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

@floribunda18 I grew up in a very poor working class area. Yes some kids had expensive clothes, but there were other kids like me clothed from jumble sales because that is all their parents could afford. Working class does not automatically mean poor.

Surely everyone already treats stains?

Working class does not automatically mean poor

That's why I said poor + working class

I’m just saying it’s cheaper than throwing anything away.

Also don’t be afraid of second hand, I had a few items at primary and secondary and no one knew.

ASDA and Tesco are founding members of the Ethical Trading Initiative who, alongside Sainsburys and M&S so their ethical standards are pretty easy to find. I'm not saying there aren't likely issues in their supply chains, but the idea that supermarket clothes are automatically worse ethically than others doesn't hold water.

Why are people surprised at the cost of school uniform?

They vary so widely in cost and the rules change pretty frequently, so it's really no wonder some parents are surprised. I'm often surprised by how much others have to spend on uniforms.

Having not grown up in the UK (we had dress codes, but no uniforms) and home educated my kids for years before my Y7 DD made the choice to transfer to school mid-year, it was a bit of an unexpected bump in the budget when she got a place to have a couple weeks that cost us about £200 for all the uniform parts. They were kind to offer her a few weeks without the pricey blazer which I'm glad we didn't have to take as the transition was rocky as it is and her school is fairly inexpensive compared to many of the prices I see on here regularly, but it was a surprise. Most might not need to do it from scratch as we did, but having to move into a new area or having a new head can bring a lot of unexpected costs.

We had a secondary school near me that went through 4 headteachers in 3 years. Every single head brought in changes to the uniform policy. Every time there were complaints in the paper and across various social media - and I really can't blame them the last couple times. It was ridiculous and obviously didn't do anything to keep having headteachers 'make their mark' or whatever by doing that and making parents pay for it.

My DD's school is more flexible than many other secondary schools around here, but even they had rule change just after she started so skirts are now only meant to be bought at the uniform supplier shop, alongside the previous requirements that the blazer and PE shirt had to be bought there (everything else can be bought anywhere, alongside the PE shorts if choosing shorts over tracksuit bottoms in the right colour).

Also, alongside other schools uniform changes, there have been 3 new schools in my area in the last 5 years, including the one my DD attends. I'd have loved that as an option, but it's far less of an option for many than it seems to be expected with how things are going these days.

Tescos still do that for my DC's school

If you haven’t bought any recently you wouldn’t know, but Tesco have transferred the service to something called MyClothing. It’s not run by Tesco anymore at all.

I know it’s nit the point of the thread, but

STAINS

Most ink/white board markers/highlighter marks will come out easily if you soak them overnight in milk then wash them as normal you’ll still see the mark when you take them out of the milk, but it’ll go in the machine

For whites I always chuck a DrBeckmsns sachet in the wash and fir anything stained I hang it out on the line - daylight (even when not sunny) removes any remaining stain.

Between those things despite being messy pups I don’t think we have any remaining stains on clothing

Our school uniform (private) is good quality & ethically sourced, I don’t think it’s exoensive for clothing the kids wear every day (school pinafore dress for summer is £30) but obviously it’s far more expensive thN supermarket clothes the massive bonus is that you order online and it comes with the child’s name tape sewn in, even in socks! Worth paying the extra for! Luckily the DC generally get more than two years out of stuff size wise! Dc (13yrs) has gone through the elbows of her jumper recently but she needs new fir the coming year anyway (different colour) so 🤷🏻‍♀️ Her mate a year younger is going to have all her uniform and her mum is happy to darn the elbows so all good.

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.

Uniform will not solve that issue, you could always tell which kids were being neglected at secondary school when we did have uniform.

Primark and so on is so cheap now that people aren't interested in second hand clothes, unless they are designer clothes and in very good condition.

My daughter's school has 'gold' ...a dark yellow polo shirt...none of the supermarkets stock it. It's frustrating but we've had excellent wear from the ones we bought from the school supplies and they'll be handed down to her younger siblings. In terms of school jumpers we've found the slightly more expensive one from school have worn a lot better when compared to the cheaper logoed ones we got from Tesco's website. I bought the next size up and they're easily going to last into next year.

DGD's school's PTA sells school badges as a fundraiser. They will even put the badge on your stuff for an extra 50p. You just leave the uniform you want logoing and they return it all "professionally" attached.

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?

No; Tesco stopped doing it months ago, as per my post. Nothing to do with my school, they ended their embroidery service.

