School uniform costs and how much is needed?

[Loveduppenguin]

2 jumpers
2 blouses
1 skirt
1 tracksuit hoody
2 polos
1 pair of leggings
1 pair of shorts

at a cost of 353!

this is for one 12.5 yr old girl starting secondary in sept and who plays a lot of sports. Do you think I need another 1or2 blouses and another pair of leggings? At those prices I’m hesitant 😬 what would you do?

I will check John Lewis they might deliver to Ireland thank you so much

Ok. I thought you were in England.
Go secondhand then.

I have a secondary age DS who has
2 Blazers
6 Shirts
4 Trousers
PE Kit

Young primary age DS I can purchase from Asda mainly so has
6 Trousers
8 White Polos
4 School Colour Polos
4 School Sweatshirts

I like plenty of shirts and polos as I only wash whites once a week usually as it's not a colour any of us really wear

@StripyHorse thank you so much. I have just looked at the John Lewis ones and compared to them to the school website and they had the exact same swim going to order a few packs. Do you find them true to size? She’s very slim so I’m thinking if I order age 13. Then they should fit.

I thought this too but then our school moved from £4 pack of 2 cycling shorts and leggings from Asda to logo £15 a pair cycling shorts and leggings for pe so we went from £8 for twins to £60! We’re financially fine but still pissed me off. AND the smallest was 11-12 and dtd 2 was still in 9-10 clothes in year 8 so i had to sew them rather than just wear cheaper ones that fitted! (Cathartic vent)

John Lewis don’t deliver to Ireland this is so bloody typical 🤣🤣

Okay, I have managed to source white Revere blouses from next at a cheaper price so this is brilliant! I’ve ordered four for the same price as it would’ve cost for two!! 🙌

The rest is a crested so not much I can do about that😬

I’d buy as few items as you think you can get away with so long as it doesn’t take months to re-stock. There are far fewer people needing to top up than regretting the vast quantities of items they bought. Just see how it goes and top us as you need.

Absolutely a fair point if I can order them quick enough then it doesn’t bother me. I just don’t want to buy loads and not have it being used. I think the four blouses will be enough because I do wash clothing very regularly. And I’ll order another pair of leggings because she’ll be doing a lot of sport

It must be awful being forced to send them there

Think you need more shirts/blouses personally.
We have
5 shirts - non logo
5 summer polos - school logo
2 trousers - non logo
2 ties - school logo
2 pe tops - school logo
2 pe shorts - school logo
1 long sleeved pe top - school logo
1 tracksuit bottoms - school logo
1 tracksuit zip top - school logo
1 blazer - school logo

Even though schools are apparently suppose to be cutting down on the logo items I personally have seen no change what so ever. School uniform shops are ridiculously pricey. £18 per summer logo polo top for example for us.

Also don’t get me started on how many different pairs of trainers they need for each sport🙄

In my experience they are quite true to size, maybe very slightly on the generous side. I bought DDs age 12 for year 7, but they are both petite and summer birthdays so only turned 12 as the school year ended.

I am glad I have been able to help.
It's got to be said, DD2 is heading into her last school year and the 6th form she is likely to go to doesn't have uniform - I can't wait to be rid of it!!

We had this too, and we needed to buy a new cupboard for all the clothes. School turned out to be a disaster and so we are home schooling now. Gave the clothes away and the cupboard. This is the one part of home ed that is actually cheaper.

Can any branded uniform be bought from the high street then an independent embroidery company do the logo? If you found one and clubbed together with a few parents it could be very cost effective.

We bought a heated airer, it means we can turn around something that needs washing but can't be tumble dried by the next morning.

My DD2 loses things easily, so we bought one set of things new and then quite a lot secondhand.

We have (boy)

• 2 pairs of trousers
• 5 shirts
• 1 jumper (no need for 2, we either wash or he wears a thermal shirt under his shirt)
• 1 pair of shorts for pe
• 2 pe poloshirts
• 1 midlayer
• 1 tracksuit top

No leggings or tracksuit bottoms, it really doesn’t get cold enough. He wears cycling shorts under his shorts in winter (not visible)

Have a look on the school website for a PTA link they often do the secondhand uniform.

unfortunately if the school is an academy which most secondaries are- they aren’t bound by the uniform guidelines.

when my dd started secondary last year
I got :
1 skirt (will wear all week)
1 jumper
1 tie
1 blazer (wash every couple of weeks)
8 shirts (she’s the only one who wears white so only do a white wash once a week)
1 pe skort
1 pe top
1 pe jumper

Do have at least one spare of everything which is secondhand from PTA or local Facebook.

It depends if they go into school in PE kit on PE days.

She’s very good with her belongings to be honest, but I have her warned not to lose things. She’s very unconscious too so when she saw the price of the uniform, she balked to be honest.long may that last

Definitely don't buy anything until you've found out if there's a secondhand uniform sale. I got twice this amount for half the costs thanks to the Friends' uniform sale. I don't want to have to be washing and drying stuff several times a week.

There is going to be a law passed, hopefully by next year that says schools can only ask for 3 branded uniform items. Too late for me unfortunately but dds new high schools has branded skirts for the girls and non branded trousers for the boys which sounds like discrimination to me so I’ll be fighting that one.

Id get one of each branded and the rest non branded and if the school have a problem with that they can provide the uniform and I’d direct them to the law that is going to be passed. Check whether the boys trousers are branded too. She can wear trousers if they aren’t

we are in Ireland so that may not apply here unfortunately

The good thing about girls is their skirts last ages. Get a spare in the next size up for laundry emergencies and it will probably do until y11.
PE kits/polos often dry overnight and are made of that fabric that can be washed with anything as it doesn’t run.
They definitely need a new blouse everyday.
Loads of kids barely wear their jumpers - you might get away with one (vests are cheaper than jumpers)

It's amazing how stinky teenagers get. They go 'peak stinky' and then it seems to reduce again. That's why a clean shirt every day is essential 👌

Needs a spare skirt.