MNHQ here: Have you been affected by the cost of school uniform? Tell an MP about your experiences

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello

Parliament's Engagement Team has been in contact and would like to hear MNers' views on school uniform cost: here's what they have to say...

"On Tuesday 5 November, Emma Hardy MP will be leading a Westminster Hall debate on school uniform costs and wants to hear about your experiences. As well as the impact of cost, she’d like to know if your child’s education has been affected by obtaining or wearing specific uniform. She explained:

“I was deeply affected by the testimony of mothers at an evidence session of the Education Select Committee. They described having to go without food to try and meet the cost of school uniform. It shook me to my core and moved me to organise RE:Uniform in my constituency - a scheme to redistribute no longer needed, but perfectly wearable, uniform free of charge. I hope this debate will allow more voices to be heard and prompt action by the Government to end highly prescriptive uniform demands and ensure access to reasonably priced items for all.”

We will pass on your comments and experiences to Emma Hardy who will use them to inform her speech. She may even quote you directly during the debate. Links to watch the debate and read the transcript will be posted when they become available.

The deadline to contribute to this debate is 12pm Monday 4 November."

Thanks
MNHQ

That really conflicts with the idea that primary/secondary education is supposed to be free.

Yy. It's not free if I have to spend £500 a year on clothing for them to access it.

Ties are ludicrous too. I haven't worn a tie since I myself was at school - I'm a woman, so generally we don't. I had to look at YouTube tutorials when my eldest started secondary because I didn't know what to do with it. So much faffing on.

We live in a very expensive, posh area but in social housing. We couldn't afford to send our children to the local outstanding academy because of the cost of uniform there. It is our catchment school but even with transport costs, the council run school down the road is more affordable. Please make it illegal for academies to price out poorer families. No one needs logo sports socks, logo polo shirts for summer, logo everything. In fact why not make schools sell logo for less than £5 and make it law that schools can only choose the colour of the blazer or jumper, then allow parents to buy from anywhere including supermarkets. Schools should not be able to dictate which companies we can buy bits of uniform from.

I like uniform and given they live in in for 39 weeks a year find it good value for money. PE kits could be more generic though.

It’s a known cost of parenting and not a surprise that comes along when deciding to have children.

It's a known cost of parenting and not a surprise that comes along when deciding to have children.

I'm sure you didn't mean it to sound this way but that reads awfully like people shouldn't have children if they can't afford to buy blazers which is a bit nasty.

@JeansNTees I'm so sorry that your children's educational opportunities have been restricted in this way. It is unforgivable. This is your local school but you can't access it because they demand that you spend money to do so. That isn't right

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss yes but the differences in price for uniform is astonishing in lots of cases.

Our trust just integrated a boys secondary under their umbrella, blazer is £40, trousers can be any black uniform style trousers or men’s suit trousers when they get older. A friend with b/g twins had to pay 1/3 for the boy compared to the girl’s uniform.

Hardly fair, don’t you think? In both cases these two schools are virtually the only ones we can get in unless you choose the “require improvements” one whose uniform is even more expensive.

@IceCreamAndCandyfloss - sorry forgot one thing.

If I have to buy myself clothing I wear for 2/3 of the year I wouldn’t buy bad quality, overpriced and ill-fitting items. Unfortunately lots of school uniform is exactly that.

In the olden days you could buy a school badge that was sewn on, and school ribbons for a straw hat.
Perhaps return to something like this, a patch that can be sewn onto a jumper or blazer.

I think school uniforms should be made available on a low price. They have the great advantage over regular clothing that no pupil can bully another over not wearing the ‘right’ (expensive) clothes.

Why though? Seriously, why do this? The rest of the world doesn't. The rest of the world is fine. Why do we have to start from the assumption that uniform is necessary? It really really isn't. Even soviet Russia didn't have uniform. We don't need it

@Honeybee65 if you think that uniform means no bullying you are seriously deluded. We have massive rates of bullying in the UK despite having uniform. The problem with bullying based on social status can be tackled in two ways: 1) just fucking pay people more and stop pretending that uniform has magical powers that makes everyone equal (I'm on a low wage; I'd definitely go for this over being told to spend money I don't have so my kids are "equal" when they're not); or 2) accept that we live in an unequal society but have schools tackle this with robust engagement and inclusion policies. Again this solution suits me because I don't have to spend any of my own money on it, money being in short supply.

@Goodnightseamer

I think you haven’t read property what I wrote in my previous post. I am not so ‘deluded’ to think that a school uniform can prevent ALL bullying.
I just said that pupils can’t bully each other over NOT having expensive clothes. I am very well aware that it won’t stop all the bullying, I was heavily bullied in school and though we didn’t have uniforms there, I wore the ‘right’ clothes but still was picked on. So no need to lecture me on that .

I did mention it because after leaving that school, I went to a private school where the annual fee was about £15,000 per year, pupils were 99% from rich families. One boy was bullied because his family wasn’t rich and his parents got a loan to get him on that school. Because he wore H&M instead of Ralph Lauren, it was obvious he was different then the rest and therefor bullied. He even dropped out of school for that. I think school uniforms being mandatory at that school could have made a big difference for him.

@dentydown that's exactly what I meant although I didn't word it well. Sew-on logo for blazer then I really don't see the need for any other piece of clothing to be logo-d.

