to wonder if school uniform should be worn

[manicinsomniac]

I know all the arguments about school identity and poorer/less fashion conscious children not being teased. And I've always agreed with them. Plus I just like uniforms.

But I've been helping with a charity over the summer (a clothing bank) because it does big school uniform events where people can come and get their uniforms for free. It was a really hot day when we did the first one and, due to a combination of the number of people who turned up and Covid rules meaning only 5 could come in at once, many of them queued for 2 hours!! It actually really upset me that so many people are in a situation where it is preferable to queue for that long to avoid spending maybe £20 (don't actually know?) in the supermarket.

All the children who came in had clothes. The only reason they needed the uniforms was because the schools say so.

AIBU to think that really, when families are struggling this much, uniform just isn't that important?
YABU - uniform is important
YANBU - I agree with you, it shouldn't be needed

Thanks @manicinsomniac .

I was very very lucky as our situation was pretty brief.

I need to do more to help others with it now probably.

The thing I find hardest is poverty takes your voice away. I never told people and now when I say they are quite shocked.

Don't worry about crying. Better than not caring!

My Dc’s School PTA are amazing. They spend a lot of time helping the members of the school who are struggling. Before the summer holiday they had massive boxes outside the school office where we all put uniform that we no longer needed. They then washed it and redistributed to people who need it.
We also have a Facebook page where people regularly list their old uniform for free for anyone who needs it.
My kids grow so fast, and I’m pleased that I have an easy way to pass the uniform on so someone else can use it v

Uniform!!! Hahahahaha I was just making a point that the sets of uniforms I have given away... someone else will buy them. But there’s not enough for every parent to purchase what they need from a charity shop

Got you! But I think that sort of illustrates why non uniform is easier if you're really struggling - you're right, there isn't enough uniform to buy in charity shops. But there is enough clothing of some sort. There might not be a red v neck jumper but there will be a jumper.

I agree that if you're on a budget but not in actual poverty then buying a multipack of supermarket uniform is cheaper than buying a week's worth of normal supermarket clothes.

surely youd need more than one jumper etc if there was no uniform? My DS lives in a fleece jacket, it's dry in an hour. He only needs that and a coat, though he has a hoodie too.

Yes they should have uniform so that they're all the same, BUT branded /logo stuff should be banned. Absolutely no reason we should have to pay £10 plus for one top that you can get from asda in a pack of three for £3.

@Porcupineinwaiting

But lattice surely youd need more than one jumper etc if there was no uniform? Because my kids have uniform for school they have considerably fewer "civilian" clothes. And as they are teenagers, their uniform is a lot cheaper than the non-uniform clothes they want to wear.

Yes, of course you need more than one jumper, but the pressure with uniform is you need specific things in specific sizes at specific times.

I used to do car boots and could get e.g. 5 t-shirts for £1. Hoodies or trousers/skirts would be 50p each, often cheaper after a few hours. People sell in boxes by age, so very fast to look. Decent things, John Lewis, M&S etc.

I could get a full wardrobe for a child for £5.

With secondhand uniform - it takes hours and hours of visiting the charity shops to get, and would be much more per item.

When you say 'uniform is a lot cheaper than the non-uniform clothes they want to wear' I guess that's one reason why richer people like uniform. My kids in that period never had clothes they wanted to wear, they had the clothes we could get.

Even though I can afford uniform and non-uniform now, I still would rather we didn't have it.

I’m not sure how I feel about non uniform. I think it’s the logo that is the issue.
I like uniform to be honest. Children do compare and can be quite cruel my DS is only small and I know this has been said before but I do feel it’s less pressure for the kids and parents if they are all dressed the same to some extent. Other wise I would dread by the time my DS is high school age and he was to come home saying X has got this or someone is being mean because he doesn’t have X like them. I wouldn’t want that either.

My family was very poor when I was growing up and my brother and I used to only have our uniform to wear 95% of the time as we had no other clothes. I literally never owned a pair of jeans until I was in my twenties and maybe had 5 tops to my name for my whole teens.
It would have been embarrassing not to have different clothes to wear around friends when especially at a teenager age everyone is obsessed with appearance, wearing the right brands etc.
A cheap standardised uniform without logos evens out the wealth disparity at a time when children and teens want to be accepted by others.
I think those eligible for free school meals should have some way of basic uniform, non logo provided at a discount (wholesale prices?), maybe ordered directly from a manufacturer with a code.
Schools should promote passing school uniform along once it's outgrown so it's just normal habit. It's simply wasteful otherwise and children should be instilled with a sense of well-being from reusing, recycling in daily life.

Ds4 is starting reception in September. 4 pairs of trousers and 4 shirts were twenty pounds, 2 logo jumpers, tie and full pe kit is over 50 pounds. I think it can be ridiculous how much it costs and schools should consider cheaper options.

