Would I be THAT parent

[MrsJunglelow]

To write and complain..?

DSs school uniform came to over £100 and on top of that, for PE they also want him to have studded football boots, essential apparently for health and safety , a branded coat, branded rugby jumper, football shin pads, tall football socks, branded jumper...
That’s in addition to the cost of school meals and I imagine in the future trips out and residentials too.

I have bought him the school branded PE top and black joggers and trainers but quite honestly, I’m getting quite fucked off with the exorbitant price of things I’m just expected to keep paying out for and will be punished if I don’t.
If he wears an unbranded hoodie for example, we’ve been told it’ll be confiscated as only the branded allowed.

Some families are really poor and frankly, it strikes me as really discriminatory and cruel.
Where do they think parents have the money?

The branded coat for example, we bought him one, it cost £40!
It’s a shitty cheap Mac fabric, no where near worth £40.
The supplier took weeks to send it out and when it finally arrived, no exaggeration, it would have fitted a muscular adult man!
My DS is 11, the coat was loose on my 34 year old DH...

I’m just feeling really hacked off.
The prices are excessive, the products aren’t worth it, my child will be punished if he doesn’t have them.

AIBU?

How on earth do poor families cope?

[grassisjeweled]

What will actually happen if you say no? And buy the none branded stuff?

[lyralalala]

This is one of the reasons I love DS and DD's HT. Since she came into the school she has undone a raft of ridiculous changes to the uniform the last twatty HT brought in.

Since they went back in August she's implemented a temporary uniform of polo shirts, jumpers and joggers (originally until January, now until the end of the year). Partly because we don't know how much time they'll spend in school this year and partly because it allows flexibility to get them running around in the gym hall or playground if there's unexpected availability.

I know from working with her previously that she prefers easily accessible uniform so I'm expecting the scrapping of the "slightly unusual shade of blue that can only be bought in two expensive places" uniform next yet. Every school she's ever worked in has had a simple "Black/Grey/Navy skirt or trousers, jumper or cardi and white/blue shirt or polo shirt" style uniform.

[SleeplessWB]

I agree, it is unnecessary. The school I teach at, we have made a decision to only have a blazer and tie as 'branded' items. Everything else can be bought at the supermarket and we provide uniform financial support for FSM families as well as giving out lots of second hand uniform free.

[CoRhona]

On the plus side...you won't be spending that much on trips...

[anothersleeplessone]

Bloody good on you @Ihatemyseleffordoingthis !

[Ihatemyseleffordoingthis]

This is one of the things that utterly pisses me off

Take it to the governors.

It's practicing financial exclusion.

Our kids' primary school tried similar and the parents rebelled. We still have to buy shit quality logo'd jumpers but the school now runs its own sales for them and it's a third less than it was going to be. They wanted the infants all in ££££ branded joggers and sweatshirts too but the parent body basically refused.

[Greysparkles]

I'm lucky I got most of my DS uniform in a charity shop.
Pe kit is a joke, branded t shirt, rugby top, shorts, joggers & hoodie. Why it has to be branded I don't know! In case they forget what the schools called?!

[thepeopleversuswork]

Who cares whether you're THAT parent. If you applied that logic to everything in life you'd never fight for anything.

I think schools' approaches to this sort of thing can be really unreasonable and you should shout about this sort of thing.

What's the worst that can happen? Worst case scenario is that they will ignore or over-rule you.

[bananaskinsnomnom]

I agree OP and I don’t think it’s wrong to kick up.

The three nearest state primary schools to me, in a very financially mixed area: one has the logo jumper/cardigan and compulsory book bag - but allows the parents to use a plain jumper in the right colour and then the bog standard skirts/trousers/shorts/polo shirts / shirt and Pe kit from anywhere as long as the colour is right, and it looks like school uniform.
The other two have gone full blown proper uniform (friends are peeved and I’ve seen the cost and agree) - like your sons school, everything with the logo - polo shirts, sweat shirt, cardigan, school tie, blazer, Pe top shorts and tracksuit, school branded school bags and school coat, and now the school hat and scarf and gloves. Prices insane and yes you can get second hand but as this is primary, second hand is often in bad nick (eg paint stained). It’s too much.

