School blazer - £90?!

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Posting for traffic really… DD 11 starts secondary school in September, and we are just purchasing her uniform… £90 for a blazer?! Is that the norm?! That’s without the school skirt, PE kit and various other bits that have to be purchased from the school. How many blazers do you buy? This is just a catholic comprehensive girls school, although it is regarded as extremely good.
But £90 for a blazer?? Is that not a bit OTT?

my dd went through 3 blazers- her boobs grew, what can you do? Thankfully at £38 they weren't so bad but the logoed PE kit was expensive and she 'lost' 2 of the tops. despite only wearing them once a week.

As a kid who had to wear all her elder sisters clothes as hand me downs throughout my school life, you can hand them down. My mum got us a chest 36 blazer in year 1 and it didn't fit me ever ( still wouldn't).

Also my youngest DD has severe eczema and couldn't wear the school uniform as sold in the school shop because she can only wear cotton. She hated being the only person in something different from the actual uniform her entire life and for year 10 she bought her own uniform from the school shop. That made me cry.

Try and find the Facebook group for your DS's new school, there will likely be people passing on 2nd hand uniform. Although if you can afford it I'd say to buy the blazer new. I started school with 2nd hand uniform and it did mark me out a bit, but after you've been there a while it's less obvious.

Ours is £90 as well and dry clean only. DS grew so quickly over the last 6 years that he's had a new one every single year except for this year (his final year - I think he's finally stopped growing!)

Remind them Jesus overturned the money lenders tables in the temple!

Blessed are the poor. (The school are making you blessed 🤣🙂🤣🙂🤣🙂🤣🤣

I think that people who want children seriously underestimate how much school costs.

When my son was in reception, I kept a running tally. Not including school uniform or school dinners, I spent £150 for things like non uniform day, harvest festival, sponsored thingies, food for Santa's reindeer, photos (how much?!!!!) etc etc etc. That's £150 for non necessities.

It's not just blazers, though. The school requires a particular type of calculator and I also have to find green biros as well as black. Finding green biros is harder than you think.

They are also really strict about shoes so I'm spending out on expensive lace ups.

DD's, sorry! I did actually clock she's a girl but my stupid phone autocorrected DD to Dad, then I must have typed S by mistake!

A school near us has much more expensive uniform than the others. Rumour is they do it as they fancy themselves to be like a private school, and it's a sly attempt to put poorer families off going there.

DS 13 school has wash type / from memory cost £43 and a non wash type - £54

In first year we bought one of each ! Then covid hit . Out of the 2 he prefers the wash one as it's lighter and not so "rigid" across the shoulders - he also finds the dry clean only amine very hot when it's warm

So this year when he is going into year 9 we bought the washable one only.

However don't start me on the rugby shirt -£48

I agree £90 is extortionate and the colour sounds horrendous. Maybe you should get together with some other parents and draw the school's attention to this:

www.gov.uk/government/news/new-law-to-make-school-uniform-costs-affordable-for-all

Buy one a few sizes too big so you get your money's worth.
My school blazer lasted me from first form to fifth form back in the day (1890s) so from 11-16.

The lady who wants green biros have a look in Poundland. The zebra pens range has green and a 4 in 1 pen with black, red, blue and green.

I had one blazer all through secondary including sixth form, and one skirt . Neither washable so they were dry cleaned every half term. People washed things less in those days! We had a clean blouse every two days.

Our PTA organise a uniform swap at the end of every school year. You take what your child has grown out of and pick up what you need. DD is going into year 4 and I’ve never had to buy a blazer yet. Perhaps you could suggest something similar?

1890s Mrs Fin? Doing well lol

@DingDongThongs Thank you!

OP the description of your uniform sounds very much like a school in my home town, my kids aren’t old enough for there yet but as well as the expensive uniform I think they like parents to pay a £50 donation to the school too!
Incidentally my DD is just moving up to the junior school (separate school to the infants) and we have to pay an annual £150 donation per child, whilst it’s ‘optional’ if you don’t pay it you are charged more for other activities so end up paying out more in the long run. Glad I don’t have twins and my children will only cross over once as the donation is per child. Majority of the uniform can only be bought from a specific uniform shop so there is no competition on the prices and it’s stressful when my child has a sensory disorder so I can’t shop around for a softer cardigan etc.

Also years ago when I attended a Catholic secondary school the blazer was £50 so my mum bought me one. I decided to be helpful one day and iron it for her, and melted it 🙈, I can totally sympathise why she was so pissed off about it now.

I had three dcs at a state primary ( Catholic ) where the blazers were £55 and were compulsory.
Parents protested and eventually the school
said that parents could choose whether they want their kids to wear blazers.
School uniforms are extortionate

I don't remember my parents saying that my school blazer was expensive, it was decent quality but as I started and finished secondary school tiny I was able to wear the same blazer from Y7 to Y11!

Do they run a second hand uniform sale .....my private school,does and so many kids wear second hand blazers etc

My DD's grammar school blazer is £83, or £90 now she's in sixth form. At least now she can wear her 'own' white blouse. Previously it was the schools own hideous blouse so I've saved a little bit. Fortunately she's going into Year 13.
Though thinking of that, there's uni costs next!

Mine are at private schools - blazers are almost £100 and each item of school branded PE kit is at least £25.
I buy much of it from the second hand uniform sale and from friends passing it down from older DC.

Well yeah, kids are expensive, have you checked how much her university will be charging you in a few years? 🤣

Yanbu

Its done on purpose so that anyone too poor to attend who they think might bring the grade averages down won't bother applying.

Same with making it such a sensory overload with the material/cut/fit etc that Parents with disabled children also won't bother applying so that's another thing the school will have to do less of. Support disabled and struggling children.

There will no doubt be a number of other "tricks" applied too.

The blazer designed in such a way that buying big will be difficult. The shoulder pads make it so you look like an American foot ball player. A tiny yr 7 can't work swamped by that monstrosity.

Or names needing to be printed/embroidered on the pe kids, different coloured piping /logos for the houses so you cant pass it down unless everyone in the neighbourhood changes their name to Jane doe by deed poll.

And just to ensure that no one dares purchase from a supermarket the colours will be impossible to match exactly.

You will of course be told that you knew this or that its a leveller but hundreds of pounds just to walk through the front door does not a leveller make.

Parents love uniforms though for some reason..probably because that way no one could possibly mistake their kid for attending the local crap hole. They like the public being able to tell they attend the local private school or grammar school.

Whole thing is criminal.if you ask.me.