To think it's a bit cheeky for schools to only approve expensive stores for uniform purchases?

[malificent7]

Do our local comp approves only John Lewis, M and S and the local ( expensive ) uniform stores for uniform when very similar can be bought for a fraction of the price in a supermarket.
The sport kit is worse...basically a plain white polo shirt where a pack of 2 costs 3/4 pounds in tescos but no.....a single white polo shirt costs £8.50 in the local uniform store...why? Because pe department have decided the white polo shirt MUST havr no buttons so that girls can be differentiated from boys.
Wtf? Aibu to buy the tescos games shirts for half price and cut the buttons off...andcwrite a terse letter to school?
Yes...i am one of THOSE mums but i am a single parent, student and want to teach dd the art of economising!

Be glad you're not in Ireland op. To put my four into school in Aug it will be the guts of 2 k

Our PE kit cost over £200. The socks alone (compulsory) cost £12.

Yanbu

Dds school has this one supplier nonsense. In fact 2 out of the 3 she could have gone to do.

18.50 for a skirt...

Her old simple grey skirt from primary cost 6.

They also have blue shirts so again immediately that restricts where you can get them. So 15 pound for 3 in m&s it is or via the one supplier where its 11/12 for two if the thinnest creased to fuck when u look at them shitty shirts.

They do link to certain items on the website a pair of asda trousers fir instance but there are 2 problems here 1 the links are all really old and half dont work. 2- no self respecting 11 yr old will want a bow on her trousers. Just so happens that the acceptable m&s trousers are awful and I dont know how anyone can wear them. So the supplier sells them conveniently.of course they didbt fit either so 19 pound from local uniform shop and hope no one notices they arent regulation it was.....

Disclaimer they are perfectly smart trousers. Non skinny etc

I do not know wtf is wrong with smart black skirts that you can get everywhere from.asda and aldi to John Lewis.

As for your polo shirts. That's girls being treated unfairly for being girls and incurring extra expense so write that letter! A polo shirt is 2 for 3.50 in asda ffs.

I’ve just bought DS uniform, it came to £420 not including rugby boots, indoor trainers and outdoor trainers or his school shoes. I just know he’ll lose half of it within the first month.

I would ask the school whether they are prepared to pay for the items they have selected, if not I will provide my child with the clothes that I can comfortably afford.

When I was a Governor I went to a couple of specialist suppliers and the main supermarkets to check what they charged for each item. There is no reason for any state school to use a solo supplier. I would contact the Governors and ask for details as to why they selected specific items, where they can be bought from and their analysis of the costs.

Wow it seems crazy amounts for uniform!

I think it's a ridiculous to just have one approved supplier...for a state school I presumed things would be more relaxed. ok for private schools I would imagine the sky is the limit for uniform/equipment cost. I don't have any other experience apart from my old secondary school- the local state comprehensive.

DC1 is currently in reception so I am, most likely, supremely naive!

My DCs are at primary school. The uniform policy is very sensible. Basically as long as it's a standard uniform item of the appropriate colour, it's fine. Logo items are optional and not badly priced. I think cardigans were £9 each and are on their 4th year of use on child two.

Across the city, the past decade has seen the secondaries shift from polo/ sweatshirt type uniforms to formal blazer/ tie types. Some of the long term struggling schools passing through multiple HTs/ MATs have done regular uniform changes and clampdowns. Nothing is obviously too bespoke, but I do know of some that have restricted ranges of acceptable skirt for instance. I fail to see how that actually works in a world of diverse body shapes that will make the same item fit very differently on different people.

It's all a stupid, expensive charade. It doesn't actually make any difference to educational standards.

My personal worry is that I have a very sensory child who will struggle with many aspects of all the uniforms of any school we could reasonably get him into. Strict uniforms have a very high chance of affecting his ability to concentrate on learning if he feels the wrong temperature, pins and needles, itchy or suffocated by clothing.

In some schools I believe this is a sneaky way of selecting students. ON AVERAGE, richer children do better academically, and poorer children worse. HUGE GENERALISATION I KNOW, of course there are exceptions but the data suggests this, hence the introduction of the pupil premium to boost the grades of poorer students.

Anyway. If you make your uniform nice and expensive, it puts off some poorer pupils’ patents from applying (perhaps they're more likely to go to another local school who allow cheaper uniform), so the average pupil is better off and statistically more likely to do better at GCSE.

Sad times...schools are under so much pressure to get results this sort of thing happens.

I’m sure I read somewhere like the TES or other education publication this is the case. I agree it is not a good thing.

