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

If your school is an academy...profitable business
.twitter.com/ajjolley/status/1564562763443277825?s=21&t=nmM2Q_vFCmo5GzILNNKhfg

My old school blazer was £35 but our skirt was £55, then the tie, jumper and socks all branded and the PE kit all branded too (down to the skort). We had to have at least 2 of everything. This was back in 2001.

It would cost my parents a bomb. Was all to make us look smarter/better but in actual fact half the school was drowning in oversized uniform and the other wearing tatty or too small uniform. There was usually one glorious week where everything fit correctly and looked decent.

I understand the 'reasons' behind stopping people wearing brands or competing with clothes, but kids do find a way to stand out.

.

Yanbu

I'd love to know what can he learnt in a 35-40 pound logo blazer that can't be learnt in a 10 pound asda blazer or a 5 pound tesco crew neck.

I disagree with uniform. But if there is one it should be a generic one available from anywhere.

White/blue shirt. Black jumper and skirt/trousers.

Much cheaper.

I also get extremely annoyed at attempts to appear flexible but applying restrictions meaning you end up having to use the supplier anyway.

Its all very well saying the base layer can be bought from everywhere but if the piping is not allowed that only leaves the school prices.

I have umpteen base layers that I cant pass down as fir some reason black isn't ok it has to be blue or white. It goes under your pe kit why worry about a few inches of sleeve ffs.

Its all just become a way if excluding kids they don't want by charging you 400 quid to walk thru the door

I find it funny when the kids are the only ones in the neighbourhood to leave the house in a suit.

I've yet to hear a compelling argument for school uniforms (or other ridiculous rules about shoes, nails and hair). But £400 for uniform is just a moneymaking scheme

Its absolutely ridiculous. Our school wants long and short school socks with the logo on, both cost £18 a pair. For socks! On top of that it's the constant messages home if the uniform isn't up to scratch or god forbid the shoe has a tiny logo on it that you missed. This year school have decided girls cannot wear any kind of stretchy trousers. 90% off the girls wear those stretchy lycra trousers. Girls can wear white school socks but boys cannot.

Also, sixth form can no longer wear joggers, but can wear jeans or chinos. Try telling that to teenagers who have kitted themselves out in joggers and t shirts ready for the new term to be now told last minute they can't wear them. My ds doesn't even own any jeans and absolutely refuses to buy chinos. What does it matter what they wear ffs, why bother with sixth form if you're going to police what bottoms they've got on.

It's infuriating.

Teacher here, and mother of ND secondary aged DC with sensory issues.
I hate how the expectation of uniform compliance has placed so much stress on our relationship, made our mornings hell, cost SO much time and money as I have to hunt high and low for exactly the right type of "non-squeaky" shirt or "roomy" socks, and how any deviation or substitution has to be negotiated with a sceptical, eye-rolling administration. Strict uniform polices are definitely barriers to school attendance and learning. Formal uniform is not inclusive practice in many cases.

Scandinavia manages brilliantly without school uniform.

Sprouts, I really like your idea of a dress code. Much more like a modern workplace. Plain dark trousers, shorts, skirt or dress and a smartish shirt, top or sweater. Sensible shoes.
Or even school issue tracksuit, polo shirt and trainers. Bloody lovely.

I like uniforms because I grew up poor and mainly wore my brothers hand me downs- I would have been absolutely annihilated if we had to wear our own clothes!

nah. Kids know. And if it's not clothes, it's shoes, hairstyles, bags, pens - anything. Uniform does nothing to mitigate bullying. It also does nothing to aid learning. It is completely ridiculous.

Oh I know exactly what you mean! Also as now a lot of the shirts and trousers are ‘slim’ or ‘skinny’ fits I have to pay more to get a regular fit shirt and trousers as DS is not a skinny fit! (He’s stocky / rugby player) and has sensory issues with anything tight

if schools just chose a colour for a suit - black/navy/grey and then students wear their tie that should be enough?

I don't mind the premise behind uniform but like a previous poster I would have a pair of navy tracksuit bottoms or leggings and a certain colour hoody.

No crests on our school uniform. 2 pairs of pants and one skirt in aldi. Jumper and shirt from marks and Spencer and some black runners. Cheap and cheerful.

Oh …. And good luck when the shoes that you got last time are now discontinued 🤦‍♀️

Scandinavia manages brilliantly without school uniform.
And pretty much everyone else in Europe.

I like uniforms because I grew up poor and mainly wore my brothers hand me downs- I would have been absolutely annihilated if we had to wear our own clothes!

