to think branded school shirts are criminal

[uniformscrooge]

Looking at a secondary school for DD. They're allowed a max of 3 branded items as per gov rules.

One of the "items" is the shirt - and they're sold by the school supplier for £45 for a pack of 2! I'd probably have to buy 2 packs at least, and they'd probably not last the year. Is that not fucking crazy? I was expecting blazer, jumper, PE top or something, things i'd be able to just buy one of, not the fucking school shirt!

I know having teens is expensive but this takes the piss.. I probably won't send her there for a few reasons, I was just gobsmacked.

What are your mandatory branded items? Is this normal?

YABU - stop being so cheap and pay for the shirt
YANBU - fuck that, I want to buy shirts for a fiver from a supermarket

Funny it didn't matter when I was at secondary school in 1970's because the unbranded red polo shirt and unbranded navy blue skirt / shorts matched . Last school I taught in (state school east London) issued a team top for fixtures to those who were in school teams and then collected after

the guidance says quite clearly that anything that is not available in several outlets counts as branded even if no logo so the above grey jumper with re dline counts as branded so do striped shirts

you can not extrend the number of branded items by calling them optional unless a generic is acceptable so there maybe branded PE hoodies from when the limit was more still in school shop so you can get a branded PE hoodie but if they have already made 3 branded items mandatory the branded hoodie can not be the only hoodie by calling it optional it should say something Plain red hoodie for PE optional branded version available

some schools are just clearly ignoring guidelines and relying on peer pressue and parental ignorance of rule changes or if they know nort wanting to make a fuss and be labellled difficult

The new rules clearly need further tightening. Aside from abolishing uniform completely, which is culturally impossible here, I would suggest that schools should not be allowed ANY branded items at all but should only be allowed to mandate sew on or iron on logos, provided at cost. With failure to comply resulting in an immediate OFSTED fail.

@pointythings wholly agree with this. When I was in secondary the only branded things we had were the school tie and a badge to sew onto the blazer, far more reasonable. It was a Catholic school and very strict on uniform too, it just didn't need every item to be emblazoned with the school logo

@ pointythings I agree would have tie and a blazer or a jumper/sweatshirt ( not both) would prefer no uniform at all just a sensible dress code like in France / Germany and most of Europe too
I think 3 should mean 3 so things you only need 1 of, ie tie blazer PE top hoodie not shirts as you would need 3 -5 (even if can be washed mid week)
PE kit always generic use coloured tabards for teams over the top of PE kit

if you can't buy it in Tesco / Asda etc it counts as branded

Same - I was at secondary school in the 1990s. There was a school supply shop in the posh part of town where we had to get a school tracksuit from. They also sold blazers and other school uniform. But most people just bought the school badge and tie from school and bought uniform (blazer, skirt, shirt) from bhs/m and s/the market or whatever suited their budget (supermarkets didnt have that many clothes iirc)

I asked my son that.. he said the school said so you know what school kids belong too, I pointed out, if you are on a playing field next to a school I would think it's that school.. who wouldn't! I said they should have PE tops without the logo, but if your kid makes the football team or athletics team, where they are playing against other teams, then they could do with a logo.

I can see why this is useful for sports etc., that makes sense.

I suppose that it's the 'ramping up' of everything that's the problem, combined with the sometimes ruthless enforcement of uniform rules.

For instance, at our school - in the 1970s 😬- we had reversable sports tops that had a different coloured stripe when turned inside out. Girls had a v-collar t-shirt and the boys had a rugby-type shirt. No logo etc. on sports stuff.

Regarding enforcement. There was a basic standard - school tie, white or grey shirt, dark skirts and trousers etc. But there was also an acceptance that kids came from all sorts of backgrounds and not everyone could afford everything.

Any there were certainly no rules saying what kind of outdoor coat you had - a modern affliction and an absolutely ridiculous and nasty rule for poorer families.

A simple hand-stitched velcro label/patch is all that's needed, very low cost.

The price is ridiculous. A logo shirt also doesn’t make sense since secondary schools don’t allow students to remove blazers unless they’re on the verge of fainting in extreme heat.

totally agree. absolute rip off. my local primary school charging £25 for a sweatshirt with logo - same sweatshirt £4 for pack of two in supermarket and £15 for polo shirt - £2.50 in supermarket. Child is 3 and will grow out of it by christmas

The argument our secondary school always made was that because we had branded polo shirts we didn't have to ask to take our jumpers off when it was hot - to be fair we didn't. I thought it was a crazy rule when friends at other schools mentioned it.

I like the idea of branded uniform being available but optional - then you could have one set for school picture day/school trips and then plain for every day. I always just had one branded school cardigan and my grandma knitted the rest for me.

I don't understand why a member of staff from one school would need to know which schools other students are from. And if they did (e.g. if they noticed poor behaviour from another school or something), then the organiser would know which colour each school is. This is what primary schools in our area seem to do (no compulsory branded items round here!) and it works fine. Any 'reasons' they come up with for branded items are just excuses to force us into unnecessary spending really.

I work in a secondary school myself and expensive branded uniform is something I am strongly against! Not that teachers get any say in it unfortunately.

Agree, and surely coloured bibs suffice to differentiate teams in most sports.

Worked when I was young.

Yeah DD’s high school have school-branded trousers! All girls have to wear them with the blazer (and they hate it as, along with the blazer & tie, they believe they look like boys!) Yet all year 8-13 girls can wear skirts with their blazer!