To think the mandatory logo school items need to stop?

[BagelwithPhiladelphiaz]

Exactly this.

I have just paid £76 for the mandatory PE kit for my DD’s senior school. Including items such as striped rugby socks, which are mandatory for some reason for all PE lessons, rugby or not.

This is before I spend £44 on a blazer, plus the uniform items that she actually needs as well as shoes, bag etc

Next I will order the mandatory items for my primary school children. Cheaper at £14 for a jumper (need a few though to wash, and they also tend to disappear in school despite being named) and £5 for PE t-shirt. This school isn’t so strict about it being mandatory but nearly all the DC have logo ones, so ones who don’t stand out, and they are needed for sports day/school photo day anyway.

None of these items are especially good quality. With secondary, we are restricted to one local supplier and the man who owns the shop is bloody rude, which adds insult to injury.

The blazer, perhaps fair enough I think as they look quite smart, but is £44 really the best price school could find? The other items.. especially the PE kits where we could easily buy very similar items without the logo, are they necessary? Especially as we have a winter coming where some people won’t be able to pay bills.

(The secondary did have a “free second hand clothes rail” for all, at some point, but when I phoned to ask they were very vague about when it would be. I have a friend whose children are on pupil premium- no subsided option for them -
and she managed to find out what day this was but went to find the second hand uniform she found some shabby items that weren’t in her DC’s size, and no PE items.)

I've just spent £140 on logoed PE kits for my DS and DD (year 7 and 10 respectively). The school had the kits redesigned again. I need to get my DDs logoed skirt (waves goodbye to another £28).

I am on UC but I also work six days a week. The school is a VA RC. The area is pretty deprived so this sort of thing can cripple families. I have to save from September each year for uniform.

It sucks but what can be done?

You are not unseasonable and government guidance agrees with you. I think you could email the head and ask what they are doing to comply with this.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms/cost-of-school-uniforms#requirements-for-schools

I work in a school in a deprived part of an affluent county. At a heads meeting, they were discussing uniform and the changes that should have made it more affordable.

My head challenged some of the others on what exactly it is that branded PE socks adds to their school. They couldn't answer but they still won't be changing it

We don't have any logoed items, but I'm afraid the schools that are generally accepted to be the "best" schools in the area are the ones with the fanciest uniform. I don't know if the uniform makes a difference (other than putting off families that can't afford it, thus managing intake) but definitely if you ask the locals which are the best schools, the posh uniforms give that impression.

Why can't they produce applique/iron on logos? My old blazer badge was a sew on back in the 90s. That way they get the logos on uniform but people can choose what items they buy.

Yanbu I've just spent 400 just on one child and that's with shopping around to get everything non branded as cheap as possible. That includes 4 different pairs of shoes. I'm a single mum who receives no child maintenance. If they are so desperate for the students to wear the logo why don't they supply the iron on badges any more?

FWIW, a group of mums has set up a uniform bank here. It has uniform for all the local schools and at the last notice had given out more than 5,000 items free.

A local church gives them space and accepts the donations and the bank is opened by volunteers one Saturday pm (more in August). They even have Christmas jumpers and fancy dress costumes.

YANBU. Even primary schools are at it. The one where our youngest goes to has changed to having specific PE tops and hoodies, and certain patterned ties that you have to order from a specific website. It’s expensive and the quality is shocking, doesn’t wash well at all.
State schools are trying to mimic a private school look, forgetting that the parents don’t have the money to keep up with their grand aesthetic ambitions.

We have a logo jumper/cardigan and that's it, nothing else. And even that isn't compulsory and we say so! As long as pupils have roughly the correct colour( blue jumper and grey/black skirts and trousers) that's fine!

YANBU. Part of the problem is that schools see it as marketing. Many parents are probably attracted by smart, exclusive-looking uniforms and associate them with excellent, high-achieving schools (which is nonsense, obviously). The novelty of the smart uniform soon wears off once the parents are regularly having to pay for it, but by then they are a captive market, as the school only needs the uniform to appeal to prospective parents, not current ones!

100% yanbu.
In these times it is tone deaf for schools to be insisting items are logoed.

I don't necessarily think logos need to be banned but they should be reasonably priced. DDs school cardigans which are fantastic quality, thick sweatshirt fabric with pockets and generously sized, are £8.50 each.

FWIW, a group of mums has set up a uniform bank here. It has uniform for all the local schools and at the last notice had given out more than 5,000 items free.

There will always be families who need some support with uniform as with other things. But when the problem becomes so wide spread then it’s definitely a sign that the uniform is simply too expensive for all. It’s ridiculous.