Bought my first school uniform for Primary 1 (in scotland) last month. Our primary school no longer have a blazer at all, it has been replaced by an optional waterproof/fleece lined jacket (like Trespas etc but not that brand) in school colours and with a logo £25 and excellent quality, will def last the year. Other than that i bought a school tie £3 and chose not to buy the logo cardigan as quality isn't great. Everything else came from Asda. Our school is very keen on kids wearing the school colours in cardi/jumper but they are easily available in supermarkets. In total (excluding jacket) we spent c£100 but that included 2 shirts, 10 polo shirts, 2 skirts, 2 pinafores, 2 trousers/legings, 3 summer dresses, 4 cardis, joggers, hoody, 2 shorts, 2 tshirts,trainers, plimsoles, pe bag, tights, socks, pants & vests.
We are very lucky we could afford this and will keep as much as possible for daughter number 2 in a couple of years.

I was at primary in the 80s and we didn't have uniform. I also remember wearing 2nd hand clothes too. No-one was bullied over their clothing. Even in 6th form, designer clothes weren't that much of a thing.

What has changed? Why are we all so label conscious now? I see kids at the primary I work in on own clothes days and for many it's all about how they look. Even when wearing uniform it's about the bag, lunchbox, pencil case, so uniform isn't that much of a leveller anymore. Kids learn this judgement - they aren't born with it. Who are they learning it from?

I do wonder though if there was no uniform whether we'd go back to own clothes being less judgmental like when I was younger. Probably not, we'd need a culture change to reverse it.

Maybe if schools collected in all the uniform that children had grown out of at the end of the year they could start uniform libraries and just lend it out to everyone each year with the expectation of it being returned at the end of the year. Of course it would get worn out, lost and damaged over time but some parents would always opt to buy new instead and would then quite likely donate theirs and perhaps PTAs could fund occasional supermarket top up shops.

I don’t understand the UK obsession with uniform to begin with and particularly not now.

DS wears his own clothes to school, they’ll be washed everyday, no extra hassle.

Why are we all so label conscious now?

I don't even know that we are any more, to be honest. I know everyone says that labels are everything to children but I don't really see it.

I work in a boarding school. A lot of the older children seem to adopt jogging bottoms and primark t-shirts as their 'uniform' of choice half the time. Or those big, floaty 'ethnic' trousers they buy from either Morocco/Thailand or the local market! Whereas 8-10 years ago Jack Wills, Hollister, Abercrombie, Superdry and Ralph Lauren were everything to them. Those clothes are still scattered around but there seems to be a much wider mix.

The children at my Dc’s Primary school get free uniform each year if they get free school meals. Does that not happen in all primary schools? They get a free PE kit and the jumpers with logos on, as well as a cap and book bag if they want one. They don’t get trousers/skirts or polo T-shirt’s,

Just out of interest, is there a back to school allowance for people in the UK on low incomes. Just reading @latticechaos very interesting posts.
We have one here (Ireland) but we also but textbooks and stationary.

@switswoo81

There is a uniform allowance but it is locally set/administered so varies, and of course like everything since 2010 - cut cut cut.

It also doesn't apply to academies, which is an issue because so many more schools have become academies since 2010. And new academies often have new shiny uniforms with blazers etc!

@Thingsthatgo

The children at my Dc’s Primary school get free uniform each year if they get free school meals. Does that not happen in all primary schools? They get a free PE kit and the jumpers with logos on, as well as a cap and book bag if they want one. They don’t get trousers/skirts or polo T-shirt’s,

No it can’t be all of them. Are you in UK? I’ve never heard of this.

I prefer uniform but the 2 schools my 3 children attend has everything branded. These are state schools but the secondary one is £70 Blazer, £40 skirt, £32 knitted jumper , PE kit in total was £155 for one child. We can afford it but for some parents it must be a struggle , I do begrudge those prices though.

I hate uniform. No idea why we are so obsessed with it.

If there is a uniform it should he easy to obtain and reasonably priced. Id love to know what can be done in a 14 pound logo cardigan or 33 pound logo blazer that cant be done in a 2 for a fiver tesco job or a 10 pound asda plain blazer.

It has become a way to price out the kids they don't want there.

Parents imo love it because that way tarquin from imfarsuperior high cant be accidently mistaken for a roughsideoftown academy student.

Thanks @latticechaos. It's 150 euro here for primary and 220 for secondary but as I said we do buy textbooks( but schools are also given an allowance to provide books to children who don't have them). You don't have to be unemployed to get it just have income at at a certain threshold.
Think it would make it easier to justify uniforms.

One of my friends gets the pupil premium for her DC. They are at the same High School as my DC, which happens to be an academy.
My friend gets free school uniform albeit from the shop that sells our academy uniform.
I don't know why that doesn't apply in all counties.

I believe our Borough is one of a few who have scrapped the uniform grant completely

When our secondary changed uniforms they did a consultation. I explained to the head that switching uniform would be very hard for some families as it would wipe out hand-me-downs and secondhand stocks - he said he had never considered this. I was so shocked this was news to him. The school considers itself really inclusive too.

They do a lot more on/about poverty now though, as the number of families is increasing all the time.

Uniforms can be a challenge for kids with special needs.

I don’t believe uniforms reduce bullying. Many students whose bodies don’t fit the ideal could choose simple, functional, but flattering clothing instead of trying to wear something that simply wasn’t designed for them.