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

Tesco do a uniform embroidery service. You buy their cheaper t shirts and they'll put the school logo on for you.

In Primary, I find it easier to have a full uniform per day, save so much faff with laundry and you don't need to be forever running to have something clean to wear.

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

What’s wrong with second hand clothing?

It's ridiculous to suggest that people should be forced to change their school preference based on uniform costs (it's also not possible for most of us).

It's equally ridiculous to suggest that children should be clothed for less than a fiver, or that uniform needs to be kept pristine.

@JacquesHammer Nothing wrong with second hand clothes. There is something wrong with a school uniform policy if second hand is the only option for poorer kids.

Uniform does not need to be kept pristine. But I just don't see kids where I live going into school with clothes with obvious stains, which always seems to be the advice on here.

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

in my experience, it's not the poorest families who use the most second hand uniforms, quite the opposite!

@that25c I agree. That is because there is a real stigma to being poor.

Nothing wrong with second hand clothes. There is something wrong with a school uniform policy if second hand is the only option for poorer kids

I agree it shouldn’t be the only option however I think we should be pushing it as the best option in terms of sustainability.

DD wore nothing but second-hand throughout prep apart from 2 items. It was a choice we made not due to finances but for ethical reasons and the fact the money from second hand uniform sales went back into the school.

There is something wrong with a school uniform policy if second hand is the only option for poorer kids.

As I said upthread, I think schools should be actively promoting secondhand to all their pupils as first choice, really.

I do also think logo embroidered polo shirts are stupid. Fine, insist on one logo jumper for photos etc (and school can keep in a few for kids without one on the day) but for actual polos etc just colours is better for everyone.

@JacquesHammer I think that is an easy choice for someone who is privileged enough to send their kids to prep. There is a very strong social stigma around being poor, and so most poor people do whatever they can to avoid their kids being identified as poor.

DC1’s school had this issue last year. They used to insist on embroidered polo shirts as well as jumpers/cardigans - £7.50 per polo and £14 per jumper.
A new housing estate popped up opposite the school, and around half of the new builds are inhabited by housing association tenants, meaning that the amount of children from lower income/single parent families attending the school increased. The school initially dug their heels in about the extortionate, embroidered uniform, but if people can’t afford it, they won’t be buying it! All the Parents I know just bought one, maybe 2 of the embroidered jumpers/cardigans, but then just sent the DCs in plain polo shirts. Which is exactly what I plan on doing! My DC1 will barely make it through lunch without getting some sort of mystery substance on her top, so there’s no way I can afford to pay £7.50 per shirt for them to just be ruined within a few weeks!!

I think that is an easy choice for someone who is privileged enough to send their kids to prep. There is a very strong social stigma around being poor, and so most poor people do whatever they can to avoid their kids being identified as poor

Well indeed. Hence why I discussed pushing it as the best option.

Change the stigma.

Interestingly I have links to an inner city school in a hugely poverty stricken area. Their new to you sales are absolutely flourishing because of the work they’ve done surrounding change the concept of second hand clothing.

There are usually some second hand sales aren't there?

Our school is also in an affluent area. Apparently because of this demographic school isn't eligible for much extra funding and therefore requests voluntary donations/support from parents. I believe schools in more deprived areas where there's a big take up of free school meals are eligible for more funding from the local authority.

Does the preschool not have a buy/sell/swap page on social media? Many do, and it's possible to get a logo shirt/polo/cardigan for just a few quid.

it’s not social cleansing. The school is saying this is our uniform and this is the cost. If you select this school you already know it will cost you more for the uniform. If you are unwilling to pay this, then you should have selected another school

In most cases, people can't choose the school their kids go to, that is a myth.

When ds was at infant school we had a couple of polo shirts with logos on but plain white ones from a supermarket were also acceptable.

I think the £1 per week donation is very reasonable tbh. They are at school around 40 weeks per year. £40 per year for their education seems a bargain. It's voluntary also, so it doesn't have to be paid if you really don't have a spare £1.

Really shocked at the ‘got a stain so I chuck it’ mentality.

No wonder the planets on a fast track to a bad end.

The ad placements on MN is spot on - on a thread about too-costly uniforms, it's an add for luxury jewellery

I would not chuck kids clothes because they got a noticeable stain on it. But it would be assigned to playing out/messy play clothes. I would not send kids to school in uniform with visible stains.

@hoppinggreen you have my sympathy, the number of people who think for some reason that the PTA runs a school is staggering!

@worriedwinfred I think from memory that logo uniform cannot be mandatory so you don’t have to buy the school ones. I think I am right but prepared to be corrected.
They cannot make you buy, but I realise you might want to do so if you think your child would stand out if they didn’t. As others say, buy second hand, ask on local selling sites or as if they have a PTA sale. Buy just 2 and wash and dry overnight, usually polos wash and dry quickly. AND really don’t worry about your DC looking scruffy - they will be the same as everyone else, honestly!

Tesco do a uniform embroidery service. You buy their cheaper t shirts and they'll put the school logo on for you.

They don't do this anymore. It stopped a few months ago.

I'm surprised that parents don't factor in school uniform costs before deciding to have children. There's enough publicity of parents complaining about the high costs of 'official' uniforms so it's not as if they can not be aware of the costs.

Every year parents complain about the cost of polo shirts, PE shirts etc with the school logo. It's not a new thing. My sons are in their 20's and they had to wear polo shirts with a logo when in primary school. I used to purchase 5 each so clean shirt every day and they used to last at least a full school year. They never used to wear out, sons would out grow them.

I never sent my sons to school in stained clothes. If the polo shirts are washed after each wear then there are very few stains that will not come out.

You can buy cheaper at a supermarket but the quality is rarely as good unless you buy at M&S or Next, where the price is on a par with 'official' uniform.

Tescos still do that for my DC's school, but I think the school need to give permission (and they get a small percentage of the sales). So maybe your school has stopped doing it sacope?

Tesco can't just embroider any old logo on, without the school's permission AFAIK. Schools own the copyright on their own logos, Tesco can't just rip them off.

"I would not send kids to school in uniform with visible stains."

Why not? I do. And they come back with more stains. They had so much fun.