School uniform prices at primary age

[XChocolate1cheesecake]

My daughter is 6. Her school have a specific skirt that's a kilt. Cost between £18-21.
They have banned a local company from charging £2 per logo to stitch on the schools logo to generic clothing. So now your child's got to have the expensive stuff or not have the logo. They are currently charging

£10.50 for one polo t-shirt (that's £31.50 for 3)
2 skirts will cost £36
The cardigans are £14-£16 each (£28 for 2)
Then she needs plimsolls, trainers, shoes, sports kit for in and outdoors.

This year she has barely worn her uniform as they are in pe kits for two days or extra activity days.

Asda it's £6 for 2 cardigans.
£3 for 2 polo tops.

I am not sure yet if many other parents will bother with the logo. But in my view it's making children unequal. It keeps at seems alot of money. Or am I being tight?

I've always managed to get her logos embroided on before so debating this year what to do.

These threads come up every so often and I'm always horrified.

In Scotland this sort of thing doesn't happen at all. My kids are at a state secondary school which is consistently ranked in the top 5 or 10 in the country. Primary schools also excellent.

All the local primary schools have ONE branded item only - a sweatshirt. Wear it, don't wear it, nobody cares. And they are all a standard school colour like royal blue, red, navy, green. If you don't want your child to wear the school branded sweatshirt, then you just buy a plain one from the supermarket, or a cardi/jumper. Trousers/skirts are black or grey, and kids wear what they want.

At senior school, they are required to wear a tie (£5) and a blazer (£32). Everything else is black and white. Yes they all look slightly different but that clearly has no effect on achievement/behaviour as it's a great school with few discipline issues and kids heading to Oxbridge or into competitive courses like law or medicine each year.

There are no other branded items to buy - just not available. My sister whose kids are in a school in England has to buy a very niche colour of blouse, tracksuit for PE, branded swimming costume, branded socks, branded skirts...it's MADNESS.

@Cocomarine that's brilliant!
My son after 5 years of primary has passed down a couple of jumpers and one shirt.

Jumpers because he rarely wears them, but i always think he should have one or two. Everything else has been worn out or stained before he's outgrown it.

My sister whose kids are in a school in England has to buy a very niche colour of blouse, tracksuit for PE, branded swimming costume, branded socks, branded skirts...it's MADNESS.

School specific PE wear is utter bonkers, I really think parents should draw a line at school swimwear, branded socks and skirts.

Something to be said for a plain old shirt and school tie.

XChocolate1cheesecake

Yes they look smart and it's just one of four primary schools near where I live. Yes they are ever so slightly better on the latest Ofsted.

But surely you knew that this one had a snazzy (and more expensive) uniform?

I agree with other posters that the really cheap £2 polo shirts are really bad for the environment. The stuff we have bought from the uniform shop has lasted really well & stuff is passed on/sold at 2nd hand uniform sales. We have also never lost a uniform item, because it's expensive you keep better tabs on it.

Also you don't need the kilt if you can buy the plain black skirt & as another poster pointed out, just buy one kilt and the black one as the back up?

Onceuponatime1818 I teach too and have to say the smarter and stricter the uniform the better the behaviour and therefore the better the results. I don't know why this is, but if you're strict on uniform other behaviour seems to improve.

aroundtheworld

I'd love to know if teachers found any difference in behaviour and learning on PE kit days Vs uniform days this year

It's bizarre in secondary - mufti days are a nightmare but PE kit days are fine. I like the PE kit idea where they don't keep getting changed.

Is it an academy op? They make money from the uniform suppliers if so.

Yeah, that’s ridiculous for primary school. My DC’s insist on logo cardigans/jumpers which are £12 a pop and I have 3 DC in school so it works out to be about £75 every year just on those.

My eldest starts secondary in September and those prices are truly eye watering. A blazer alone is £32 and absolutely everything needs to bear the logo so it’s going to set me back about £250 and because he’s the only boy, I can’t pass it down to my DD‘s after.

So you don't have to wear the logo
you don't have to buy the kilts
you can go for much cheaper items

you just disagree people have the choice?

I’m in Ireland and most uniforms are crested and can only be bought in uniform shops. It’s expensive but I always think I’m saving by not spending loads on everyday clothes !

Ours is
€40 for tracksuit (120 for 3)
€12 for t-shirt ( 36 for 3)
Kilt is €40 ( only have one )
Jumper €38 ( 76 for 2)
Shirt is €12 ( 24 for 2)

That’s primary school, secondary uniform double that

£21 for a skirt for a 6 year old is daft. YANBU OP but I also understand why you feel you have to buy the same as everyone else.

At DS1’s primary school there isn’t any pressure to buy uniforms with logos at all. You can get polo shirts, jumpers, pe tshirts, cardigans etc with the logos on. Some people buy all logos, some everything from the supermarkets, others do a mixture like I tend to buy just the jumpers with the logo which are £10 each and everything else is from the supermarket. I think all the kids look smart even if they haven’t all got matching trousers etc.

