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.)

My son's school has an amazing second hand store which is run by a parent where every item is £1 and most is barely worn and in great condition. It would be good if this was the case at all schools. I've looked at the uniform for the local secondary schools and the blazer at the school my dd will probably go to is £99!

School uniform is ridiculous.

Ds’s blazer alone costs £70!

My DD's school has sew on badges for the blazer - I bought hers from M&S then a £4 badge (which you could remove and sew onto the bigger size!)

Exactly this.
A workplace may have a dress code but the moment it turns into uniform/logo's/branded/corporate styling or PPE then they supply.
If schools had to do the same they would quickly sort out their ideas.

And as for the nonsense about bullying - what stops bullying is proper schooling, teaching children appropriate behaviour and tackling inappropriate ones promptly and effectively. Not uniforms.

YANBU. I’ve just spent £620 on 2 DC, still need DC3s preschool uniform and shoes, coats & wellingtons.

@ThePumpkinPatch DS needs black school shoes, black plimsolls, wellingtons, football / rugby boots & black trainers for games.

School uniform in the UK is ridiculous - it adds nothing to their education and the majority is expensive and impractical. Really is time it was abandoned. DT’s school was non uniform - they wore jeans, T-shirt and hoodie which they had anyway.

I agree. All school uniform should be able to be bought from a supermarket.

I'm lucky in that although there are logoed items for my DD's Primary none of them are compulsory so I've been able to order plain items from a supermarket. Still expensive as she's outgrown everything!

The Secondary she will be going to will require specific items for everything - so shirt, skirt and jumper plus P.E kit all not able to be bought from the supermarket, but at least no blazer!

YANBU. DC1 is just about to start secondary and I've spent a fortune on various compulsory logoed bits (but not as much as some posters).

What worries me more is that the school is super-strict with uniform rules being followed - blazers on at all times, no coats indoors, punishment for uniform infringements, etc. So I am not sure DC2 will be able to attend the school when the time comes, despite it being close and all his friends likely to be going, as he has ASD and lots of sensory issues around uniform. I know I can request reasonable adjustments on the EHCP but they would be obvious and make him stand out as being different. Hardly inclusive.

But the choice doesn't have to be compulsory logo-ed uniform or no uniform?

Can schools not state a colour and people can buy skirt/trousers/blazer in that colour from a shop of their choice/budget and a school tie? It's obviously an earner for schools who get a% from the suppliers but uniform can be done without having to have branded or logoed stuff.

When I was at school the uniform was black. There was a school supplier but it wasn't compulsory to buy uniform there. The wealthier kids bought their blazers and uniforms there, my parents bought uniform from bhs which was cheaper (I'm pretty sure supermarkets generally didn't do clothes/uniforms in the 1990s) The tie and school badge we could get from school and then everything else could be bought where you wanted.

My DS doesn't wear uniform. He wears jeans, t-shirts and hoodies from Primark. He would think any 'one up manship' very immature and in poor taste.

Same with DT’s - private, expensive but non uniform school. Regular jeans, shorts etc were the norm - non branded. No one cared about where your clothes came from - also no bullying about what items of clothing you had. Worked out much cheaper as they wore for school the same clothes they would have done after school, weekends and holidays

Not at my DD's outstanding Primary or my DS's non-uniform school. At DD's school they are inclusive to all (why should only the wealthy get to go to outstanding schools?) Uniform can be bought from the supermarket and looks perfectly smart enough. At DS's school they all wear jeans, t-shirts and hoodies with no effect on the high achievement. In fact both schools focus on that rather than if Ella is wearing the right shoes or if Leo's tie is the right length. All that nonsense - not for me, thanks.

I’m a firm believer that uniform is merely an extra tax on parents

It always amazes me how we always hear about teachers being overly stretched and having to work into the small hours 7 days a week, and yet they same to spend an awful lot of time clutching their pearls and sending letters home about an undone top button.

@UndertheCedartree

Clearly there are exceptions but it’s no coincidence that the vast majority of outstanding schools, including top private schools, have very strict uniforms.

The DCs’ school are very strict on uniform and how it is worn and they believe this is a huge part of the school’s success.

’Sweating the small stuff’- i.e. top buttons undone, blazers off without permission improves overall behaviour and prevents bigger behavioural problems.

For us as well as cost we have a sizing issue. Need much larger size for length but they go wider much quicker so looks frankly ridiculous.

Whether it is or isn't, the point is some families can't afford that. And should lower income DC be excluded from good schools?

Due to the financial crisis I imagine a larger number than previous years won’t be going back to school in the regulatory uniform. Their families won’t have the cash available.

Completely agree. School shoes are not practical at all. My DD's Primary allows trainers to be worn and isn't fussy about the colour, thankfully.

I'm amazed there isnt more second hand trade going?

I live in an affluent area where people can comfortably afford the uniforms, nonetheless there is a roaring second hand trade going. The pta do £1 an item sales and there's always piles of school jumpers, trousers, shirts, polos. Plus theres this class list app and people offer up all sorts for free, plus there's a local buy sell group where people regularly offer up good condition uniform items for free. I've only this week passed only DC logo tops to a neighbour for free, I had DC tie and 2 jumpers free off a different neighbour. Secondary stuff is regularly given away too, everything from blazers, pe stuff, ties, the works.

Since when are Clark's shoes stiff?
They are soft leather with rubber soles, they are functionally near identical to leather trainers they simply look smarter and can polished to look smart.

My DS has wide feet and high in steps and we had zero problem getting big standard clarks that he found comfortable.

I think some people just hate the look and idea of smart uniform clothing even when its functionally no different to what would be worn otherwise. Modern primary school wear is flexible, elasticated waist band, comfy polo shirts & sweatshirts.

Fine if you idealistically dislike it but don't make it out it's not comfortable clothing.

Can schools not state a colour and people can buy skirt/trousers/blazer in that colour from a shop of their choice/budget and a school tie?

Giving a choice like that invariably gets abused. You get the parents who insist little Johnny simply isn't comfortable unless he's in the scruffiest joggers going, the teenage girls who buy the shortest possible skirt in the right colour, the parents who don't like the unfashionable style of a plain sweatshirt & buy hugely variable fashion items instead.

The point of the uniform is for it to be uniform. I.e. all the kids look the same so appearance is no longer an issue. The more prescriptive, the less potential there is for variance to creep in and you have kids unhappy because they haven't got the trendiest hipster style trousers.

Plus it is supposed to be smart and tidy, both of which are positive attributes to encourage as they are widely appreciated in human society.

My DD's school has this too, 50p an item, run by the PTA. It can be dipped into by the school for any DC that needs it for free. My DD benefitted when I sent her to school in a Summer dress on the day it snowed 😳(it was beautifully sunny in the morning!) They found her a nice thick cardi to go over her dress and even put an extra in her bag too.

The point of the uniform is for it to be uniform. I.e. all the kids look the same so appearance is no longer an issue. The more prescriptive, the less potential there is for variance to creep in and you have kids unhappy because they haven't got the trendiest hipster style trousers.

...so tough luck if youre a low income family and the blazer is £80+, the skirts are £30 each, and there are multiple PE kits to buy for each child?