Not to go all out to get DD new school uniform in a pandemic?

[drspouse]

DD is at the same school that DS used to be at. Uniform was X colour jumpers, white polos, one colour of trousers or skirts, and on PE days it was house colour t-shirt, black or grey leggings and trainers.
When they went back before Easter after lockdown they asked all families (they asked them on the Friday before school opened on the Monday) to send children in school colour joggers (so no longer a choice of black OR grey) or leggings, and trainers every day.

DD has some continence issues too so we have to keep loads of all trousers in, and she still has some larger sized trousers to hand down from DS plus we have bought school shoes ahead for the next size while we found a pair that fit (bought the next size up too).
We pointed out that with the country in lockdown and no shops open, nobody could buy new joggers/leggings in the preferred colour before school opened on the Monday. Fine, said school, do your best.
Then last week before school opened THIS Monday (and all shops, we are in England) they announced that the uniform would be changing permanently (because the "children preferred it") to one colour of leggings or joggers every day, and plain black trainers every day.

It's very hard to find plain colour joggers but I found a few on ebay plus a few leggings (used as I am not into buying new when I don't have to).
But she still has loads of school trousers both bought new for her and next size handed down from DS (plus a couple pairs of joggers handed down from him) and at least 3 pairs of school shoes/non-black trainers.
It's almost impossible to find plain black trainers (especially not if you don't want plimsolls or sweaty plastic. £42 leather trainers from Clarks when she already has shoes that fit?).
AIBU to just carry on with what we have till she grows out of it all in about 3 years' time as she's smaller than DS?
Or is the school NBU to expect us all to chuck out all our school uniform bottoms and shoes and find plain black trainers and sports bottoms in the middle of a school year in a pandemic, and sod the environment?

I notice on the school run this morning that there were black joggers with stripes, pink trainers, some girls still in skirts, school trousers with non-black trainers, school shoes, grey leggings, etc. etc.

I think they need to give time when transitioning to new uniform requirements. I would just write a really polite email saying that you already have purchased uniform that is suitable for now and won't be able to afford to buy another set. But that when it comes time to buy new things you will follow the new requirements.

I think you should raise it with school. It’s very wasteful from an environmental point of view to be buying new clothes whilst the old ones are useable. Schools have in my experience a very poor attitude in this regard, my daughters school no longer do second hand uniform sales expecting us all to buy new. I personally would not be able to buy new uniform half through the school year from a budget point of view too.

@user1471462428

I think you should raise it with school. It’s very wasteful from an environmental point of view to be buying new clothes whilst the old ones are useable. Schools have in my experience a very poor attitude in this regard, my daughters school no longer do second hand uniform sales expecting us all to buy new. I personally would not be able to buy new uniform half through the school year from a budget point of view too.

DH is inclined to do this (we did raise it when the 3 weeks previous to Easter was suggested before, and they said "just do your best" so we ignored it and sent her in school trousers with existing trainers).

They have no second hand sales (never have, don't have a PTA, HT is very much "I run this school") but that wouldn't help very much here as not many joggers survive a year or two of PE lessons and it's the shoes that are most pricey.

I would just write a really polite email saying that you already have purchased uniform that is suitable for now and won't be able to afford to buy another set.

I don't think they will believe this as we are well off and they know this though other school parents are on very low incomes in some cases. If we do email I think it will be on the grounds of affecting other parents, and the environment.

They should give you notice, but 3 years is probably pushing it a bit.

Also, does she want to be wearing shoes handed down from her DB, and are they in good enough condition to be good for her feet and hygienic? I’m always a bit suspicious of second-hand footware and wouldn’t wear it myself tbh.

If the school is a trust then email above school's heads... My ds has recently been in isolation due to no school shoes when the sole fell off. I picked him up and took him home. Thankfully after emails and calls to the above Bosses they saw sence..

Little email to school. This is the clothes I have. This is what I spent my money on. Child will be wearing this for the foreseeable. Any problems, let me know, and I’ll
Speak to the council directly.

They should give you notice, but 3 years is probably pushing it a bit.
OK, I take your point! Also, the trousers handed down from DS are a bit worse for wear so we were probably going to use them for spares and I blooming well hope she'll have sorted out her continence issues by Y5!

does she want to be wearing shoes handed down from her DB
The shoes she has are

1. non black trainers, were new for her and still fit and have had some wear
2. black school shoes in her size, were new to her, still fit
3. next size up of new black school shoes, bought when they were on sale because we knew that pair 2 were a good fit.

We couldn't hand down DS school shoes anyway as he breaks them before growing out of them with the possible exception of an occasional pair of trainers as he keeps refusing to do PE.