As for handing down clothes, out of the 3 jumpers and 4 trousers DS1 started reception with - he’s only just outgrowing the jumpers now and they are still good quality, so they can be handed down to his younger brother. 2 of the trousers got holes in so were thrown but the other 2 hes just outgrown so again, fine to wear again. He’s just coming to the end of Y1 now, so almost 2 years (although he didn’t attend school during the first lockdown)

I would just get one kilt and one logo cardigan for school photo day etc. And then just supermarket basics for the rest. It really doesn't matter about the logo does it?

At my dd primary school most parents just get the supermarket versions and the odd logo cardigan for best. There's no pressure to get the expensive stuff. We also have a second hand school uniform shop and so I picked up most of the uniform for yr1 and summer dresses for £1 each.

I wouldn't stress about it, primary children don't spend all day worrying about what they are wearing!

I feel your pain. Not as expensive but still a lot to pay out for dd starting primary 1. And her school have decided on navy trousers etc so I can't just get any black ones. I'm going to be about 100 in uniform for her starting then about the same again in a couple of months once she grows out of it

@khakiandcoral

No I think at least cardigans should be affordable with a logo for every child. I think children should all have equal opportunities when it comes to uniform. Yes you can go but generic clothing. But it makes a statement. You have children with everything logo. Then others have got the plain Asda stuff. You are highlighting the difference between parents and families and income. Just my opinion. Kids can be mean. My child likes the logo because it's a forest animal wearing a graduation hat so she mentions it. As for the kilts. No other child has black skirts. They are all in kilts so I don't want her to say why am I not wearing the same skirt as all my friends. She again likes the skirt. But it's not fair to make it unaffordable. Especially little girls uniforms being almost double what a little boys uniform cost.

Do they not have a uniform pool? A kilt, especially, should do fine for more than one child, cardigans may not hold up as well but if you have parents who buy new every year then donate then there should be some available in good condition.

We are a two income family so I understand my viewpoint on this may be slightly different.

I don’t mind paying out for uniform as they get a lot of wear out of it.
My children’s wardrobes are packed with clothes they haven’t worn / hardly wear / wear once before the weather changes. So on a price per wear basis I think uniform costs are fine.

However what I wouldn’t be happy about is if the uniform got lost at school!

Luckily we seem to receive all the uniform -
My DS is at a preschool attached to a boarding school & therefore he is in full uniform but obviously doesn’t pack his own bag!
He has come home with various pieces of uniform not belonging to him. TWICE he has come home with a school coat, after not going with one.
Obviously I have sent these back but not all parents might. The coats are £50

A mum I have made friends with is forever losing uniform from her son. This last holiday my DS came home with her DS jumper in his bag. All clearly labelled.
They have given her some uniform as they have lost that much of hers!

There is a law coming out making uniform affordable.

Affordability depends on price per wear not just initial price. You can have uniform that doesn't last a year, or you can have better quality that lasts two years for one child and is still in good condition to pass on to another.

XChocolate you say that logo clothes vs generic will show the difference between family income. Well only to adults. And adults shouldn't care.
To be honest even if I was a millionare and my child's school had the option of branded or plain generic I would buy generic because I am anti school uniforms in general. I don't see why children need to advertise what school they attend - which is what a logo does. So if I was the richest parent in the world I would buy generic if it was allowed.

@Ilovemaisie

XChocolate you say that logo clothes vs generic will show the difference between family income. Well only to adults. And adults shouldn't care. To be honest even if I was a millionare and my child's school had the option of branded or plain generic I would buy generic because I am anti school uniforms in general. I don't see why children need to advertise what school they attend - which is what a logo does. So if I was the richest parent in the world I would buy generic if it was allowed.

I totally agree. In our school having logo uniform or not doesn't reflect the incomes of the parents at all. Even wealthier family's will choose generic uniform for a variety of reasons. For example I could afford the logo official things but prefer to buy from the second hand uniform shop or use hand me downs for environmental reasons. Sometimes the style may be better from Sainsbury's or m&s or Asda etc. I also agree that children in reception and year 1 or 2 really dont care! Your projecting adult perspectives on them. I also think if more chose generic it would become more normal and encourage more to have generic etc.

I can understand why OP doesn’t want her child in a black skirt if all others are in kilts. There’s definitely been a move near me to have fancier state primary uniforms more like private schools - I remarked on it in uniform shop recently (my DD is secondary now) So kilts and logo jumpers not just grey skirt and red cardigan etc that supermarkets sell.
DC’s secondary has a blazer they wear all time and a ‘smart price’ version in a cheap nasty fabric in a different shade of blue. It’s horrible as only a couple of children wear it and it singles them out.