To think that people really cant afford school uniforms?

[HaggisNeepsnTatties]

I realise that affording a lot of things for many people is not easy. But one girl in dds class is always getting into trouble for not wearing uniform. Just thinking about this as dd1 is about to go back to school. I have kitted her out for next to nothing (Asda are selling skirts for £3) The girl in dd1's class is always wearing designer trainers etc.....is it genuinely a case of not being able to afford the uniform...what do you think...AIBU??

i not even adding all the extras but least since ds 1 already here i do know what is asked but never needed

I getcaught as ds1 is 6footso man sizes and ds2 heading same way hes 5,7 already , anyone got saw take of at knees.

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kids cost money. a fuckload of money. it sucks.

it can mean going without a lot of stuff for oneself.

uniforms cost and if they didn't have to wear those they'd be badgering you for some other clothes that cost a fuckload.

i'm doing a boot sale at the weekend .

DD1 wants to go to ballet and i'm sure DD2 will like to try it, too.

time to flog some shit.

as soon as we hopefully get moved and sorted, i'll need to boost income with more work round DH's shifts.

I go without to and yeah i do budget but my kids keep growing maybe if stopped feeding them that might help.

And before said no my kids dont wear lables either more likely to find them in Tescos/asda clothes, ditto trainers .

I do, too, Phoenix, but the school's got a uniform. It costs. I have to work round it.

They get money as gifts from grandparents and family for birthdays and Xmas and it has to go towards stuff they need.

I save up coins and do coinstar to keep the wolf from the door.

After taxes and NI and before WTC we are well below poverty line and only a bit above it after the tax credits.

We eat about 80% vegetarian.

That's life.

It's not the most affordable of things.

oh i do work i get paid £1.27 a hr as ds carer . thats for 37 hrs the rest i do for free .

ds2 needs running spikes this year but he runs as hobby and he took on paper round to buy them and some proper trainers

i would like to see secondry uniform lot simpler polo shirt/sweatshirt looks just as tidy hell blazer shirt smart in school but out gates looks like trashe din 2 mins

Mine doesn't go all-day to school till after October break.

Right now we put a placing request in for her to go to the school she's in, because our nearest one, teh teacher's a BITCH who couldn't handle DD1's dyspraxia and learning difficulties.

So here's what I have to suck up because of it: we have one car and DH has to go into work for 8.30.

So we have to leave here for 8, he drops us off around 8.20.

We have to sit in a bus shelter, all three of us, until the bell rings at 9 for DD1 to go in.

Then back to the bus shelter with DD2 and DS to feed him until she goes in at 9.30 for nursery.

Then I have to walk round until noon with DS, get the kids, walk to the bus stop and then walk 2 miles with DS on my back in a bushbaby, DD2 in a buggy and DD1 on a buggy board.

It is pishing the rain here and cold.

I have to do this every day until we either get the council flat 1/3 a mile away or go into a B&B.

Does it suck?

Yeah.

But that's pretty much been the state of my life since I was about 18.

Speaking of, I need to go back my rucksack.

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There is no reason for schools to compel parents to buy uniform with logos on. It's divisive bullshit.

Interestingly in the area where we live, DS's new school (he is soon to start Year 7) which has in recent years just avoided being put into special measures, has a knife policy, is known as a rough school etc, has a BASIC uniform list of over £150. Thats not including the summer uniform & some of the specialist sports gear. They go so far as to have a list of stationery which alone even if bought in supermarkets or poundland would cost in the region of £15-20

By contrast, one of the local (& highly regarded) selective schools positively encourages parents to buy uniform from supermarkets - the only items you have to buy from the school are tie and blazer badge - blazer can come from anywhere. The head takes the view that there is no need for expensive uniform, he would rather all parents be able to afford asda jumpers at £5 a go rather than uniform shop ones at £20.

I can't understand why we all accept this tyranny over uniforms - there's no need for some schools to be so rigid, and personally i think the approach taken by the selective school mentioned above should be encouraged.

Also on the point over school shoes etc - my DS wears out school shoes on average every half term. I've tried the expensive, ther mid price and the cheap, and he has never made any last a whole term. I can afford to buy him 6 pairs of shoes a year, but if I had less money (& I know lots of people in this situation) I would buy him black trainers (which would last longer & be able to be worn outside school as well).

I remember lots of boys when I was at school whose parents could only afford to buy them 1 item of footwear - so they bought trainers which they would wear to school, to do sports at school, and at home/weekends. Please bear in mind that many children at the age of 11/12 are the size of adults (my DS who is only just turned 11 has size 6 feet, and wears adult size tops/jumpers - he is one of the smallest in his class) & so their clothes/shoes are adult rather than child prices so significantly more expensive.

