To refuse to rebuy five years of primary school uniform

[Schooluniform2018]

Our small primary school has always had a uniform. I have had one child pass through the school into high school and therefore have enough shirts, pinafores and logo cardigans to pass down to my youngest two. Currently in years 1 and 3.

Deputy head was recently promoted to head and promised 6 months ago that the uniform was staying the same with a logo change in the cardigans.

Today they have decided that the colour of the uniform has to change. (Not sure if pinafore/trouser colour is changing yet)

So could we buy new pe kits, jumpers/cardigans and maybe pinafores/trousers !

So I have five years of uniform...enough for my youngest two to wear all their school life, in good condition and they want me to spend a lot of money which I simply do not have to replace the uniform.

Oh and they didn't bother to ask parents opinion, just presented it as a done deal.

AIBU to tell the school that my kids will be still wearing their old uniform colours until they graduate to high school in five years time, as I don't have the money to rebuy new stuff :(

I heard that uniform is optional at primary school, so hoping that will work in my favour.

I am so upset. It is a good school with no reason to change the existing nice uniform, the new one is made by the same uniform shop in the same materials just different colour and logo.

Uniforms change. You just have to accept it.

No you don't. There is specific Department for Education guidance about uniforms which this policy breaches. The school could and should have discussed it properly with parents before taking radical decisions.

Or, of course, they could do the sensible thing and abolish uniforms altogether.

Don’t be silly. You know you aren’t going to send your DC to school in different coloured jumpers than the rest of the school. Uniforms change. You just have to accept it

Bollocks do you just have to accept it! Hopefully many other parents will do the same thing, and there will be loads of them.

We got a new Head who complained about school uniform being "faded, clearly second hand and not smart enough" and tried to get everyone to get brand new logo jumpers every year. Oh, how we all laughed (and did nothing of the sort)!

I feel your pain OP and I don't know why there are so many people on this thread who don't get it. School uniform changes are a total PITA. Even when you can afford them they will mean doing without something else. My friend has daughters at a private school and the new head decided to introduce a blazer. 2 years later he decided to redo the entire uniform, to be bought ONLY from a shop the other side of London which supplies Eton and Harrow dontcha know. This includes a grey pleated skirt where the pleats are lined in "copyrighted" tartan so no other school can use it. The whole PE kit had been changed a few years previously but apparently the school aren't allowed to sell this second hand as it came from a different supplier. A basic supply of uniform cost her £350 . It is just the new top dog pissing on his territory as far as she is concerned.......

and for you.

Just send them in with the old stuff and ideally persuade some other parents in their class to do so. We always had someone at school still in the previous verson of the XYZ jumper or whatever and I bought their uniform from the school second hand shop as it is so it tended to be older versions (although we didn't have massive colour changes).

OP

I am sorry to here you are so stressed about this.I would again suggest you seek out the Parent Governors. I was a PG for 11 years and this is exactly the type of reason they can be of use, liaising between parents and Governors.

As for those saying buy it at local supermarket OP doesn't know what colour it is yet! There isn't a supermarket in the land that sells the colour of one of the schools I pass on the way to work. It is gross! I hope for your sake they haven't changed to that colour.

Our uniform at secondary changed, but pupils were allowed to wear the old style uniform. The kudos that went with having an old style sweatshirt was phenomenal.

By the end of Year 11 for DC3, he had one polo shirt, one pair of trousers and one sweatshirt, as I wasn't buying any new ones by that stage. This was fine until the last day of term before GCSEs when polo shirts were written all over by the year group as a souvenir. Unfortunately, he needed a polo shirt for exams, so we had to buy a second hand one to see him through.

I think my kids are like Zibbidoo's - they're very active, but don't smell, even if they've been running around on the astro at lunchtime.

Even if you've more money than you know what to do with, the issue here is all about the wastefulness of resources if you're told you can't continue wearing perfectly good uniform, just because it has the wrong logo, etc.

And as for the comment upthread Do you not buy your children a new uniform every year ???? Please don’t send them in in the old hand me down uniform they will get bullied !!!!!! that really is a load of bollocks.

There isn't a supermarket in the land that sells the colour of one of the schools I pass on the way to work.

We have one of those nearby. It's verging on the criminal, isn't it? I think very poorly of such primaries.

Do go to see the Head, if you weep on her she will see how difficult this decision is for some of 'her' parents to acquiesce. Tell her that you will have to cancel their first holiday in 3 years, even though it's just to a caravan on the coast (emphasise that you're not spending money on a fabulous trip to Mustique or anything). Crying on her; especially if you are clearly making an effort not to, will show her how bad this decision is and how needed a compromise is, either in a long roll out or keeping the same colour. It might make her cancel the blazer too.