Yes, you'll have read something along those lines.

It's one of the reasons that successive govts have maintained the policy against single-supplier or other expensive uniforms. It is so there is no covert selection.

Unfortunately, no government, Labour, coalition or Tory, has attached any sanction for breaches of those guidelines, so it continues unchecked

CAB had a good campaign about removing the 'hidden' costs of school. I'm not sure if it remains active

Ours has 4 logoed pieces of PE kit and socks. £75 before the bag and trainers are bought. More for boys as they have rugby shirts as well.

Girls trousers and skirts were from any supplier but in reality only the uniform shops sell them at £15 or so each.

My personal worry is that I have a very sensory child who will struggle with many aspects of all the uniforms of any school we could reasonably get him into. Strict uniforms have a very high chance of affecting his ability to concentrate on learning if he feels the wrong temperature, pins and needles, itchy or suffocated by clothing

They are bad enough for children without sensory issues I really do feel for those who do.

Dd gets eczema so scratchy blazers and tights dont help at all.

I have to fork out 10-12 pound a pair for cotton tights which is an added cost indent need.

I swear school uniform suppliers have also figured out that if they add shoulder pads to the blazers then you cant size up without making your yr 7 look like they are about to play American football.

They look ridiculous

What's wrong with a sweater ffs. We all managed just fine.

What's the difference between M&S and Tesco? The main thing is to buy traditional style uniform and ensure skirts aren't short and girls trousers aren't stretchy. Pe tops always had a logo but I bought generic shorts and tracksuit bottoms as dd was too small for stuff from the supplier!

stucknoue isn’t the difference between M&S/John Lewis and Tesco/Asda both one of style and quality? Schools know that M&S tend to have a traditional style of uniform available every year. They are less likely to veer into ‘fashion’ cuts with adornments etc. Also they do tend to be hard wearing and better stitched so won’t look scruffy as fast.

They are also trying to avoid parents buying ‘school’ trousers that either look like skinny jeans or yoga pants, or those black lycra skirts that get wound up to belt length in the first five mins.

Count yourself lucky! My DD's prep school only approves one purveyor of uniform and their cloak (which serves as school coat) is about £150!

She's going private for secondary too and they've only approved one independant shop which is 20 miles away.

But Tesco and sainsbury also do the traditional style uniform. M&s quality is shocking for the price. Outlasted by asda at a third of the price.

None of it is smarter or better quality than anywhere else. The m&s school trousers are the worst made and the worst fit I have ever come across

DD2's school has a skirt which has to be regulation length and is not adjustable at the waist. It has pleats and some parents are having to try and take up skirts that are too long, etc.

Sarah isn’t it more that M&S and John Lewis don’t do the ‘fashion’ uniform? So if you are made to buy it from there the school knows there are only a few styles, all/most of which are acceptable? If you open it up, then parents can buy literally any pair of black trousers or any skirt, from anywhere, then argue the toss.

For parents that are minded to stick to rules and will ensure they buy appropriate uniform from anywhere, it does seem really unfair. But I can see from school’s perspective it helps to limit where the uniform comes so it’s easier to clamp down on those who just buy any supermarket item regardless of the uniform rules.

In my local town I see a complete rag-tag bunch of uniform, all the kids have pushed it as far as possible. As a group they look a state. I do think it contributes to a general sense of ill-discipline, which DOES effect learning.

The count your selves lucky yours don't go to private school posters really need to pull thier heads out of thier asses.

Ds is got annoyed with dn’s senior school - the girls had to have expensive skirts with logos on the hip that have to be visible (to stop them rolling the skirts up) whereas the boys can get away with plain black supermarket trousers - much cheaper.

I think that schools should start having jeans, T-shirt’s/polo shirts and hoodies as uniform. They would be more comfortable, cheap to buy and you could have rules around no ripped jeans etc. Might need to have a ‘shorts’ equivalent for the summer but would be great.

What wibble said. I went to school in Holland. No uniform. No clothes bullying because teachers could enforce behaviour instead of obsessing about logos. It worked.

But m&s do
They sell skinny trousers and lycra skirts

Of course they do, Sarah. But as stated by a pp, this is stealth selection by wealth. Richer kids = parents engaged with education = better results = good OFSTED.

Dont worry pointy I already figured that one out.

Its why I think the argument that uniform is a leveller is bollocks. It costs 2-4 hundred pounds sometimes more to provide it. Thats alot of Ebay bundles of clothes or 3 fir 2s in h&m.