That’s good. I think everyone deserves their own shoes!

Oh I agree, she's had a couple of pairs handed down where he wore them a handful of times but in general it wouldn't even be practical to hand them down!

The lack of notice is an issue but it’s not really the school’s fault that you have already bought shoes in the next size up. I think this would be quite unusual. I think it would be reasonable for them to announce a uniform change from September but not from now. What does your daughter want to do though?

@Losttheequipment

They should give you notice, but 3 years is probably pushing it a bit.

Also, does she want to be wearing shoes handed down from her DB, and are they in good enough condition to be good for her feet and hygienic? I’m always a bit suspicious of second-hand footware and wouldn’t wear it myself tbh.

Eh? There are no hand me down shoes mentioned, only trousers

What does your daughter want to do though?
She's 6, she doesn't get to decide on her whole wardrobe, as she has no idea what the household budget is, how hard it is to get plain coloured joggers or plain black sensible trainers, or what they cost, or what the effect on the environment is of everyone in the school having to buy all new uniform.

As I saw on Twitter this morning, yes, children want to have online gaming competitions between schools, but they probably also want to eat sweets and stay up late. Since when did primary school aged children get to make household decisions of this magnitude - the clothes they wear for about half the year?

I would just wear the school shoes with the joggers or leggings. Sell the new next size up.

M and m or sportdirect have loads black trainers - sketchers do nice kids pair. When she needs them.

What colour joggers? Perhaps people.on here can help you source cheap versions of colour you need.

Prmary schools can't dictate uniform in the way secondary schools can. Take it up with the governors and quietly ignore for now.

Many of the "black" trainers are actually logo/part white and even the ones that are plain black are often really expensive (£28 Nike from Sports Direct isn't quite as bad as the Clarks leather ones but even so).
So she's going to be wearing her current shoes till she grows out of them - we can clean them if they get muddy.
Since almost no families have plain black trainers at the moment it means everyone is in theory having to replace perfectly good shoes. I don't think many of them will bother. Supermarkets rarely have plain trainers or plain joggers (only plain PE shorts) as it's rare for schools to ask for something this specific - in most schools PE kit is worn for an hour a week.

Ha! another message from school now says "we realise it's hard to get plain black trainers, please just try and get the closest you can, and not too bright".
In other words parents have complained, and they are backpedalling.
I suspect that everyone will just wear what they have till it wears out, and then get black trainers with or without a logo (seriously, they are hard to find especially in supermarkets - we had to buy supermarket trainers for DS in Lockdown 2 and there was so little choice, none black at that point). Quite a lot of the parents won't be able to buy online or afford Clarks which is the only physical shoe shop in our town apart from supermarkets. Oh, and Shoe Zone which lasts 5 minutes.

Primary schools can't enforce uniform. Just send her in the clothes you already have, and replace when necessary.
I also think it's ridiculous to change the uniform halfway through a school year. September 2022 would be more reasonable.

Primary schools can't enforce uniform

I'm afraid this is a myth.

Our secondary schools doing this too. Just got a text to say kids can wear black joggers or leggings now with the school blazer and tie, instead of trousers. Wtf that's going to look shit. My son has sensory processing issues and has always managed. Think they have too many kids not following uniform policy so are changing it.

Never hand down shoes except for wellies. Properly fitted all leather shoes mean good foot health for life. Once shoes are worn in they are shaped to the foot, and wreck havoc if worn by another. It’s a wicked false economy.

A year’s grace is appropriate when changing uniform standard.

What colour joggers do they need to be? We get plain navy, black and grey from H&M.

But I’d email school saying it’s too short notice and wasteful.

I agree it’s wasteful, but it has been fairly easy to find plain black trainers as that’s what DD used for the last couple of years of primary and now secondary (tiddly feet so only just out of infant sizes). Previous ones were Skechers, current ones are Nike, but we were looking for the next size up last weekend and there were some on the sales at both Nike and Adidas websites (I’ll get links!).

I don’t know why you’re finding it difficult to find plain black joggers. Every supermarket does them.

But I’m the main YANBU.

Skechers - we bought from an outlet shop so a bit cheaper than this.

Nike - this is the one we have, great quality, we cleaned and polished before school went back on Monday and it looks brand new. They have other options in all black too and they have an extra 20% code on the website at the moment.

The <a class="break-all" href="https://adidas.onelink.me/ihha?pid=AppSharePDP&af_dp=adidas://product/S24048&af_web_dp=www.adidas.co.uk/S24048.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Adidas ones we were going to buy are now out of stock DD’s decided she might want boots instead of trainers for her next shoes and we ended up not buying it, there are others but a fair bit pricier than Nike.