I think that blazers and logo'd items should either be banned in state schools or at least made optional. I also think that all schools (state and private) should be forced to include trousers for girls in their uniforms.

However, by far the worst offender in the uniform stable is PE kit. I think that the PE departments around the country should be forced to give their head a wobble. COMpulsory PE kit should be restricted to a plain T shirt or polo, plain tracksuit bottoms (and shorts for summer) and a plain hoodie in a specified school colour. Nowadays a basic PE kit is usually a logo'd tracksuit, logo'd shorts (skort for girls) logo'd PE top, fancy hockey/football socks in school specific stripes, plus trainers, football/hockey boots, gum shield.... can easily mount up to nearly £200 if you have a sporty child who might need a couple of tops and pairs of socks to avoid the stench. (And girls might also need a sports bra at £30 if they are well endowed.) There is no way that anyone can argue that this specialised PE kit is a saving on everyday clothes as it is only worn for PE at school and is a cost on top of the main uniform.

I have two children who attended the same High School.

DD1 started off in sweatshirts and polo shirts (uniform 1)
This changed to blazer in Year 10. (uniform 2) Younger daughter wore this uniform for only 1 year.
Then the school changed to a totally new blazer (different colour and badge) in her Year 8 (uniform 3)

Then the school joined an academy chain and changed the blazer badge, skirt and tie (Uniform 4) in DD2's year 11. The school was specifically asked to issue badges for parents to sew onto existing blazers (same colour and style) and this was refused.

The change of school skirt for one year is an appalling waste of money and resources - and can only be bought from one supplier.

I am broadly in favour of uniform but there is no justification for single-supplier skirts and blazers, and refusing outright to issue badges that can be used to extend the life of existing uniform.

There have been 3 changes of PE uniform in that time as well, all for the sake of something that will be worn for about 3 hours per week.

The uniforms hinder study as well. Nobody can do art or food tech in a tie and blazer (Henry from Bake Off being the honourable exception.) Science labs with all that polyester must be a health and safety nightmare.

I am dreading receiving my child's secondary school placement due to uniform costs. Because not only is it a whole new uniform at once but one of the schools in particular has extremely expensive uniform, everything is school specific, the pe tops, and hoodys, shirts, blazers, jumpers, ties, even skirts! And it's very expensive.

Even primary school is expensive. Logo polo shirts at £8.90 each in yellow! Yellow!!! A colour that stains super easily and you can't even use bleach to clean it like you can on white. Logo jumpers £10.90. I believe all primary schools should have black or grey trousers skirts etc, white polo shirts, shirts or blouses, super market red, blue or green jumpers and then the school sell the badges for jumpers for a few quid that you can buy a couple of and reuse them when you replace too small jumpers with new ones. Not only does it make it affordable for everyone but it makes it easily Accessible rather than a specific shop or ordering online and paying postage.

I like them wearing uniforms, they know exactly what they’ll be wearing each day. My DS keeps his on until bedtime so it must be comfortable. I can buy a lot of it in the supermarket and it’s great value at price per wear.

A lot of the primary uniform could be worn by girls and boys so can be handed down, making it even better value.

It is an expense to plan for - we all know it’s coming - and I tend to buy things from June onwards as much of it is discounted.

It would be useful to be able to purchase the school logo badge to sew on. My town has several school uniform drop off places where you can donate outgrown items. I’ve donated a lot, hopefully saving people money and the environment, but I don’t know how it’s distributed.

I can see some argument for keeping uniforms, but most countries don't bother. Kids don't need ties. Kids don't need to march around looking like miniature bankers.

If you absolutely have to have them, I absolutely agree schools should provide them or allow cheap generic brands. If you really need to have a logo on there (and you don't), provide it as a sew- or iron-on patch.

@kamizawa I am a banker and DD is dressed a lot more formal in school than I am in the office :-)

To all the ones saying that uniform is ok and cheap to buy in supermarkets, I suggest you look up your nearest secondary, check their uniform section and then go to the sole suppliers we site and brace for the price.

Yy and not just the price but also the accessibility. Ours in the middle of an out of town industrial estate and only open when there's an arse in the month and two rabbits sing the national anthem. Otherwise, it's a fiver charge for delivery to you, suckers.

I say abolish uniform or make it comfortable and cheap, so chinos with a [whatever the school colour] sweatshirt and a logoed polo shirt. The cost should be equivalent to an non uniform outfit that the child would otherwise wear.

We don’t need to be dressing children up in blazers, shirts and ties and I can remember being very self conscious and uncomfortable in a white shirt and blazer as a teenage girl.

www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/uk-children-in-need-of-shoe-donations-as-poverty-levels-soar/ar-AAJKWzB?ocid=st

Im childfree by choice so not affected by this but am horrified when i read experiences where children have been put in isolation for not having the correct uniform in cases where the parent cannot afford to buy the item until they are paid.

Its children being punished for having poor parents.

My dc are primary and nursery age and I usually find uniform costs reasonable for this age but I'm really dreading the high school stage.

"I'm sure you didn't mean it to sound this way"

Oh believe me she did.

I like uniform and given they live in in for 39 weeks a year find it good value for money. It's only 27 to 28 weeks, barely more than half the year, as they are only going five days a week.