School blazer - £90?!

[Livvielo]

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?

Are there parents of older girls who night be looking to hand down one of the blazers? When my son was in a school with a uniform the parent groups had a yearly uniform sale with gently used items.

Our blazers (state school) are between 60 and 90 depending on size. You buy one. I told my son if he ever lost it , I would be GPS tagging the replacement. He hasn't lost it yet (going into yr 10)

I've just checked the price list for our catchment school. Relieved to find the blazers are only £25. Outraged that the skirts, which only the girls need, are £26 (boys standard grey trousers) The girls Skort for PE is twice the price of the boys pe shorts as well.

That’s absolutely insane!! I just checked the local schools round my area and the most expensive one is £28.50 for a blazer and £10 for the polo can wear supermarket trousers/skirts. It’s daylight robbery, who can afford nearly a months rent/mortgage on uniform? Should’ve be allowed I’ve always thought it should be capped.

It's ridiculous- and I really hope there is help for families that can't afford it. DS is starting primary school and things are pretty tight for us at the moment. I got all his uniform from Asda. MIL offered to help us with some branded stuff or we could have stretched to it but I think it's important to normalise the supermarket uniform as it's affordable and whether the school name is on his sweatshirt or not won't have any affect on his learning.

I raised the issue that the school supplier has the monopoly for most of the school uniforms for schools in our area, and that parents can not buy depending on preference or budget, on a local community facebook page.
i got shouted down because a) the shop has been there for ages b)lots of parents remember getting their own uniform there c) they feel better that they are supporting an indie shop rather than Tesco or M and S. None of these facts alter the fact that it is significantly more expensive to have to buy majority of uniform from a single supplier. But it's quite an affluent area so I think most people just pay without batting an eyelid or even consider there might be a cheaper option.

Does anyone know if schools earn a commission from uniform sales?

It is disgusting @Livvielo

Someone, somewhere is making a KILLING from school uniforms, as they charge 10 X what Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, and Sainsburys charge for the blazers, shirts, shoes, skirts, polo shirts, and leggings etc...

Someone really needs to stop them.

It makes me roll my eyes when I see the ads on TV from the supermarkets advertising their super cheap school uniforms, shoes, and P.E. kits etc, because the schools won't accept them. They INSIST that all the parents buy their massively overpriced shit with the shitty school emblem on it, as I said, for 10 times the supermarket prices...

@FatAnkles
Yes I believe schools do get commission.

Why the hell are people still getting blazers? the should be consigned to the history books where they belong like polio and consumption.
They are shit as a jacket, they are shit as a jumper and they are shit as a raincoat. In the last 100 years we have invented a far more suitable range of outer garments than this historic relic.

Very few will go onto a workplace that requires anything remotely similar.
About time parents stood up to schools & stupid uniform requirements.
And before anyone asks, yes i do have children at a school with a uniform, that contains an optional blazer. Neither have one, have ever had one or will ever have one. They have the logo'd school fleece that is available cheaply from several local uniform suppliers, or an appropriate waterproof jacket as required.

@user1471447863

Personally I’d be very reluctant to send my DC to a school without a blazer uniform.

I think they are a sign of a good school with high standards.

All of my DC from year 7 to year 12 wear blazers at all times at school.

@GreenLakes I think there are better measurements of a schools performance available to scrutinize than whether they have a blazer or not.

£36 for a blazer here. Only buying one.
High street trousers and shirts allowed. Pe kit not too bad. But the jumper made me wince at £20 a pop and not allowed to wear any high street ones. Ive not bough any and said lets see how cold you are by half term!

Personally I think schools with head teachers or governing bodies insisting on exclusive expensive uniform have an inflated opinion of themselves and don't have their pupils welfare at heart.
You can have smart uniform without breaking the bank... trousers/skirt, shirt tie and pullover for example.

This thread makes me feel very lucky that dds school is apparently very reasonable for uniform.

Blazer is £25. Dd1 had the same one for the whole time she was there. Dd2 going into y9 is still on her first one.

They are supposed to have a school skirt, which is £10 but in reality they can wear any black skirt which is a similar style. Dds we’re £6 or £7 from either Asda or new look. Pe tops are £12 and they can wear any black leggings or any black shorts. They can also buy rugby tops or fleeces, but these aren’t compulsory. If they join a sports team they can also have a hoody with their initials on. I think these are £20.

Any white shirt is fine and ties are £5 (only school logo items I’ve had to replace due to being lost).

I think all state schools should be like this. I never understood the sense in bankrupting parents over uniform. They kids at dds school don’t look any less smart than the kids at other local schools where the uniform is twice he price.

Mo that isn't normal in my town. Blazers are about £28 and in schools here either black or blue (former private school is bottle green, I can't comment on price).

My dds skirt is £27 which does 😱 a bit but school gives all year 7's a voucher for £10 off first skirt.

My dds skirt is £27 which doesa bit but school gives all year 7's a voucher for £10 off first skirt.

I find this bit strange, it's almost like they are admitting that £27 for a skirt that you're likely to need more than one of, is pretty expensive.
..Why not just make them £17..?

My DDs skirts are £24 and have to be bought from the school shop. There are also school trousers for girls (less popular) that have to be bought from the school shop. (Not sure how much they are). For boys though, we are just told the colour and can buy from elsewhere. I bought DS 4 pairs of trousers from M and S for less than the cost of 2 skirts.

Personally I'd ditch the tie too - many workplaces have cast that off as a general requirement at all levels in recent years.
Starting the day by tying a noose round your neck doesn't make sense and it's a purely decorative item of clothing - it serves no functional or practical purpose. Schools pull up pupils for wearing unnecessary decorative adornments already.

@GreenLakes maybe they have 'high standards' because they exclude poor families by stealth?

I have now purchased all of the uniform needed- all together it’s cost us just under £400 I have found out that the school gives a voucher with money off, if the children receive school meals. They didn’t say the amount but speaking to a parent from another school (with an equally expensive uniform) the voucher for her was £75. That isn’t even enough to cover one blazer at our school…. Also, only giving those vouchers out to children that receive school meals is crazy IMO.
Lots of people don’t qualify for school meals, but they are still on low incomes and struggle. And obviously there are families that struggle financially on a high income if their outgoings are really high without a lot of disposable income. For the person that suggested I should have looked at the cost of the uniform before applying for the school…… really?? So parents should check the cost of uniform when applying for a STATE school, and not bother applying because they are too ‘poor’ to go there?? Have a word with yourself. Elitism at its finest.
We can afford the uniform, but it’s besides the point. Many can’t. And they shouldn’t have to choose a school for their child based on that alone. We cannot even get anything from the supermarket or anywhere, as even the blouses the girls have to wear are yellow stripy ones. And yes to the many people that guessed the school. You are right- it’s Brentwood Ursuline convent school for girls.
I see people discussing schools on mumsnet, so I’m happy to say the name of it. It IS a great school, but I do think they need to make some changes with this…..

One of the parents thinks it’s fine because in her words;
‘The way I see it is like this. It’s like a private school but without the fees. So the cost of the uniform is actually amazing, when you consider the fact they don’t charge fees.’

Well it’s not a private school, so that’s a mad logic.