The dcs school is making noises about uniform changes and apparently the new head is keen to bring in blazers 🙄 really hope this gets shot down, it’s already a good school, everyone is facing economic cutbacks and I think £20 a jumper is expensive enough without adding a £50 blazer to the mix.
I don’t see how a blazer improves anything, two schools local to here, 2nd and 3rd in the county (however that is measured) and both just have logo’d jumpers.

tbh i think the UK schools obsession with uniform is completely batshit anyway, and the extra costs for brands and logos is double-plus-batshit.

YANBU, it’s ridiculous. My children are at a private school where a lot of the uniform, particularly PE kit, can be non-branded. The uniform in total costs far less than the one at the state school they were at, who insisted so many things were the expensive logo’d ones, despite having a very mixed demographic with many parents struggling financially.

I think they insist on items with a logo because that gives the school control over the exact type of blazer/jumper/whatever that parents buy. So, if it's a navy blazer or jumper and they have to buy the one with a logo on it, all the kids will have exactly the same blazer in exactly the same shade of navy - that kind of thing. However, I do think it's really unfair on parents and I really think they should just sell iron-on/sew-on patches that you can add to a cheaper blazer or sports top or whatever. This also has the advantage of being removable when the child grows out of the item and re-attachable to the new one.

And if schools absolutely must insist on them all having an identical blazer, I'm sure the designated supplier could sell that blazer more cheaply if they didn't have to have a logo embroidered on it.

School uniforms should be way cheaper, way more flexible for weather etc, and way more practical for the school day.

Actually this was done as a recycling/environmental initiative, not only used by those in need. Which has the added benefit of there being no stigma to using it.

Totally agree, having shelled on all the branded kit when DD started reception and her having promptly lost it I'm not bothering this year.

If a child has a logoed jumper on makes no difference to how they learn which should be the principal aim of any school.

To add I think they should just do away with blazers entirely. They're okay in spring and autumn when it's mild but when it's actually cold they are awkward and cumbersome to wear underneath a coat and in the summer obviously way too hot yet they are expected to keep them on? Meanwhile the staff wander round in summer dresses and the men in short sleeve shirts. Don't even get me started on the fact the tie has to be exactly seven stripes showing.

Our primary have done away with logos this year due to the cost of living crisis. It's going to help lots of families

The only way we can get uniform items with the logo on for my children’s school is through 1 online company, and you have to pay for postage and packing too. The quality is shit, and I like others, really begrudge purchasing these items.

I just received an order from them the other week, and the sweatshirts have Tesco F&F labels inside! I was furious as they cost a lot more due to the logo having been applied than they would as plain ones bought directly from Tesco.

I really think the school should be selling the iron or sew on logos that we can add on .

See, this is a sensible way to do a school uniform!

When I was at secondary (80s) you had sew or iron badges rather than buying items with the logo on. You needed badges for the blazer, jumper and some of the PE kit. The only item you had to specially buy was the tie.
I know part of the reason for uniform with the logo is to prevent unsuitable clothes but those who didn't wear the plain white shirt, tailored trousers etc were dealt with when it happened and most people stuck to the uniform.

I don't support uniform full stop. I don't believe it's the leveller it's claimed to be, and given that kids need clothes for the holidays it's all just extra expense. Most other countries manage fine without.

The flashy logo-ed PE is a particular bugbear of mine though, as they wear it for so very little time. Such a waste.

That sounds fantastic!! Good on them!!

it really shouldn't come down to this though, should it.

I think infants & juniors should just be basic uniform. School decide base colours (usual school gingham choices blue/red/green/yellow) and have dresses, jumpers, polo shirts in that colour. Plus the option of white Shirts/polos. Shirts/trouser/skirts/pinafores etc in the schools choice of black or grey.

I sit on the fence with uniform v no uniform, but IF they're going to have one it needs to have some guidelines & a standard colour. It needs to be cheap, accessible & practical/wearable.

they need to remove the stick up their buns about 'school shoes & PE kits.

senior school, school chooses black OR grey, trousers/shorts/skirts and a colour for a blazer navy/black/grey with an iron on logo. No 'school specific blazer with logo, then all kids have the iron on).

possibly a school jumper as they're less available in the 'school range basics' for older children.

PE kits need to be basic, they do NOT need specifically striped socks or school tops. Or eleventy million different pairs of shoes. Basic trainers should cover everything they do in PE time, specific boots or whatever is fine if they take up a sport, but not necessary for the handful of times they'll do a PE lesson involving that sport.