Likewise all the secondaries bar one now have blazers, branded shirts, kilts, full branded PE kits, matching school bags. Smart yes but bloody hell, I’m childless atm and thinking I need to start saving!

My own school is 99% branded only (you can choose your child’s own underwear and socks) - independent yes, but the thing is because it’s all so expensive (the tracky bottoms for the little ones are nearly £20 a pair) the children are largely in very faded, not particularly warm any more and over large or far too small uniform. I think it would look smarter to simplify it, bring the price down and then people would be happier to buy.

[formerbabe]

I agree with you op

We live in a quite a poor London borough.

Dcs school say they must have the school rucksack...perhaps they think this will stop kids being bullied for not having the cool brands. But it costs the same as a branded one and my ds has two of his own bags he could have used so it has cost me more.

He also lost his rugby jumper in the first week so that was £25 wasted.

The blazer is nearly £40...I'd rather buy a cheap one and sew a badge on, but it's stitched into the material so that's not an option.

Oh, a tip for studded football boots from a football mum is ebay. I get all my ds's on there. Saves me a fortune. They're so expensive new and end up straight in mud. I got a nearly new branded pair on there for £10.

[SpongebobNoPants]

@JuliaJohnston
They can. What makes you think they can't?

Legislation
They cannot make you purchase it

[Nottherealslimshady]

YANBU
Parents shouldn't have to chose a school based on if they can afford the uniform. A private school, fine. But a state school being funded by the taxpayer should have equal opportunities for all children no matter their parents income. God I hope this isn't a thing when mines ready for school. We had the school tie and jumper when I was in high school. Tie was £7 jumper was £25, 10 years ago mind. And in primary everything could be bought from the supermarket.

[Notemyname]

Looks like it's going to be made a law that stops this from happening in future":
www.northwichguardian.co.uk/news/18725094.cheaper-school-uniforms-step-closer-says-northwich-mp/

[PumpkinetChocolat]

@BoudicasBoudoir

School uniform is nonsense. I can’t understand why so many people take it so seriously.

Many of us are in favour of school uniform!

Regardless, once it's there, the whole point is to apply the rules, not to make exceptions otherwise it's pointless.

Nothing stops parents to complain and change some of the requirements, or at least try. Maybe the majority of parents, head teacher and governors are very happy with the current system.

[ArcheryAnnie]

YANBU. In fact, it's a deliberate strategy by some schools (especially Free Schools and some academies) to price their uniforms very high so that lower-income families will self-select out of applying there.

Do challenge it. And good luck.

[Londonmummy66]

School PE kits make me see red - DD required 20 items just for PE - excluding the hockey stick tennis racket etc...some like the hockey gum shield make sense but the idea of putting fancy stripes down a pair of plain running leggings is frankly just a PE teacher getting off on their own importance....

My neighbour was incandescent a few years ago when purchasing her 3rd complete set of PE kit for her daughter because the school had yet another uniform change imposed by yet another incoming head teacher.....

[Happyheartlovelife]

I'd explain that you'd don't have it. So if not having a branded top means he won't do Pe. The. Then you will gladly take him out for PE!

[suchclearwater]

This all sounds horribly familiar to me. It's the same at our school. And kids being kids, they grow quickly, and before you know it you hvae to fork out forf a new set! Ridiculous!!!! And, as you say, totally unfair.

[unmarkedbythat]

@howaboutchocolate

School uniform is a ridiculous insistence anyway.
Of the top 10 countries in the world for education, only 3 of them commonly wear school uniforms.
It's got nothing to do with education or personal development, and everything to do with class, conformity and control.

But yes, insistence on branded, expensive stuff is unfair for many reasons, pricing out poorer families and also terrible for environmental/sustainability reasons too. Parents should be free to buy clothing for their children that fits within their budget, ethics, allergies, size, etc.
It's creating a barrier to education when children are refused entry to school for wearing the wrong shade of trousers or an unbranded hoody.

