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

I'm surprised that parents don't factor in school uniform costs before deciding to have children.

ODFOD.

Perhaps poor people just shouldn't breed, hey?

I'm surprised that parents don't factor in school uniform costs before deciding to have children

Also see: unforseen change in circumstances.

Also see: unforseen change in circumstances.

Not all parents who complain about the high costs have had a change in circumstances.

Perhaps poor people just shouldn't breed, hey?

If they can't adequately provide for their children, including uniform costs, then perhaps they shouldn't.

I'm surprised that parents don't factor in school uniform costs before deciding to have children

The OP did.....the school is making silly demands in terms of uniform that are substantially more expensive.

I'm surprised that parents don't factor in school uniform costs before deciding to have children

As if that’s the most expensive thing about having children!!!!!!

And even if they did, school uniform costs don’t always stay the same.

I’ve a friend who was just complaining about this - her DS goes to a school that historically has had a very relaxed uniform code, basically anything goes as long as it follows the school colours.
They’ve just been told that from September, the uniform is changing. New colours and logos on everything, and all only available from one specific supplier. All significantly more expensive than the plain uniform items stocked in supermarkets.
Unsurprisingly, when my friends DS was conceived, my friend wasn’t aware that his future primary school would make the uniform £££ more expensive halfway through his time there.

Perhaps poor people just shouldn't breed, hey?

that is such a stupid comment. Most of us have had to sit down and plan how we could finance a child, basics, childcare and all the trimmings, especially when you decide to have more than 1!

Factoring basic clothing is not such a huge shock, neither is the fact that they have more than 12 weeks off a year.

Not having as many kids as you would love because you cannot afford them? That's the reality most of us have had to accept. No need to pretend you are superior.

Can I genuinely ask:
Why are people surprised that schools have a uniform policy that would ask children to wear uniform with a logo?
Why are people surprised at the cost of school uniform?

To me, it seems obvious that unless you choose home Ed, you’re going to send your child to school and that school will have a uniform. That school uniform may be one you don’t like but it will be explained (including costs) at parent information evenings and in the school brochure or whatever it is they provide you with before your child starts. Surely you have the chance to discuss these issues with the school?

I sympathise with people who struggle, I really do but surely this stuff can’t come as a shock.

Also, really, what is wrong with 2nd hand uniform? It’s not just ‘poor kids’ that wear it. I have no problem putting my children in hand me downs. Surely it makes sense to not waste money.

Factoring basic clothing is not such a huge shock, neither is the fact that they have more than 12 weeks off a year

Isn’t that rather the point of the OP? That the clothes required by the school are vastly in excess of the “basic clothing”.

OP, instead of buying loads of cheap ones, buy a couple of the quality ones. No one cares about stains/marks.

There is usually no difference in quality or ethics in buying a more expensive shirt. You are being taken for a mug.

Isn’t that rather the point of the OP? That the clothes required by the school are vastly in excess of the “basic clothing”.

I am more surprised that people genuinely expected to be able to purchase a full uniform for £1.50 - Without going into the astronomical uniforms of some private schools, it's not really reasonable is it.

I've found it's a false economy to buy cheaper uniform. The colour fades on cardigans and they go shapeless very quickly, shirts aren't as hard wearing and buttons have actually broken in two or more generally need resewing. Cheaper skirts have been OK though.

I use vanish stain remover.

I am more surprised that people genuinely expected to be able to purchase a full uniform for £1.50

She didn’t though. She expected to be able to use cheaper polo shirts.

As a matter of curiosity I’ve just had a quick look at the 5 nearest primary schools to here. Not one out of the 5 require anything other than a jumper with a logo. The rest is listed as “x colour skirt”, “white polo shirts” etc.

To me, it seems obvious that unless you choose home Ed, you’re going to send your child to school and that school will have a uniform

It wasn't obviously to me when DD1 started school. My primary school had a uniform but parents only paid lip service to it and no-one bothered with it most of the time. Schools had apparently become weirdly strict about primary school uniform in the last 30 years.

Most countries don't bother with school uniform, and the uniforms we have here are not fit for purpose most of the time. We should scrap them.

Oh no, having uniforms is one of the best things in this country, I hope we stick to them!
Nothing wrong in campaigning with other parents to change the uniform rules in your own school, you have a say just as much as the others if you believe it's too expensive and too restrictive. The head teacher is not god.

It's also wrong to imagine that not having uniforms means there's a free for all anyway.

@floribunda Yes, scrap the uniforms because the parents who struggle to find £8 for a polo shirt will find it so much easier to find £15 for the Nike T-shirt that they will need to buy to stop their kid being singled out as the ‘poor’ one.

At my school, we are totally strict on uniform down to not allowing obvious branding and I know children from poorer families are grateful for this. And you can only tell those children from families where it’s neglect and not poverty that singles them out because they tend to look generally unkept and are often tired and hungry. Those who are just less well off can’t be differentiated by the way they look in school. There’s a lot to be said about the benefits of uniform.

I've noticed quite a few posts about school uniforms suddenly being changed & the schools demanding that items are embroidered and/or expensively bought from one supplier.

Why do schools impose this on parents at a time when the schools themselves are suffering government funding cuts & sometimes looking to parents to contribute to the school's runnning costs? Surely the less parents need to spend on uniforms, the more cash they can donate to the school?

It's quite cheap compared to uniform my kids wear. Catholic primary - tie, shirt x 5, embroidered jumper x 2 plus PE top is embroidered. The jumpers and cardigans are probably £22 each?
Surely if they are wearing them every day all year it works out cheap? A normal kids top would be about that much.

Most schools have second hand sales.

Yes, scrap the uniforms because the parents who struggle to find £8 for a polo shirt will find it so much easier to find £15 for the Nike T-shirt that they will need to buy to stop their kid being singled out as the ‘poor’ one

Well I grew up in a poor working class area and all the lads wore Farah trousers, Le Shark t-shirts and Adidas trainers for school. Clothes weren't cheap in the 80s either and they are proportionately much, much cheaper now. It's easy to dress kids well for very little money, much cheaper than expensive school uniforms, you can choose something they can move better in and in better quality material as well. And for people leading chaotic lifestyles (even for me tbh when DDs for little) it is much much easier if kids can just wear any clothes that are clean rather than specific stuff that has to be washed for a specific time.

Our polos are 20 with logo. And they’re white.

Hang them in the sun to dry, you’ll barely ever have lasting stains if you do that.

'People do what they can to avoid their kids being identified as poor.'

Isn't this the point of uniform? Everyone wears the same. And the logo'd options tend to be better quality and better value.

That said, anecdotally I've noticed it's ironically the poorest kids who tend to have the nike trainers, the iPhone 10, the new uniform. The rich kids are in the Tesco trainers, payg brick phone, second hand uniform.

£1.50 is far too cheap. Someone is being exploited!

DD1's secondary school summer dress costs £36.50 and they can't even lift their arms in them, even when the dress is a loose fit. Weird to get young people to wear something so constraining when we need them to be fit and active.

I second vanish stain remover, for heavy stains you can pre-treat in the sink then put another scoop in the wash. I washed a white fleece last with baby sick, make up and tomato soup on it. It came out like new.