To Not Buy School Coat

56 replies

Brookland · 11/10/2022 16:57

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.

OP posts:

PickAnyName · 11/10/2022 21:51

Bloody outrageous! Photocopy the crest and get it printed or embroidered on to a patch that can be attached to the coat (which will need changing as DD grows).

MinervaTerrathorn · 11/10/2022 21:59

TreeLine6 · 11/10/2022 21:47

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.

A coat is different to other uniform as children would usually just own one. They aren't going to want to wear a uniform one at the weekends, so then parents need to buy two!

PuttingDownRoots · 11/10/2022 21:59

TreeLine6 · 11/10/2022 21:47

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.

My child manages to look smart in her generic navy coloured coat and plain school bag....

OP the school is being ridiculous.

Rebecca34 · 11/10/2022 22:12

Oh thats ridiculous. My kids national school has a uniform but they are so laid back about it. They sell in the school office crests that can be sewn onto marks and spencer jumpers. No coat thank goodness! Although the attached secondary school (which is private) does have a school coat and they might be more strict about uniforms

In addition to the cost factor, you can make the point that it is unenviromentally unfriendly to force a kid to have two coats.

witchesbubblebath · 12/10/2022 18:05

VampiresWife · 11/10/2022 19:50

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.

I very much wonder about a school's intentions. It sounds like an overhang from the military or something.
Also, why punish students and put them in isolation when their parents can't afford the correct uniform?
Very odd. I'm not questioning it happening, I know it does but it sounds cruel.
I went to a private school and was forced to wear a wool blazer when wearing school uniform out of school ie. when walking back, all very well when it isn't blazing hot. There were no exceptions. Luckily that didn't apply to in school.
Werw they trying to prepare us for things in our later life to try and harden us? Really don't know.

eurochick · 13/10/2022 15:18

@TwinkleChristmas of course clothing makes a difference! My daughter's school has a dark colour coat but it has reflective strips and the teachers will give out replacements if they come off.

When I run I do so in hi-vis or reflective gear as there are no pavements around here. I've been behind a cyclist in dark clothes before and he was pretty much invisible in the shadows of the the trees.

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