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

We have school logo jumpers and polo shirts which have happily worked their way down 4 children. The supermarket stuff wouldn’t come close to doing that

I agree - I had three children go through primary school, and I don’t think I bought any more than 7 or 8 polo shirts for the whole time (that’s a total of 21 years of school) I had to replace a missing button or two, but other than that they lasted very well indeed

@HoppingPavlova are you in Australia? I’ve just paid $250 in voluntary fees for one child and $560 for compulsory fees for the other child 😪
Also ds1 is changing high schools, so spent $230 on new uniform. Roughly £135 on
2 shirts
2 shorts
1 pe top
1 jacket
Plus he will need new note books😪

The reality is though, for some the £1.50 ASDA t-shirts are the only way their child will be wearing a uniform!

My son's shirts have suncream stains around the collar and pen stains on the front. They are clean though. I can't understand why people won't send a child in wearing a shirt with a stain, no one will judge you, it really doesn't matter, it's literally only an image thing. We are killing are planet and treating the people who make our clothes like shit, surely that is far more important than a few stains.

Arghh 'our' planet, not are, bloody phone.

You start your OP talking about polo shirts but through the thread seem to be taking about t-shirts; which is it?

but as has been said that’s false economy.

What would be better for those who are on tight budgets would be for schools to have good quality uniform which lasts and have “buy/sell/swap” sessions so people can pick up second hand uniform cheaply or exchange their good quality grown out of stuff.

@EnglishRose I would not wear stained clothes, so why should my kids?

"The reality is though, for some the £1.50 ASDA t-shirts are the only way their child will be wearing a uniform!"

The reality is though, only people who cares which child is wearing £8 proper one or £1.50 ASDA one is the parents. The children won't care, or notice.

This will sound extremely rude, but I always laugh at these posts of “They expect me to buy the actual school uniform and not just a cheap copy” posts. Seriously, it’s £8, not the £40 we pay for a PE t-shirt (plus hundreds more for for rest of PE kit and full
summer and winter uniform). If my children’s school announced they were scrapping proper uniform for £8 polos and skirts/shorts, I’d be booking another holiday from all the money I would save.

When you are researching and viewing a school you know whether the school has a set uniform with logos, so you know that you will have to buy these items and at a premium price. If you don’t wish to do that, send your child to a school that will allow plain t-shirts instead. If you wish for your child to attend this school and fit in, dress them in the correct uniform.

So poor kids have to wear second hand clothes for their own good?? Riigghht.

I would still wear an outfit with a small stain, bleach mark etc but realistically I am less likely to get stains than a young child. It doesn't harm them at all, it is just a mark, it's clean and hygienic and they can wear it knowing they are helping the planet. I'd rather my children were aware of the environment than vainly worried about image.

@ScotsinOz So it is fine for a school to basically say pay this, or go to another school? Which is basically a way of socially cleansing the school.

I don’t think schools would check the financial status for a second hand stall! Many children wear hand me downs with no lasting ill effect.

The reality is though, for some the £1.50 ASDA t-shirts are the only way their child will be wearing a uniform!

I accept that £8 for a polo top is a lot for families that are struggling to get by - but most schools give access to second hand uniform sales

Standard here. Most of ours survive well even after three kids, I still passed logo polos on - the whole primary wears them.

There help with uniform costs for low income families

"So poor kids have to wear second hand clothes for their own good?? Riigghht."

That's not true, really. Unless the school says it has to be logo one, children can wear anything, as long as it's allowed. And most children at ks1 won't notice who wears logo one or non logo ones.

And what is wrong with second hand school uniform? I do see no problem with it, as long as it's good quality.

I think this is one thing you just need to put up with. My DS is just finishing reception, and has been in one set of school logo polos all year. Luckily they are navy, so no issue with staining, but otherwise they’ve lasted well all year.

I would try your best with a bit of vanish though otherwise, they should be in one set of polos for the year.

And re: the £1 voluntary contribution, school budgets are cut to the bone. This is the governments’ fault not the school! We were asked for £40 at the beginning of the year, but specifically funds the extras in class; baking, chicks in an incubator at Easter, Caterpillars > butterflies at the moment. Unless you are on the breadline, parents should have any issue with supporting the class in that way.

Are you sure that the logoed uniform is compulsory?

Our school has logoed polo shirts, jumpers etc, but when I asked about it, I was told that it was ok to send DC to school in non-logoed clothes, provided they’re the correct colours.

If it is compulsory, I certainly wouldn’t be wasting my money getting rid of stained ones unless the staining was extreme.

DC2 went into school this morning wearing a shirt with black pen marks on one sleeve. He got the pen marks on his shirt at school and it won’t come out. I’m not buying new shirts this close to the end of the year unless it’s absolutely necessary.

jennymanara, why are you so angry? No one's is saying you need to go to other school just because you can't afford proper uniform.
If you choose to send your kids to expensive private school, you are expected to pay for their uniform. But if you are sending them to state, there are always the choice.

The reality is though, for some the £1.50 ASDA t-shirts are the only way their child will be wearing a uniform! and for those to exist, what conditions are other people's children, in other parts of the world, in?

@iwantittobesunny. Another poster said that when you choose a state school you know their uniform policy. So if you think it is too much, then send them somewhere else. That would be a way of weeding out poorer families and it is wrong.

And my area does not have a school uniform grant, it was abolished long ago.

They aren't more expensive because they're better quality or made more ethically, they are expensive because it's a mini monopoly.

Our school supplier says this:

Ethical. At the School Uniform Shop all of our uniform is ethically sourced. This means that no child labour is used, working conditions are safe and hygienic, working hours are not excessive and regular breaks are implemented, wages are of the industry or country norm, employment is freely chosen, NO person will be taken against their will or forced to work and factories undergo rigorous checks and audits to make sure they are a safe and secure structure

Their polo shirts are £11-16 new.

You can also order from MyClothing (used to be Tesco school embroidery service). Their polo shorts start at £5.50. It says they’re “ethically sourced” and subscribe to the initiative H&M etc are signed up to.

Ethically, pretty sure the more expensive option is better if buying new.

But even better - and cheaper - is to buy secondhand. Pretty much all my DC’s school uniform is secondhand. Cheaper than the Asda/Tesco alternatives, and better for the planet.

I think all schools should be actively promoting secondhand and saying WHY.

If you don’t wish to do that, send your child to a school that will allow plain t-shirts instead.

The problem with this sort of statement is that many people have very little real choice over which school their child goes to.

You can express preferences, sure, but given how oversubscribed many schools are, there’s no guarantee at all that you’ll be allocated the school further away with a relaxed uniform code over the nearby school with the £££ uniform code.