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.

I don't think you are being in the least bit unreasonable, SchoolUniform2018, particularly if, as it seems, it is a fact that school uniforms are not necessarily compulsory in English primary schools. I think you should contact the School Governors stating your case and the costs which will be involved for you, as suggested earlier on by a Governor. If I were in your shoes, there is no way I would be thinking of buying a whole new uniform for my two primary school attending children.
I wish you luck and hope that you get a satisfactory response from the school so that you don't have to worry about this unnecessary unexpected expense.

Ours changed but they gave a year’s notice. And it was really just streamlining the existing options - so instead of two colours of tops or trousers they reduced to one. School logo items remained the same and same price - think £7 to £10. But are optional. I thought that was reasonable.

A complete overhaul with minimal notice is unreasonable.

I would try and sell the existing items on eBay and pick up a few bundles in the right colours.

Free education for three children.... it's not too much to pay out for a bit of uniform here and there.

I would be very surprised if that has been the OP's only school-related expense.

I spend money on school trips, more school trips, bake sales to fund play equipment replacements, mufti days, fees for people with cute creepy-crawlies to visit the school, school book sales, and so on.

OP why won’t you speak to the head? this is causing you a good deal of stress and financial outlay!

It must be lovely to be financial secure, where an extra uniform is of no issue. I hope I can feel so casual about £350. To me it is a massive sum and the £132 is impossible to find at the moment.

I aim to finish paying off this year school trips by September and then I start on the next years trip cost and it is tricky to keep up with that cost. Let alone more unnecessary expense.

Did the head give a date for when the new uniforms will be brought in? Or did they literally just say “new uniforms” and nothing else?

Have you spoken to the parent governor(s)?

Say no to trips you can’t afford OP. Don’t buy summer dresses or anything logoed. Seriously. You don’t have to buy all that stuff.

OP, I guarantee this will not come in until September 2018.

Contact the head. Not the office. The head.

I am worried if I saw the head, I am worried I will just weep in frustration. There is no logical reason to change uniform. Why change a perfectly nice uniform ? It is unnecessary.

They did this in my children's school when they were small and more recently in secondary but each time the new uniform was for the new intake. Older children were allowed to keep wearing the old style until they left or it was outgrown. Maybe suggest this to the school as a compromise.

I meant to add that I am sure no head will have taken this decision by him/herself. the governors will have approved it and they are the ones you, and any other concerned parents, really need to get hold of.

I would be absolutely furious OP. We are not rich by any means but could probably afford it however it would mean no holiday that year.

And for what? A new headteachers vanity project...

Out of curiousity what are the colours changing from and to? What are the other parents at the school saying?

Bloody ridiculous.

We will get official letters at home time.

So then I will find out

1. What colour
2. What date
3. If pinafores and trousers are changing colours
4. If PE kit is changing and PE bags
5. If the blazer is happening and if it is optional.

I am feeling frustrated and broke and full of pmt.

I am worried if I saw the head, I am worried I will just weep in frustration.

I think that would actually get your point and situation across very well tbh! There is no harm in her seeing what her changes are doing to families!

Why won't you be "bothering" the head? New head's change uniform solely to mark their territory, the way a dog pisses on a lamppost - this is all on the head.

I'm always glad we have no uniforms where I live.

Htf people do people just have one jumper per child btw? Small children spill and smear things and bigger children sweat. Are these one jumper people washing the same uniform 5 nights per week?

We didn't have a holiday last year. I had found a cheap caravan rental for this year for three nights but we are going to have to cancel that now. :(

Try again in another couple of years assuming no other additional bills turn up. We will have another staycation make our own fun.

Wait and see what the letter says. They were a bit daft announcing “new uniforms” without all the information for parents. When did she tell you this? At drop off?

I think that would actually get your point and situation across very well tbh! There is no harm in her seeing what her changes are doing to families!

100% with Zibbidoo.

Are these one jumper people washing the same uniform 5 nights per week?

No. Tuesday or Wednesday evening and Friday evening.

We are a working family and are not entitled to any help. We looked hard :)

Hopefully things will improve in the next couple of years. They have too :) Maybe we are due a lottery win (not that I do the lottery) Then I would buy uniform for every kid in the school, so noone would struggle next year.

To be honest I think schools for this reason should allow children to wear non logo uniform, in the school colours obviously, the kind that can be bought so cheaply from supermarkets. Then even if they want to have a shake up and change the colours it can be done so cheaply. It would also mean kids could have a full fresh uniform more regularly and therefore would look so much smarter. Logos could be iron on transfers or even a pin badge! There is no need for a school uniform to be so expensive.