To Not Buy School Coat

[Brookland]

DD12 started secondary school. Got all new books which cost €350, school uniform was €200, fee was €150 on her first day back. My other DD14 is in the same secondary school. My DD12s year head has decided that the school jacket (with a crest) is now compulsory for new students. I never got one for DD14 as they were allowed to wear generic navy jackets. Anyway the jacket is €75.00 and I just cannot afford it as well as a normal winter coat. I wrote a note to year head explaining that I had two other children and couldn't afford the school coat. My DD12 showed her and she said "yes that's just for now though ". The next day she asked the class who had not yet got school coats and to put their hands up. My DD12 was really embarrassed. Year head asked my DD again today where her coat is, my DD12 said to ring me about it. I had told DD12 to tell her this if she asked again. Year head asked DD to ask me to write a note with my contact number and she would ring me. AIBU not to buy the coat? She has a navy one that most of the school seem to wear. They are also not allowed wear coat in school, strictly for outside.

It's not even fair to insist on a plain navy coat, parents of children who walk may want their children to be visible to traffic in a bright coat.

Are they? I'm glad they are. Parents need to campaign for better funding from their government.

You don’t see children any less if they are wearing a navy coat😂

Just say you’re happy to buy the coat and you’ll be in touch ASAP with her when you can afford it. Then don’t buy it. I would also ask for your DD not to be shamed in front of others for not being able to afford the coat at the moment.

You do if your kids have to walk down an unlit road in winter.

You do if they are walking in the dark, such as from an after school club. I don't find wanting to keep children safe to be a laughing matter.

Your not being unreasonable but you should have contacted the school and had the discussion with them rather than putting your DD in the middle of it.

This too in Ireland.
I gave in and bought it, paying extra for the initials on the coat.
My 13 year old doesnt even wear it.
Regret! Stand your ground

Bright vs dark coat

Kildare by any chance?
My daughter in a community school, cost about 2k to get her started, uniform, books, Ipad
It is madness

Is there a local Facebook group?

Ours has one for our local secondary- the uniform is reasonable but the PE Kit is ridiculous.

Ours is called 'SuchandSuch School Second Hand Uniform Group.' It's a closed group so only group members can see you posting.

This is good advice.

I’d have money on the uniform supplier pressuring the school to insist on them making a certain amount and parents keeping their belts tight this year because of rising prices and energy costs so trying to use hand me downs/bigger sizes rather than brand new. And there’s bound to be someone at the company friends with someone on the board.

Maybe you’ll find a secondhand one next year for €10…even better, could you suggest that school involve the Young SVP or someone to run a preloved uniform shop? Environmental points, charity points, IT points…

I take it you don’t drive when you find it so funny.

Absolutely appalled. I'd be contacting any MP who would listen. That's vile of the school. And in the midst of a cost of living crisis. Fucksake.

Of course I bloody drive but I can still see people wearing dark clothing for god sake. I haven’t hit anyone yet who’s wore a navy coat.

You really don’t😂
MN is hilarious.

You're an idiot

I’m baffled that anyone, driver or not, doesn’t know that when it’s dark, it’s harder to see pedestrians who are wearing dark clothes?! I mean… go and put a dark and light cardigan in your garden and see which one you can see from your door.

MN isn't "hilarious". It's an internet platform, not a hive mind.
Make sure your children are visible on these dark mornings and evenings. Not a joke.

Yes mum🫡

Good girl. Now. Have you any homework? If not, find a book and read quietly ⭐

It sounds standard for schools in Ireland. They obviously rely on parents to part fund, then have rigid uniform rules as well.

DD's school had a compulsory coat. No other coat could be worn to and from school. The coat was £80, and this is going back almost a decade.

Lots of parents couldn't afford it (obviously we had to buy a 'normal' non-school coat too, as the school one wasn't allowed to be worn anywhere else). But if DC didn't have it, they were sent to isolation every day until a coat was bought. DD spent almost a month in isolation, until the school came to a 'compromise' and added the option of a fleece with the school badge on it for the bargain price of £40. We scraped together the money for that, but it was a crappy thin thing and DD wasn't permitted to wear a scarf, hat or gloves with it. She used to walk a mile and a half to school and a mile and a half back and in the depths of winter she would come home crying from the cold, even though we bought her thermal vests and leggings. They couldn't wear boots either so her feet were often soaking when it rained or snowed.

I'm fucking angry as all fuck thinking about it now, all these years later. YADNBU OP. It's a pisstake.

What do you think is the point of hi-vis clothing?

IMO rules are rules and if a school coat is part of the uniform, that’s what needs to be worn.

The DC’s school has a very strict uniform policy, including logoed coat and bag. All DC look smart and it is an excellent school.