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.

Erm, yes, I am aware

I’m amazed at the expectation that all school uniform becomes so stained it needs to be thrown away. I’ve found very little that won’t come out if treated properly and promptly.

If the weather will allow it then the best stain remover is the sun! Wash it and then hang it out to dry.

@floribunda18 that’s what I said. It doesn’t stop the neglected from being identified but it does stop those who are poorer being identified. Neglected children will stand out uniform or no uniform but generally they are a minority. There are lots of poorer children and uniform is a god-send for them.

As most of the school year is during the colder months, they'll have a jumper on (particularly if they're primary age and you force them into shorts ha ha) so only the collar of the polo will be visible. Buy 2x embroidered jumpers and alternate them as required. Have 2 embroidered polos for special/photos etc. By the time summer rolls around, everyone calms down about uniform and standards have dropped considerably compared to September.

@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

Yep, sure am. In primary I was paying just over 1K in voluntary and compulsory fees for my first and uniform on top. That was many years ago as they are now in uni. Not as bad for second child as voluntary fee was approx 1.5x that for single child and was capped at that per family no matter how many more kids you had after the second. Compulsory fees were still full price for each child though.

I disagree that uniform is a godsend for poorer kids. It just puts an additional strain on the finances of poor families. Kids will still need ordinary clothes bought as well as school uniform.

I am also amazed at all those parents buying clothes that are too big for kids to make them last longer. Maybe I am being precious but I have always bought clothes that actually fit.

Maybe I am being precious but I have always bought clothes that actually fit.

yes, you are precious

I buy shoes that fit, but jumpers and tops really don't need to be the perfect fit, a size up works just as well. Having a couple of coats that last the winter is perfectly acceptable.

I suppose it depends how you’re defining “too big”.

If I need to buy my DC new uniform, and they’re between sizes, then I’ll usually go for the bigger size. So the clothes are a bit bigger than DC is right now, but not so large they look like clown clothes.

So say buying age 6-7 clothes rather than age 5-6 clothes for a DC who’s a bit past 5 and a half years old.

I also usually buy coats a size larger, because I find coats are often a bit on the tight size if DC are wearing a few layers underneath the coat.

I am also amazed at all those parents buying clothes that are too big for kids to make them last longer. Maybe I am being precious but I have always bought clothes that actually fit.

I always did that with all clothes including school uniforms, why not? Wasn’t a case of not being able to afford stuff, it’s just common sense.

I also brought second hand uniforms for my eldest boy when I knew he would be coming into periods of huge growth spurts. Mine would grow roughly 1’6” in 12 months during these periods and generally involved three sets of clothes (shorts and t-shirts were okay but long sleeved school shirts and long school pants didn’t work when too small). When I knew he had settled down for a substantial period I invested in new. New and second hand clothes and shoes always got handed down in our house until kids stopped growing.

I am also amazed at all those parents buying clothes that are too big for kids to make them last longer. Maybe I am being precious but I have always bought clothes that actually fit.

Perhaps because often there is maybe an inch in the difference of the measurements so the clothes aren’t falling off or looking ridiculous.

I have always bought the biggest I can get away with. My children were slow growing but I always got at least 2 same seasons (eg 2 summers or 2 winters) from most clothes, (if not 3).
Every April & Sept we went through clothes discarding what no longer fitted. Certainly no buying whole new wardrobes every 6 months.

jennymanara, but does your school require all the uniform to be the logoed ones? State school have children from all the different background, they can't expect everyone to buy the logoed ones. And like I said, most parents and children doesn't seems to care who wears logoed or non logoed uniform. And also my dc wears stained ones too, I try to get it out, but if it doesn't, they still wear them. They have never been humiliated because they wear ink/paint stained uniform. They really don't care.

I at least try and get a couple of years out of clothes by buying slightly too big/long garments and taking them in/up. So they do fit properly but can be let down/out the next year. Otherwise it's just wasteful. Jenny obviously can't sew.

Though the other day DD1 (14) was wearing gymnastics shorts I had bought her in Y3! That is pushing it a bit, and it's a good job they are stretchy.

voluntary donation means you don't have to pay. Double check on the uniform because normally you can choose not to get the logo, but if they stick to it I'd say buy the minimal amount and when they get ruined through staining etc refuse to replace, their choice to make it unaffordable to buy uniform. If they want the kids to stay looking smart they shouldn't bring in stupid rules.