Obviously the extra cost is unfortunate but I wouldn't want my DC going into school in the wrong uniform. They get their class photo taken every year and I wouldn't want my DC standing out like a sore thumb in something I hang on my wall and will look at for decades.

I think you are buying way to many clothes anyway, we always wore a uniform until it was worn out, if it was dirty it was washed, we didn't have several sets sitting in the drawer just in case. Supermarket own brands, secondhand and even ask the school about hardship support.

Do you not buy your children a new uniform every year ???? Please don’t send them in in the old hand me down uniform they will get bullied !!!!!!

I don't think so! DD aged 13 , at the first opportunity this school year, chose to ditch her winter uniform in favour of my old school summer dress (summer uniform hasn't changed in at least 40 years) The school summer dress is now £40 a pop -for a state school!

Op, you don't need to roll over to the head. And definitely don't let this spoil your holiday.

Don't buy the new uniform, tell your kids that the new uniform is stupid and they don't need to wear it. If you get any fire from the school remind them that uniform can't be legally enforced at primary level. Encourage other parents to ignore the barmy shakeup and don't be afraid to be a general thorn in their side.

It does seem pointless changing uniform but if they go ahead there will be a transition period. Could you afford it if you bought one or two items each month ? Do you literally have no spare money each month ? Maybe you are entitled to some benefits that you are not aware of.

*I get one school year out of my daughters wool blazer.... it wears at the elbows and the shoulder gets marked due to straps..

i marvel at anyone who can make a blazer last 5 years. I'm doing something wrong!!*

Blazers have clearly deteriorated in quality. I had the same one all through secondary! Sadly, I also had the same gym skirt, which was hideously expensive and had been bought long so that I wouldn't outgrow it.

I stopped growing at 12, and when all the other girls had nice short gym skirts, mine was still round my bloody knees.

I think YABU. Great for child 1 to have new uniform but others have to have hand me downs even if they stick out like sore thumbs. I passed some pinafores from dd1 to dd2 but cardigans and shirts really disn't look great so dd2 had new.

It is worse than I thought :(

They want kids to wear
1)Tartan skirt £10 or Tartan kilt £10 or Tartan pinafore £14 or black trousers for boys Currently have grey pinafore/skirts or trousers
2) Only close neck shirts All my stuff is open neck shirts
3) Compulsary Tie £4.50 No ties at moment
4) Funny shade of dull blue logo jumper/cardigan £17/£18 We have nice green jumpers with logos
5) New pe kit and PE bag No prices atm but Guessing they will be £20 & £5
6) Ban on using any bag other than a book bag.I already have my kids using small well made Jack Wolfskin rucksack (rep £60 I got in a sale £12 each). They fit in trays and lockers at school and allow my kids to ride to school with a rucksack. They can't ride with a book bag

There are no supermarket options as alternatives, as they are all weird colours dull old man blue cardies and weird tartan. None of the girls stuff can be got from the supermarket.

I am so angry and upset. The uniform is ugly, expensive and unnecessary.

When is it coming in?

Start looking for a new school.

I am going to a general school meeting next week and will be asking for uniform to be on the agenda.

My objections are as follows

1. Unnecessary.
2. Causing financial hardship on some pare ts
3. School failed to consult parents before issuing demands.
4. School have not provided two years notice (which is the suggested timeframe) they want it on line by September
5. School have chosen ugly over priced uniformity with no cheap supermarket option.

How much more expensive is it than your current uniform?

That takes the fucking piss!!!! Big time

And no trousers for girls or did i read wrong ?

Is there an ombudsmen or is it Ofsted you can report it to?

So minimum bill of £300 for 2018 (for three kids currently at school)
And an additional £200 for next five years.
So a total of £1300 of additional uniform costs over next five years which I didn't have to find yesterday as I already have the old uniform.

Now you do know what's proposed, please do make a big deal out of it to the head and the Governors. See if you can group together with other parents.
It's completely wasteful and uncessary and will cause financial hardship, if people can buy it at all. Ask for the rationale and purpose of changing the uniform. Ask what the school propose to do in these situations. Point out it's removing low cost supermarket options therefore isn't an 'inclusive' choice for all incomes.

OP, you need to email the head and the chair of governors with these questions:

1. What is the cost, to the school, of the change of uniform and logo?
2. What will be the cost, to each set of parents and caters, from the change of uniform and logo?
3. How will this improve my child’s attainment and life chances?