To think this is rediculous for school uniform!

[worriedwinfred]

Polo shirts for foundation stage children (all school children but how messy is foundation stage) have to be embroidered and cost £8 each! I was planning on sticking up on ASDA ones at 2 for £3 so as soon as we get a stain or fadeing DS will always look smart. Jumpers and t shirts are £8 each I just think that for a t-shirt is abit much. I will be buying them obviously but it'll be a struggle and I can imagine maybe others won't be able to afford new ones every time there's a stain.

Aibu to think school colours but not embroidered would be a better idea? They also expect £1 a week "voluntary" donation to school funds

Bold fail!

I am shocked at how many are saying £8 is too expensive for a school top. It's probably less than we pay for non uniform tops. It would be £40 for the year. Children on free meals get uniform subsidised or even paid for. In Europe children pay for their own stationery and books and text books. All we have to provide in the UK is the clothing. I like kids to look smart in school and schools with smarter uniforms tend to be better with behaviour.

DD is in y6 and remarkably still wearing some of the polos I bought for her in reception
I can believe this. When I started the grammar school many years years ago, my mum(a widow) bought all my uniform second hand apart from my blazer. This blazer lasted me from age 11 to when I left at 18. Each year she would dye the saxe blue braiding using a toothbrush. The blazer did do up for the last 2 years and was very tight across the shoulders.

My childs school decided to do a complete uniform overhaul and got the children to vote on the change, then basically informed the parents. This meant that older siblings needed a uniform change too- absolute nightmare.

3 x £8 a polo shirt is £24. Three will be plenty as you don't need to wash every day (and even if you did, you can wash polo shirt 1 & 2 on Weds when shirt 3 is being worn, so 1 & 2 can be worn on Thursday and Friday).
A decent stain remover will take care of most stains (use cheap vodka for whiteboard pen which is the worst offender) so these 3 will last the year (but a size up so they're not outgrown).

£24/ year is probably little more than you'd have spent if you'd been buying £1.50 / £2 shirts and replacing them when stained, and is much better for the environment.

Twenty years ago my daughter’s summer dresses e £68 each, she had to have two and I had to buy them from John Lewis in Oxford Street.

Children on free meals get uniform subsidised or even paid for.

No, they don’t. Not in primary school.

Individual schools could use pupil premium money to pay for school uniform. But I dont know if any actually do?

I’m pretty sure my DC’s school doesn’t buy school uniform for children on free meals.

The school newsletter a few weeks ago said that a local business had offered to pay for a few families school uniforms for next year, and asked interested parents to contact the school office.
Its a great thing for the local business to do, but if the school was buying uniform for children on free school meals, there wouldn’t be much point in the local business funding uniforms.