Fingers crossed that you get the flat Expat. Especially as the winter months will soon be upon us.

i have spent lots of time this year on uniform for dd's. been sorting through what can be re-used, whats beyond help and buying bargains when possible, like next years summer dresses in the sale.

their shoes were a killer, but we ended up at an outlet centre and i managed to get three pairs of school shoes for just shy of £40, rather than £90. it took over two hours and lots of trawling, but we did it. all i need to get now is a couple of polo shirts and some new socks.

Expat, how long il you get a flat? any indication?

whats a bush-baby carrier? i use a back carrier for dd4, as its easier to keep hold of dd3 at the same time.

I think it is much cheaper (unless you go to the type of school that requires dry clean only blazers, silly hats etc). They have the same clothes for every day and don't need much for at home. A sensible school chooses things that you can get at any high street store.
It is often used as an excuse. I know a boy whose parents said they couldn't afford the cheap, sweat shirt and yet I know that the one he was wearing cost £50 (I know that it cost that much because my DS wanted one and I refused to pay such a ridiculous price).

Ex pat- I know you didnt post for sympathy but just wanted to say I can empathise with you. I thorght I had it bad.

My DSs and I leave the house at 8.15 and walk 2 and a half miles to school. (We did live closer to the school but waited so long for a bigger house that we took this one and chose to keep DSs where they were in school.)

I work in the nursery attached to the school from 10am - 1.30pm so I have to hang around but I can sit in the warm staffroom, so thats ok.

Then at 3pm I have to pick up DSs and hang aroung up to an hour and a half if one is staying behind for clubs. then have the 2 and a half mile walk home again.

My DSs are so good and hardly ever moan, they walk all the way home in the bitter cold on the promise of a hot chocolate when they get home

Don't you have a second hand shop? I'd have thought that any school that insisted on logo'd kit should, at least, as thats the best way to recycle them.

That doesn't help with shoes, of course. The supermarkets ought to do something about it - would it be impossible for them to come up with one or two styles in a range of width fittings and half-sizes cheaply?

PS - the thread moved a lot between me starting and finishing that - the 'you' wasn't anyone in particular other than the OPs school

Mt school always gets parents giving in old uniform for spares, they give it out to parents who cant afford it. (very discrete )

School doesnt insist on logo'd stuff tbh and second hand shop would be just as expensive, if not more expesnive than supermarkets. That is probably the reason for posting. All the school asks for is dark skirt/trousers, polo shirt and school shoes...not much really.

School second hand shops can be as cheap as they want to be. Ours sometimes gives stuff away (like when I was looking for replacements for lost PE kit, the nice PTA lady could see I was pissed off and waived the fee)

'Expat, how long il you get a flat? any indication?'

No telling, misdee. But I phone them every single day . Served them notice to quit three weeks ago. The manager at the HA just added on the extra points today. And she wouldn't have done that if I hadn't rung and rung the rest of the staff and homelessness lady at the council - again.

Some colleaagues of DH's had to harrass them to no end.

DH and I alternate ringing them .

A friend was in temp accommodation for months. She only has the one child.

Another mum at the school has 4 and she had to get her MP involved.

They are such goons.

It's a back carrier I use for DS. He has thankfully stopped gaining so much weight now he is crawling, but he still weighs 30lbs.!

My girls are pretty strong. DD1 has dyspraxia and tires easily. She usually manages most of the walk.

DD2 goes on for nearly a mile sometimes, but she's soooo tiny for 3, she's pixie-like.

DD1 is long and tall and strong.

The weight is already starting to go as I'm also stressed beyond belief so my appetite not the greatest. That's a good thing because I can stand to shed a couple of stone.

Today, for the first time in a looooong time, I thought about fags.

Didn't go there, though, of course!

In my previous school I often had to kit out a number of pupils in my year group in uniform. Sometimes from hardship fund sometimes from my own pocket. In those cases it was because the parents had spent the money on drugs and booze. I can remember kitting out a girl in my year group in a full uniform, coat, pe kit, shoes and stationary frommy hardship fund only to find that her mum had given it all away for some lager. So I had to buy it all again only i could not let her take it home. So I would keep her school bag with stationary at school. She would come into school in her own clothes have a shower at school, I would then feed her and give Her a clean uniform that I had washed and ironed at home.

You can get a full uniform from tesco for £15. If your council does not provide a grant then your school can access money if the case is genuine. Of course one off emergencies happen but when year after year they do not have uniform that is different.

What does frustrate me is that very often the better secondary schools in particular do have a more expensive "exclusive " uniform.

Having said that the girl's designer trainers will be from the catalogue , but then again they could probably get uniform there.

As a school however mindful of our intake we did not have blazers and did not have anything on out uniform that could not be bought at tesco or the equivalent.

That hanging round thing's a bitch, though, isn't it, teamcullen?

Heh heh.

What doesn't kill me . . .