To be amazed that people still haven't bought their school uniform?

[llamajohn]

Kids go back on Tuesday. WhatsApp Group is alive with "argh, I can't find X item" or "where can I get the book bag"?

As if it's been a complete surprise that their child is joining reception and the uniform shops and supermarkets have been closed since June...

Why would you leave it to the last moment?

I'm beginning to think I've reared three growth-stunted adults (they're not!) but I never had the challenges with uniform size that people are referencing! My daughters had one blazer each that lasted 7 years and my son had two blazers in his 7 years!

I agree with @llamajohn. Extenuating circumstances aside, and I am the world's least organised person, why put yourself under pressure at the last minute? If something doesn't fit, then it can normally be exchanged!

In my situation - after asking my H to help more - he said 'I will do the uniform' and i have resisted temptation to check/chase him. and now we have about 2 items. and i'm trying to sort out in time.

Because it isn't late. It's on time. It's just shops putting it all out early (same as they do with Christmas and Summer and every other season/festival) to make you think you have to do everything super early.

I refuse to buy in to it. If more people refused to buy into that shit then shops would have to adjust and start actually stocking stuff at appropriate times.

I'd never risk leaving the blazer stuff late after a few years ago when the supplier ran out of stock mid-summer and weren't going to get stuff back in until mid-September.

So our general pattern is - very early July - get the logoed stuff that needs to come from one supplier (school tend to have them on-hand for new parent meetings to get people stocked up then)... late July I tend to do a big click and collect on anything non-logoed needed like shirts and skirts (I can't leave it too late or the long length stuff goes out of stock and I have skinny beanpole children), and then we did shoes and trainers last week on an evening up at the local outlet place.

Basically I hate labelling school uniform so tend to give myself as much time as possible to get it all done.

People work best in different ways or don't have the flexibility in their family budget - but leaving it till the last minute for logoed stuff is a bit riskier.

Don't you get your child's feet properly measured? Well fitting shoes are so important for young, growing feet!

Thanks for the reminder OP. Another £165 spent at SchoolBlazer :(

I'm in Scotland so we've been back for a while and don't have such mad strict uniform policies, but I buy last minute because I just don't care that much about uniform and neither do my kids 🤷‍♀️
I was too busy having fun during the summer holidays to go round stocking up on black trousers and white tops so I bought a few online. I don't buy special school shoes so they just get trainers or boots as and when. And bags get replaced when they need them. No panicking and no strange smugness 🤷‍♀️

As an aside, do people really buy and wrap all their Christmas presents by August/September? Do you just buy generic stuff rather than actually seeing what people want or need closer to the time? That seems like weirdly rigid and joyless behaviour to me. What if your kids or husband develop a new interest in October and you're like "nope, I bought and wrapped your gift in the summer" 🤣

You must have factored things like this into your decision re family size?

we have been on a few holidays & got back from the last one last week, school & work didn’t enter my head once.

As an aside, do people really buy and wrap all their Christmas presents by August/September? Do you just buy generic stuff rather than actually seeing what people want or need closer to the time? That seems like weirdly rigid and joyless behaviour to me. What if your kids or husband develop a new interest in October and you're like "nope, I bought and wrapped your gift in the summer"

Ive always wondered this.

If you buy something nearer Xmas you tend to get a longer returns period so you change it. Not if you shop in the summer though…

I couldn't buy uniform on the high street for the most part. I also preferred to get the 20% discount to save money. M&S does 20% off in July too. I'm as "time poor" as anyone, as I work full-time. There are plenty of posters talking about how long they've been away during the summer. If they can afford that, they can probably afford school uniform before the start of September.

Because we had family staying at the end of term and then went on holiday for two weeks.

Because I didn't really want to think about school and to enjoy the summer.

Because I have been suffering from a chronic health condition which was finally diagnosed and medicated last week.

Because work/family have been busy since we got back from holiday.

Because I know from experience that kids (I have four) grow over the holidays.

And because they are starting mid week so anything we don't have can be picked up before their first full week on Monday next week.

My biggest concern is trying to get DD1 into something smart for sixth form.

Aren't you fortunate.

Just returned home and finally ready to go shopping on Monday 😅😂

@Runnerinthenight I really am but just answering your question.

I always buy it at the end of the summer after we get back from holiday/staying with grandparents because they grow. It has never caused any problems.

That's all well and good if you can buy on the high street - not so great for branded uniforms that you can only get in a school outfitter's.

Awful take. You do realise some people can’t afford to buy food? Let alone fork out for new uniform, embroidery, bags, shoes, PE kit.

Well, bully for you 🙄

Personally, I do buy all our stuff in July, but I recognise that I am the unusual one. Most people do leave it until the last week or so for all the reasons already mentioned.

Plus, logoed stuff needs to be prioritised because it generally has to be ordered in and in my experience is that it isn't like normal online shopping with next-day deliveries but takes 2-3 weeks. So I find it perfectly reasonable to buy the logoed stuff in your July pay and then get all the generic stuff from supermarkets in your August pay.

Oh and actually, I've just realised I'm not even as organised as I thought because my daughter starts on Tuesday, it's Sunday evening and her new shoes are just sitting in click-and-collect! So judge away! 😄

School uniform grants for 5th and 6th year didn’t get paid until 2 weeks after school started as the council need to get confirmation from the schools who has been in attendance.

Nowhere on the council website was this information. No one told me this information on any of the 3 first times I called, to ask when the grant would be paid, and it was only on the 4th call someone actually had the info I needed.

So now there’s nowt left, unsurprisingly. School did give us a school jumper as they they keep a stockpile of jumpers and blazers that have been handed in when no longer needed or outgrown.

I'd have planned much better if I’d have had the right info from the start.

Fair enough, I guess I just don't understand the mindset. I have always work FT and there were years that we were privileged to have two holidays over the summer, but it was part of my religion to get those uniforms on 31 July every year! Granted none of mine are tall, but they always fitted in September and beyond.

I can understand a few people leaving it until the last minute but it seems that a lot of people do. TG I'm past the stage of school uniform!

I have 4 kids and need to get X amount of items each time I'm paid
I start in may
And still only got some items yesterday.

Their jumpers from M&S are delayed so I may end up on a mad spree to find them on Tuesday

No. The timing of when school uniform was purchased had no bearing on the size of our family.

I am lucky enough to be in a well paid job. I understand and have empathy for people budgeting.

I had no idea shoes were so expensive or that I would need to buy 5/6 pairs at multiple times throughout the year because my DS grew so fast. This was not a thing when I was growing up. I came from a big family. None of us DC every had 5 pairs for shoes at any one time.

We're going shoe shoppig tomorrow. Not at all stressed about it. We had a busy holiday period and I didn't even think of uniform stuff till this weekend. I got my DC some sandals in late June/early July and today their toes are poking out of them, so pretty glad I didn't buy stuff sooner. However, our school is very relaxed about what the shoes look like, as long as they are comfortable.

Ordered some trousers and shorts online today, and I think we have enough tops. If not, I'll order few more later on and they just have to do a few days in slightly cropped polos. It's not really worth a huge stress