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.)

www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-to-drive-down-cost-of-school-uniform-for-families

from reading this thread it looks like lots of schools are breaching this new legislation .

You seem very hung up on the idea of looking smart rather than the quality of teaching. If you look at my previous post (which also quoted you and you have ignored) you'll see that strict uniform does not equal good grades.

The majority of Europe, US and Canada don’t have school uniform - amazing that they produce such able students without looking like mini Jacob Rees- Mogg !

Totally agree. We moved four years ago and the school DC used to go to did not insist on logos which was fantastic. It meant I could get two or even three cardigans/jumpers for the same price as one logo one which just made total sense when they’re small and get constant marks on them. The school they’re at now not only insists on logo jumpers but also a logo PE shirt, it’s not optional at all. The jumpers aren’t amazing quality imo, especially not for £14 a pop. I’d much rather get a pack of two plain ones for the same price.

Don’t get me started on secondary school uniform. I have two DC in secondary now and I haven’t bought any of it yet because I don’t even know how we’re going to afford it. The blazers are almost £40 a piece and as you say, PE kit all has to bear a logo and will be about £70 each. Even DD’s skirt has to have a logo and is £23 for one fucking skirt. It’s really depressing.

The 34 pound blazer dd1 has lasted less time than supermarket clothes did.

A 2/3 pound asda pinafore way out lasted the m&s one .

Are you one of these peope who fail to realise that a big part of the problem with uniform expenses is precisely that its poor value. The quality is shocking. When they were smaller both kids had loads if hand me downs given to us. Not fancy stuff. Tesco, asda, primark, etc all those clothes, well dd2 was like the 4th kid to wear them. Only one regulation uniform.item I have bought dd1, the pe top is in any fit state to hand down. I guess it's cous it basically had a year odd amd is worn twice a week max.
The 18 pound skirt, the 34 pound blazer, All of them a state now. Linings ripped. Zip jammed. Frayed elastic on the adjustment bit. The buttons fir the adjustable waist fell off. Expensive uniform outlasted by primark tops.

Do you think people would still be " anti uniform" to the same degree if we got the value and longevity out of it?

All of its sweat shop stuff BTW. It doesn't come from.some special place where its lovingly and sturdily put together.

Please tell me how ripped linings , frayed seams, hems coming undone, pockets ripped , looks smart?

Its all style over substance. Amd you seem to be quite happy to to he conned Into this shit . It's weird.

That would be fine if they were fully grown adults whose casual clothes would last for years despite wearing a uniform during the week. For small children still growing, casual clothes only worn at weekends and holidays would be a total waste of money if wearing uniform all week. If they don't have a school uniform you get your money's worth out of their casual clothes.

We had an embroidered school badge and simply sewed it onto a jumper, blazer or whatever. They cost a couple of quid.

School uniform in this country is bonkers, as for private schools.... I'm currently looking at a school scarf for £36 !! It's not a mandatory item but no other types allowed... ffs

This is an interesting thread.

I utterly hate blazers. Expensive ones look okay (but are expensive). Cheap ones are a shiny abomination. And useless.

Someone upthread said that the best schools had the smartest uniform. A while ago I read the book written by the old head of SPGS - a terrifyingly high achieving school with no uniform. She said that, provided the girls didn’t wear something offensive or likely to get in the way of learning, the school should be entirely indifferent to what they wear (including whether they have multiple piercings or blue hair). Left to their own devices, the girls largely wore jeans and a hoodie.

I hate blazers too. What on earth is the point of them? When I was in school we had blazers, but we weren't expected to wear them indoors as we had jumpers for that purpose. It meant that the blazers were a total waste of money as we only wore them very occasionally in the summer term. None of us was ever pining to be allowed to wear the blazers to class.

People who support uniform always cite the risk of pupils competing to wear designer clothes but as the St Paul's experience shows, the reality is that children end up wearing what is comfortable and almost invariably all end up in their own jeans-and-top uniform anyway.

I honestly think schools should do - black leggings or trousers, white polo and a logo hoodie or sweater. Cycling shorts or normal shorts in summer.! Cycling shorts or other gym style shorts, black t shirt with school logo printed on for PE. That’s maybe £25 in logo items and then just let them wear trainers or whatever on their feet. My friends kids in the Middle East go to a posh school where they seem to wear baggy polos, cycling shorts and Nikes every day. They have a school cap and backpack my friend says costs about £20 and lasts. The exam results are great and the kids are comfy.!

To be fair my DD us moving into 6th form and will miss her blazer. In her own words, she "kept her life in there" as it had lots of pockets. I needed to give her about an hours warning when she needed to empty the pockets so i could wash it!🤣🤣 DS on the other hand had a pen and his (unused) locker key in his pockets!

One of the things that lockdown proved was that learning and uniforms were entirely unconnected. Plus workplaces are definitely more casual these days.

Same people are slating kids for wanting designer clothes , yet they're brought up to pay 30 more for a grey jumper that has a school logo on rather than the same item from asda. It's no different education should support families not abuse them

Bbc article on branded clothes here (hopefully!)

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-62601669?fbclid=IwAR2rldsv70VVVQv2kncgiblr5XeGUiM19JghjoCp9VhdobJNHZfBd-ukttQ