To wish schools would scrap Christmas jumper day?

[Notspeakingup]

DC2 has a couple of little classmates with difficult home lives, one in particular without much money. There are some Christmas jumper days coming up and I have been thinking about how tough it must be to always be the child with no jumper.

I know as children grow up you can't avoid the inequalities but it would be great if we could at least stop it being an issue at primary school. (And of course there are the families who buy jumpers when they can't really afford them).

YANBU

I just spent £20 on a jumper that will be worn once (and maybe once next year by his cousin if I remember to hand it down). We can afford it but I did think I bet a lot cannot and it seems wasteful as well in terms of almost single use fashion.

Plus, this fad has run its course. ‘Festive outfits’ or whatever would be better, just add tinsel.

@catgirl1976 it's really wasteful. I was thinking that too but didn't want to sound too bah humbug!

I think it would be good if there was more of a second hand trade in Christmas jumpers at school. Both to provide cheap Christmas jumpers and raise a little money.
I carefully choose the Christmas pjs and he wears the top as his Christmas jumper then after that wears them as pjs until he grows out of them!

Yes, schools could do much better on things like this.

Yes @PersonaNonGarter. They could make/decorate Christmas hats/crowns or something.

I bought mine second hand to avoid that issue. £5 for the jumper and then I’ll sell it on again next year

But yes, I do feel for the families that can’t afford too. it must just add to the pressure

They could do better couldn't they.

Not too mention its terrible for the environment. I have to buy mine xmas jumpers because i don't want them to be the odd one out, but with xmas coming i can't really afford to buy jumpers that they can't wear past December. Hoping to get away with a generic winter jumper for them in a size up then they can wear it next year too.

I agree. Our PTA run a swap shop and sell them for £1 (or donation for those more or less affluent to donate accordingly) which is a really good and much less wasteful idea.

Or they just wear non uniform on that day.

I agree. Would sooner give the price of a jumper to charity than a shop.

God yes I agree. We are in an independent school but I amd other parents do grumble that every events costs money. Charity days. Christmas jumper days. Even the weekend projects (which they do instead of formal homework at their age) are usualy a crafting and making project of some sort. Thank god for The Range.

Added to this is that one of mine has sensory issues and so although I can buy second hand for the younger, the elder to participate usually needs something super soft and very carefully selected.

I noticed a lot of Christmas jumpers for sale in a charity shop last week. I expect most were worn only once or twice. It’s a terrible example of fast fashion and I expect a lot of parents feel pressured Into buying them.
@mayblossominapril, great idea.

hate them

I've bought a couple second hand, but they're just landfill fodder, the height of consumerism. ugh

I could afford it, but I refuse to buy my children a jumper they will only wear for one day. Luckily my two don’t care. It’s so wasteful. I think more parents should refuse to do it.

My kids school have "winter wool jumper" day and I'm so glad. One of the mum's on her class didn't have €1 for tuck Shop day so how could she afford an xmas jumper, even 2nd hand?

The swap shop is a great idea. The child I'm thinking of still wouldn't have one though. It's sad that some children have tough lives.

I think I might suggest the swap shop/£1 idea to the PTA for next year. Really good idea.

We also had a winter jumper day. I think it's a great idea.

Yanbu

Hate this. Enough waste without the pressure to buy a tacky jumper to wear a handful of times of that.

We have Christmas lunch day, and they can wear Christmassy clothes on that day. A child who doesn’t have a ‘Christmas jumper’ can just wear any non school top and still feel part of things. Many parents at our school choose not to buy Christmas jumpers, and some kids just wear a spring of tinsel In their hair. A ‘poor’ child wouldn’t stand out any more than any other day.

‘Winter jumpers’ is still shit as so many will wear xmas ones.

Just don’t do stuff that requires most families to pay for stuff / send DC with specific stuff to school.

Should be wear a Christmas decoration on any old jumper day instead.

There are loads in charity shops that are much cheaper than the new ones. Maybe suggest that the jumpers are donated to school after they have been worn this Christmas and then next Christmas the kids could pay a pound and choose a jumper from the school collection to wear.

It's not Christmas jumper day that's the issue in my opinion; it's the fact that people feel they have to buy a brand new one each year that is the problem (as is fast fashion in general).

Why do they have to a) buy new when you can easily find 2nd hand ones or swap them with others (talk to the school about a swap shop thing before the day) and b) only wear them once? My dc and I have Christmas jumpers and we wear them several times over the festive period. I got some that were bigger than what they needed so they lasted a couple of years before handing them down through the family and I've had mine at least 4 years.

Families with stressful circumstances are often not likely to spend time searching charity shops or attending ‘swap’ events.

‘ A child who doesn’t have a ‘Christmas jumper’ can just wear any non school top and still feel part of things’

How do others know what the minority think/feel. Why not simply a non uniform day?