Sending child to school in marked t-shirts

[Blinkingheckythump]

So little ones been at school for 5 day's and already has 3 t-shirts with board pen on that I cannot get out. Wibu to send them in with the t-shirts on? It feels so wasteful to bin them and buy new ones after one blinking wear

Yes I would let them wesr them again unless they were really awful. I remember buying the school logo polo tops which were about 3 times the price of the plain ones you can get in supermarkets and she came home covered in paint that never washed off. That went in the bin and I just bought the plain ones without the logo.

@NotMeNoNo

* can’t complain!

Do the school ever complain about marked t shirts. I doubt it.

The pens I used to order were supposed to be washable.

@WeNeedToGetThroughThis how does she get through 10 a week? Does she get changed at school into a new uniform?

@HambletonSquare

A slight aside, but the end is in sight.😉

Finally, sitting on the floor and writing on a mini-whiteboard does not help children learn to hold a pencil and form letters correctly. To write, they should sit comfortably on a chair at a table

From the Dept for Educations new reading framework July 2021 - p 54.

[[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment]]data/file/1000986/ReadinggframeworkTeachinggthefoundationssofliteracyy-_July-2021.pdf

I agree but I doubt if any school uses them exclusively. Sitting at a table and using a pencil is very important but practising on a whiteboard means children can make mistakes, erase them and start again. It is a useful tool. Chalk and blackboards would work but are even less like holding a pencil than marker pens.

@seaandsandcastles

I would always replace. It doesn’t look very nice going in marked clothes.

It looks just fine. Kids aren't supposed to be pristine or worrying about their clothes, they are meant to be having fun whilst they learn.

@SoupDragon It looks just fine… in your opinion. Not in mine. I think it looks scruffy and as though they’re not cared for.

I’m not saying kids need to worry about their clothes; they can play and learn and marks will inevitably happen. It’s not their concern.

But when those marks do happen, I will replace as I don’t find those clothes suitable anymore.

[quote shouldistop]@WeNeedToGetThroughThis how does she get through 10 a week? Does she get changed at school into a new uniform? [/quote]
@shouldistop She's prone to falling over and having nose bleeds because of that so changes her uniform, she also seems to get paint all down her front even when wearing an apron so she changes her uniform because of that.

She can also tend to dribble a little bit when going to the toilet as the toilets are slightly further away for Years 2-5 so she changes her pants and skirt/pinafore and sometimes her tshirt too because she's caught the bottom.

Her school don't like her being wet and possibly getting cold.

@WeNeedToGetThroughThis ah ok, ds1 started p1 a few weeks ago and we weren't even asked to send spare uniform in. Maybe they have spare clothes just in case.

[quote shouldistop]@WeNeedToGetThroughThis ah ok, ds1 started p1 a few weeks ago and we weren't even asked to send spare uniform in. Maybe they have spare clothes just in case. [/quote]
School have spares but DD won't wear them, she's fine with 2nd hand clothes but worries about wearing "someone elses" so it's easier and less stressful for everyone if I send a spare uniform in.

Was having exactly the same dilemma! I know it just means they're having fun at school but when my youngest came back with a week's worth of brand new uniform completely destroyed with paint that wouldn't come out, I did feel like asking why they didn't put an apron on him.

I would always replace. It doesn’t look very nice going in marked clothes.

A landfill mountain of a few million brand new but slightly marked polo shirts won’t look very nice either!

This is why I'm glad my sons school has purple polo tops! Still have this issue on the days they have PE and wear white t shirts. I've found Violets bleach works a treat. But I would definitely still use marked tops. Really wasteful otherwise.

Definitely keep using them. You can see a shirt has been washed and not covered in food or stinking etc even it has board marker on! They're used to it.

next one, before you wash it, rub bar soap oon it and allow to siooak for at least half an hour before rubbing gently. works on most paint and the felt tips they use in school often and to some extent sunscreen but that is trickier and requires a good scrub on the collar.

other people recommend hand gel.

There is a huge difference between dirty clothing and that with stains on from art/pen activities. Definitely use the shirts.

If you can't bear to send them wearing them though or once they become too stained - polo shirts make great cloths/dusters

Was having exactly the same dilemma! I know it just means they're having fun at school but when my youngest came back with a week's worth of brand new uniform completely destroyed with paint that wouldn't come out, I did feel like asking why they didn't put an apron on him.

If you felt like doing it, why didn’t you actually do it? If the school has a uniform, they have asked you to buy brand new clothes for YR/P1 whether you needed them or not. In this case they should be more mindful of the need to look after them.

I do think it helps if you see it as inevitable that this will happen. Also, I see school uniform as work wear because I work in a uniformed profession where the job is physical. I wash my uniform of course but the aim is to look “uniform” ie the same not to look spotless.

[quote seaandsandcastles]@SoupDragon It looks just fine… in your opinion. Not in mine. I think it looks scruffy and as though they’re not cared for.

I’m not saying kids need to worry about their clothes; they can play and learn and marks will inevitably happen. It’s not their concern.

But when those marks do happen, I will replace as I don’t find those clothes suitable anymore.[/quote]
Dirty tops, yes. Pen marks, no.

They will soon learn that mummy doesn't like them getting their tops dirty and behave accordingly.

And this : A landfill mountain of a few million brand new but slightly marked polo shirts won’t look very nice either!

@seaandsandcastles

I would always replace. It doesn’t look very nice going in marked clothes.

How are you disposing of the clothes? Are they just being sent to landfill?

I'd rather my kids had slightly marked clothes than were being taught unethical lessons.

I never buy branded T-shirts and I always save a new one for photo day. Couldn't care less otherwise, sunlight gets the food stains out and pen marks are just part and parcel of school life. (And I never cared as a teacher either, I certainly wouldn't judge a parent for sending their child in with marker pen or pain stains, I'd rather they did that than cause more clothes to be sent to landfill unnecessarily.)

I always sent mine in stained tops when they were little. Some paint never came out.

@SoupDragon If they learn to be more careful as a result that can only be a win-win.

The landfill issue isn’t mine to deal with. It is what it is.

@Stellaris22 I just chuck old unusable clothes in the bin. If I feel clothes can be worn by others I send to charity.

@CecilyP it's his first week in school ever (my eldest doesn't go to school there either) and I was worried about giving off a 'that mum' impression 😅 I'm going to be sending him in the stained (but clean) clothes though as we genuinely couldn't afford to keep replacing.

I might write a note in the home-school diary, the coward's way out

This treatment gets the board pens off clothes if it's fresh and unwashed.

Lifesaver when you don't want expensive school dresses spoilt!!! The joys of super slim girls with a more unusual colour dress only M&S ones remotely fitted!

https://www.perfectstaysupplies.co.uk/product/dr-beckmann-stain-devils-pen-and-ink/?utmsource=Google%20Shopping&utmmcampaign=First%20Feed%2015032021&utmmedium=cpc&utmmterm=10690&gclid=CjwKCAjwpGJBhBmEiwALWBQkyUa5f8esR1hw5PP9xS12jentyYPS7wMMVPmz52sm3DLeKId9y2APxoC6HEQAvDBwE