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.

Maybe my kids just aren’t as smelly and grubby as yours

I'd rather my child came from school smelly and grubby as it means that she was also physically active. They play games outside, they run, they have exercise, they sweat. All part of being children and having fun even at school. And being active.

@gileswithachainsaw

If only as much worry went into rescuing the three abismal schools round here as it did worrying about skirt length and skinny trousers. ..

Exactly!

My kids old school - the secondary one - went fucking batshit if a kid went to school with the 'wrong' shoes on, or went without their tie. They would drag them out of class, and make them put some manky old tie on that had been sitting in a draw for weeks. And if they wore the 'wrong' shoes they would be sent away, and told to go home - even if no-one was there!

They were very strict with their uniform policy, but not so strict on sorting out bullies. All they would do when a child was being bullied (by a gang of 5 or 6 others,) was sit them all in a circle in a room, and make them 'talk it out...' And the bullied child was offered counselling to 'deal with the bullies better.' Like it was HER fault, not theirs...

They constantly brushed their bullying problem under the table, and made out the victim was somehow as responsible as the bullies,as they didn't want to be seen to be having a bullying problem in the school.

But God FORBID you wore the wrong bastard trousers!

So glad those days are way behind me now. When I think about it, it was a difficult and stressful time.

@Edgeof17

When you write to the governors send them the breakdown of costs you quoted upthread. I initially thought you were BU (as we get most of ours from the supermarket) but then £350 is a massive chunk to many families.

Send them the breakdown and ask them how they are going to help you fund this, also mention that you are still paying off school trips. They have to consider that not all parents can afford this outlay.

That is true, many parents can't. And as I said further back, some working parents have less surplus income than those on benefits! Yet the people on benefits get shit loads of stuff free! Including, as I said earlier, the uniforms for the kids in some cases...

I am not benefit-bashing by the way, and I know some people cannot help being on benefits, it's the whole system I am angry with, not people on benefits.......

@tattychicken

It's not just a vanity thing for the head, changing uniform raises funds for the school.

Oh that's OK then, the exorbitant prices for school uniforms, are to raise money for the SCHOOL???!!!

And to hell with any parents that are struggling financially, who may have to buy 2 extra sets of everything if they have 2 kids close in age there, and who have a household income of half of what the teachers earn, and a quarter of what the HEAD teacher earns.

You couldn't make this shit up!

@zibbidoozibbidoozibbido

Why are you rambling on about using last years shit or second hand shit?

The whole point of the thread is about schools who CHANGE THE UNIFORM TO A COMPLETELY NEW ONE - So using second hand ones or hand-me-downs, isn't an option. Do keep up dear!

I already HAVE the 12 jumpers, 10 summer dresses and 4 pe kits for the next 5 years of school.

The school want me to throw them away and rebuy at the cost of £350 the same items in a different COLOUR.

Waste of money.

Do people really wash school uniform every day?!! Clean underwear fine ( though a friend of mine sent her DS to his prep School in the same socks for a couple of days as she didn’t consider it a priority and he couldn’t care less) - but at primary school and pre puberty ( ie before smelly underarms as far as shirts are concerned) then surely once or max twice a week is Ok - especially jumpers, pinafore dresses etc? If the jumper is a bit grubby honestly so what? My DC always changed out of uniform once home into comfy stuff ASAP anyway (why keep them in uniform and then martyr yourself by washing it when you’re tired and could be doing other things - wine and TV springs to mind but then I am probably a bad mother.....)

Maybe my kids just aren’t as smelly and grubby as yours

Or maybe you’ve got a less keen sense of smell. As I said, dd changes her tops every day and cardigans too in the summer because they smell. Dds friend has regularly smelt of sweat since the age of 7 even though she says she bathes daily (dd volunteered that one btw). Dd has also complained about certain children smelling including this kid and unprompted by me. But you just keep laughing at the parents, who wash clothes regularly whilst kids continue get commented on. Perhaps unfortunately for them, it may be your kids one of these days.

Why on earth would you need 10 summer dresses? You can get a 2 pack in Tesco for £8. Even cheaper elsewhere.

The next year her sister will need that size, so I would have to buy the eldest one a jumper every year

Which is nothing to do with the head changing the uniform... right? You would be doing that anyway.

Sleepsoon
Cross post. Did you read my comment? Children smell from 7!!

I'd rather my child came from school smelly and grubby as it means that she was also physically active. They play games outside, they run, they have exercise, they sweat. All part of being children and having fun even at school. And being active.

Yep. Mine do all that too.

"Why on earth would you need 10 summer dresses? You can get a 2 pack in Tesco for £8. Even cheaper elsewhere."

To cover two children over six summers of primary school and I already have them from my oldest girl and yes I already paid £5 per dress but they need replacing with this year's magical new colour.

My dds uniform has hats as compulsersry. A felt winter one and a straw boater one for summer - £30 each 😬

Why are you rambling on about using last years shit or second hand shit?

The whole point of the thread is about schools who CHANGE THE UNIFORM TO A COMPLETELY NEW ONE - So using second hand ones or hand-me-downs, isn't an option. Do keep up dear!

Perhaps it is you that needs to keep up. OP posted a 5 year calculation.

Stuff that

I already have bought all the uniform my two youngest need for all of their primary school days

My complaint is the school want me to throw it away and rebuy in a different COLOUR.

Zibbidoo, OP has THREE children. Eldest is at secondary. Younger two are wearing the uniform originally purchased for her when she was at primary. So OP wouldn't, ordinarily, have to buy a new bigger jumper next year, because she already has it.

If the jumper is a bit grubby honestly so what?

Ummm... They look grubby? Would you honestly wear a jumper you had got grubby the day before to work the next day?

Or maybe you’ve got a less keen sense of smell.

And I suppose I’m blind too?

If your DC are close in size, you'll probably find they start to actually wear the same size so you need to get 2 sets anyway.

I'm afraid, like others I can't see why you need to buy more than 1 jumper per child, and a couple of summer dresses per child -(do these have to be logoed, otherwise pretty cheap from somewhere like Asda? ). Then everything gets passed down, so no more purchases for the older child, and you buy everything big enough so that it will last 2-3 years.

You aren't really going to make your children wear a different uniform to every other child are you? Get a grip.

Presumably it's just jumpers, cardigans and dresses that are coloured and skirts, pinafores and trousers are grey? So they can be reused. get yourself down to Asda and spend literally £15 on uniform in the new colours. It doesn't need a logo on it, the generic supermarket stuff is fine.

Thanks Jamie Glad someone gets what I am saying.

Yes. Every year I pull out hand me downs for my youngest two. I do not buy anything, as I have already done it.

Plus it took me a year to pay for oldest high school uniform...very expensive.

Where is the money coming from for vouchers? My school doesn’t have enough pens and glue as there is no money!!!

... and once you've been a year through a system you can pick up second hand stuff cheaply from older DC (does the school have a 2nd hand shop?)

Mummy fair point - all are individuals and I hate the thought of any children being bullied. Just commenting on my own experience. As mine didn’t need uniform washing every day I didn’t and would not do it for the sake of it.

I was talking about a sense of smell. Mine is keen. As is dds. From the odour coming off some of the kids, I assume not everyone is the same. Where did I mention your eyes?