I grew up in a non-uniform country. But we moved to Asia and went to a fancy private school with uniform (polo shirt and khaki coloured self selected bottoms. The British school was the only one with ties and blazers). Free dress day in uniform school was the most stressful thing. I had happily gone to school in my own clothes for years and years without a problem. It's the speciality of free dress days that make people pay attention to clothing. When you can dress however you went all the time, clothing is not a big deal.

My kid is primary school and frankly asda uniform is cheap and zero thinking about matching outfits etc ... happy to have it

Secondary uniform is crackers. Used to be a jumper and a polo + trousers or skirt ... easy and cheap. Silly blazers and shit are pointless, they're expensive and u comfortable.

OMG this is really bad. Must cost a fortune for no benefit

PE list seem to have gone mad. Our school only ask for a tshirt. Only about 10% ever play for a team outside of school so makes sense. We have mates who have to fork out a fortune for kids who aren't sporty

No, they don’t. Not all uniform suppliers pay the school. I’m a uniform supplier and I certainly don’t. I am given permission by the school to use their logo to sell uniform. I don’t pay them any money. They tell me which suppliers I must use for the polo shirts/jumpers/PE kit etc.
In fact, given the time it takes to embroider a logo and the cost of garments, electric, threads, machine maintenance and labour at the moment, each primary polo shirt gave me a profit of a whole 12p this year.

This is the uniform code for DDs school, It's great. DD wears black leggings, white tshirt, black trainers and a logo cardigan because they are £8 each made of sweatshirt material with pockets and really cosy.

We expect that all the children at Xxxxxxxxxx Primary School will wear our school colours every day for school. This means:-
• Royal blue sweatshirt / cardigan with or without the school logo
• White polo shirts, t-shirts, shirts or blouses, yellow polo shirts (with school logo only)
• Grey or black trousers or tracksuit bottoms
• Other clothes without school logos, patterns or slogans in the school colours – grey, black, white or royal blue
• Checked “school” summer dresses

Please do not send your child to school in the following:-
• Jeans
• T-shirts with slogans, patterns or logos
• Football shirts
• Patterned/flowery dresses

Each child needs a PE kit - shorts, T-shirt and plimsolls. The children have swimming lessons in Key Stage 2 and will need a swimming costume and towel. We offer a wide range of sporting activities and the children will need plimsolls or trainers to change into.

Jewellery Items
• Stud earrings can be worn, no hoops or dangle earrings please
• Watches can be worn
• Religious bracelets / necklaces can be worn discretely
Please make sure that your children come to school in appropriate footwear and outdoor wear so that they are able to move safely around school and play out in comfort and warmth.

Yanbu . If a school requires particular clothes in order for its pupils to access education then they should be supplying said clothes or at the very least subsidising them, just as employers do who require uniform.

A lot of the items are very impractical anyway - really, what use is a blazer in inclement weather? What use are dress shoes?

And the cost is truly eye watering, when you look at evidence collected by children's charities.

The new law (postponed from last year due to hysteria about dognapping FFS) is a start but it doesn't go nearly far enough. It's clear that giving schools leeway opens the door to them creating policies that cause real financial hardship.

at least two suppliers

I imagine that would be counter-productive where we are.
The existing (single) supplier is local, 5 minute walk from the school. If she has to compete with another supplier: she won't. An online supplier won't have her overheads & a supplier in the city will have economy of scale.
So "two plus" suppliers would mean losing the local supplier, she'll pack it in, no longer profitable. That will mean less accessible uniform for local people, especially travel restricted people.
Bad bad move.

I just kitted out eldest for secondary for £175. We only got compulsory items (other than getting extra PE kit as he really enjoys sport so will want to do clubs) and I got supermarket shirts and trousers, plus bought some bits from the second hand shop.

I don't know who fills in those surveys for charities though as they are always ridiculously huge amounts. It wasn't a surprise DS was going to secondary this year, so I started getting bits of uniform over a year ago. (Fortunately we are in catchment for a school that takes half its intake out of catchment, so unless there was some kind of actual disaster he was going to that school.)

So that's £175 just so he can go to school, in addition to clothes he needs every day anyway ?

I love that you said this. That's the excuse often used so kids 'don't stand out' but they will when not wo

He doesn't wear many other clothes, as most of the time he is at school. Most of the school year he is either at school or at football training, both of which come with set clothes!

Oh well. Most teenagers have a bit of a social life but I guess if yours doesn't he won't need any other clothes.

FGS posted too soon.
They will stand out when parents haven't got 100s to spend on uniform. Despite all kids round here seeming to prefer primark anyway.
Basically yes, the jumper or blazer should be branded and the rest plain but in the colours chosen by the school grey trousers, navy t shirt etc. And every school should definitely promote swap shops for uniform.
And MN definitely needs a bloody edit button.