School Uniform

[ScarletWitchM]

AIBU to say that if schools insist on kids wearing blazers/ PE kit etc all with their logo that they should subsidise the cost - or just have one item - like the blazer that is logo and the rest can be plain?

just cost me £400 on uniform as DS has had a growth spurt (fml) and next year they change all the colours for the upper school so will have to buy all again 🤦‍♀️

all from only one (terrible) schoolwear shop

Was it not possible to buy the badge separately for the blazer?

Unfortunately not… I even looked to see if I could cut the base off the old label but it’s just stitched onto the pocket 😖

Meant to say badge / logo

I'm a teacher and I hate uniforms. I understand the point of them but I feel it's such a waste of money for parents/carers to fork out and it's often a battle with children. Every morning I'm expected to check uniform, keep a list of what is incorrect, call home to have it sorted by tomorrow/end of the week, set detentions....the list is endless. Ironically, when children wear their own clothes on a non-uniform day we don't have problems. The whole argument of "bullying" seems silly to me because on all the non-uniform days I've had in my teaching career, never once have I come across a child upset because someone made comments about their own clothes?! I'm not saying it never happens but this seems to be a huge argument towards uniform that seems unfounded with evidence.

Why not have a dress code of what is appropriate and police that. Children can then be comfortable all year round and so many jobs don't need uniforms or formal wear nowadays that we are pushing this for the wrong reasons. I think you can breed a sense of belonging and community without all dressing the same.

At work I have to follow policy and often I want to say I agree the hair colour/shoes/piercings don't affect their learning but of course I'm not allowed to say this.

YANBU.

Blazer is one thing but everything else should be unbranded.

DD had to have logo socks.

She also had to have her name embroidered on her sports top and hockey skirt so no passing on.

We only have a blazer and tie that is specific to the school. PE kit is blue shorts and white tshirt. Otherwise its black trousers/skirts/jumpers and white shirts from wherever you choose to buy them from

They are working on changing the law for this so only one item can be personalised and they have to provide at least two suppliers. Hopefully it will be in place by next year because schools really take the Mick!

I don’t mind the ‘uniform’ off all wearing black/navy/grey bottoms and a white shirt and even a tie but everything else just seems so superlative

Wow that’s ridiculous. lucky we don’t need names on stuff
Mine have specific PE tops £25 and socks £8 which I think is crazy - I don’t know who profits from these rules?

we only have one supplier and they are horrible to deal with

My kids secondary school only asks for jumpers, blazers (which are optional) and PE tops to have the logo, everything else is generic. Hasn't cost me a fortune - wish all schools did the same.

Wish mine was like that - I’m going to suggest it to the governors. I think it’s been worse at secondary than primary as most supermarkets sell more primary clothes

Oh also my DS school blazers are compulsory- even when it was 38 degrees heatwave in July 🤦‍♀️

Our secondary have everything with their logo on as well, so that’s a blazer, tie, jumper, shirt/polo top, tracksuit, pe top, pe shorts, rugby top.
Even school shoes have to be a certain type, so even though they may be in the school section of shops they still need to be checked with school policy as they only allow a couple of styles. Then on top of school shoes they need drama shoes, normal trainers, Astro trainers and football studded shoes. Not fair on parents when children are growing constantly especially for how many trainers/shoes they need if they go up a size.

Each year also have a colour stripe for their year on blazers and shirts/polos that moves with them each year as they go up the school so you can’t even pass down anything to siblings as they will be a different colour, unless they are 5 years apart and the colour restarts at the bottom again🙄

All logo items can only be bought in one shop that is not even in the same area as the school it’s 2 boroughs away!!!

If a child turns up not in correct uniform they are instantly put in to isolation until a parent/carer sorts out the correct uniform.

The whole thing angers me so much as there really is no need to have logos on everything except a blazer. Parents would save a fortune if they were able to buy the rest in the local supermarkets!

Absolutely agree.

Uniform has become more important to some schools than the actual teaching and learning.

We've actually seen it lately with the super strict public image 2 schools dropping year on year in progress 8 and the 2 schools that wear polo and jumper improving year on year.

I think standards is the way to go. I visited Barclays Bank during the week and they all had "uniform" but it was basically company clothing they chose what they wore from.

I think it would make much more sense to have something like

Black bottoms. (Skirt/shorts/ trousers/leggings)
Standards in length and logos etc

Then either polo/ t shirt in a certain colour or any too in a colour scheme.

Then a school hoody or jumper.

Pupils learn much better when they are comfortable, it allows those with body image struggles to dress comfortably and not have to wear a one style fits all h form day in and day out and feel worse.

And also means on the whole teachers can focus on the thing they want to focus on- teaching. It's a hard enough job as it is without creating a divide between themselves and students over a flipping expensive polyester uniform.

It’s so stupid - who is making the money on the uniform as I don’t think it even benefits the school?

It's cost me way over a grand to kit out Dts for a bog standard state school. There is no option to save money on anything, eg plain blazers. The blazers were £44 each and then I had to pay £40 each to get them altered as the sleeves were so long it was like they were made for Inspector Gadget.

The PE list is just daft.

Hope that happens - think I read it as the schools are ‘encouraged’ to do this rather than mandated

Thank you for your candour. I agree with you wholeheartedly

if schools insist on being identifiable then ties or lanyards can do the job without blazers etc.

when my DD was at school she had pink hair and the school went mad - but their policy only said long hair must be tied back, which it was! but now she’s at a RG Uni they don’t care what they look like and she changes her hair every month !

Inspector Gadget 😂😂😂😂

I feel very lucky my DCs secondary is a logo jumper and PE top. The rest can be from anywhere as long as its grey skirt, trousers, white shirts etc. There are loads of second hand sales and at the end of the summer they have a stand with free uniform donated by leavers. The school is fabulous, over subscribed, really good pastoral care and great results. Doesn't matter that they all wear trainers and get their trousers from different shops.

Yes I thought the new law is that logos on school clothes must be reasonable but that's a very subjective test. Presumably none of the schools currently demanding logos on socks, PE T-shirts, PE track suits and PE winter tops blazers, school jumpers, school skirts (yet to come across one demanding it on school trousers but I'm sure they're out there), will accept that they're currently being unreasonable.

I think 'reasonable' would mean logos should only apply to school jumpers and blazers only but I've no doubt my DS's high school will disagree. I've been well and truly fleeced again this year.

YANBU I hate the concept. I think it's outdated and elitist. And most of those who don't think so are those who don't have to worry about the cost.

It's ironic that most schools are struggling with money, yet have no regard for the families who are also struggling (or those who would rather spend their money of other things than named brands!)

It infuriates me.

Love that our kids school the logo stuff isn't obligatory 👍

I agree - the tie and blazer should be enough! Even airline uniform is obvious by their neck tie and jacket.

the whole school system is antiquated and needs reviewing for the modern society.

It is ridiculous I feel very lucky that DDs primary school have a very simple and completely supermarket based uniform. The secondary schools round here are the same, they have blazers but can be from any supplier as long as they're black and school sells the logo badge for 50p to attach yourself.