. Every item of pe kit is school specific. Girls skirts and trousers only one particular one from uniform shop. Totally unnecessary in my opinion. Blazer or jumper with logo, plus plain black trousers/skirt and white shirt would be much better. Plain white t and black shorts for pe. They could have a stock of school branded kit for teams.

wow, this is more than my son's private school uniform (blazer, tie, cap, bag and jumper are branded). Sports polishirts have to be embroidered with school logi, but that costs £2.50 per item.

When my DS went into Yr 7 I couldn't breathe when I saw how much the uniform totalled. Including his shoes, it came to approx. £400. I stopped moaning about the junior school's £7 polo shirts after that. And no, it's not a private school.

Signed the petition.

i went to school in a country without school uniform, i'm so glad we have uniform here. the bullying was incredible, not having the right trainers, jeans etc was a nightmare (and a lot more expensive than even the really posh school uniforms)