Definitely complain about having to buy the branded items.

All of this. And uniform pettiness has only got worse in the UK since I was at school. I am constantly astounded at the importance the staff at my son's secondary place on 'perfect uniform'.

[howaboutchocolate]

My DC have all been right the way through the independent system, and I can count on one hand the number of new 'regulation' items I've ever bought.

You realise that somebody has to buy the uniform new in order for it be available secondhand, right? And that the chances of that happening increase exponentially at fee-paying schools where most parents will be able to afford new uniform?

[MissLucyEyelesbarrow]

[quote SpongebobNoPants]@PumpkinetChocolat you cannot be made to either buy the specified uniform or made to force your child to wear it. As long as the clothes are appropriate and following the same guidelines for style and colour.
According to parliamentary guidance, a school’s uniform policy should be clearly set out, be subject to reasonable requests for variation, and that any changes should take into account the views of parents and pupils.
Also as of 2015 schools are also obliged to keep requests for branded items to a minimum and publish their best price practice. Parents can request to see which uniform companies were approached / tendered and if complaints are received regarding quality or price they have to review their uniform policy and suppliers.

Here is it a direct quote from the December 2015 House of Commons briefing:

The school uniform should be easily available for parents to purchase and schools should seek to select items that can be purchased cheaply, for example in a supermarket or other good value shop. Schools should keep compulsory branded items to a minimum and avoid specifying expensive items of uniform eg expensive outdoor coats[/quote]
Be that parent, OP! You'd be speaking for lots of other parents, I'm sure.

I'd write to the Chair of governors, asking how their policy complies with the guidance @SpongebobNoPants has posted.

[EstoPerpetua]

My DC have all been right the way through the independent system, and I can count on one hand the number of new 'regulation' items I've ever bought. It has all been passed on by other parents, or has come from the second-hand shop. The 'new' cost is horrendous - but the stuff is made in the UK and lasts incredibly well, so can easily do three children in a row.

I always bought boys' trousers from M&S, if I had to buy new. The prep schools never stipulated a particular brand - just a colour. You would have been a bit made to have bought them from Schoolblazer.

Boarding school uniform came from a mixture of sources, but all was second hand. Once they've been wearing it for 10 mins, it looks second hand anyway. DS's school coat (long, black, cashmere/wool - fortunately, the school just said any long black coat was fine, so there was no regulation coat) was a tenner from a charity shop.

[fassbendersmistress]

YANBU

Forked our loads for uniform this year and after 1 week of term we were told they are to wear games or PE kit for all but ONE day a week (covid/no changing facilities for when they do clubs etc)!! So the kit is worn to bits already and needs replaced and the rest of the expensive uniform and shoes sit barely touched....Grrrrrrr

[steppemum]

One thing that really annoyed me.

ds and dd in schools next to each other, one boys school other girls school.

boys school - branded blazer (but not expensive) and tie. But any white shirt and black trouser.
Asda /M&S school trouser = about £15 for 2 pairs
Asda/M&S school shirts = about £15 for 2 or 3.

girls school, stripy brand shirt, and blazer, specific hard to copy uniform skirt or trouser
school uniform shop trousers £15 each
school uniform shirts £25 for 2.

Literally double the price.

[howaboutchocolate]

School uniform is a ridiculous insistence anyway.
Of the top 10 countries in the world for education, only 3 of them commonly wear school uniforms.
It's got nothing to do with education or personal development, and everything to do with class, conformity and control.

But yes, insistence on branded, expensive stuff is unfair for many reasons, pricing out poorer families and also terrible for environmental/sustainability reasons too. Parents should be free to buy clothing for their children that fits within their budget, ethics, allergies, size, etc.
It's creating a barrier to education when children are refused entry to school for wearing the wrong shade of trousers or an unbranded hoody.

Definitely complain about having to buy the branded items.