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

Parents shouldn't have to choose schools on the price of the uniform, choice should be based on the quality of education & care for your child. There should be legislation passed that limits the cost of uniform & any child whose parents are on benefits should get all their uniform paid for. I know that some councils pay grants towards uniform, but again it is a postcode lottery & very unfair.

Name change test

Uniform at dcs' school is ridiculously expensive.

PE requires: girls: logoed shirt, logoed skort, for cold weather, logoed track trousers, logoed jumper, socks are more than £6 in the correct colours.These are only available from school shops so about £15-16 per item. PE kit costs: £80 if you want your child to be warm on the field in the winter. My daughter is autistic and loses lots of things. SHe has lost PE kit. We had to borrow some as it is too expensive to replace until one has given it time to turn up in school. She has lost her coat several times. It is very expensive to replace things.

Boys kit: All logoed again; shorts, t shirt, rugby shirt, socks, track trousers and jumper. Ds has blood made of antifreeze so does not have the track trousers or jumper. I could not buy the new logo as the shops did not have one of the items as they have been left with unsold stock. I hope I do not have to replace it next year. The shorts are cheaper than a skort.

They have just changed uniform, approximately 1000 polyester blazers going to landfill all for the change of a logo on the pocket. I had second hand uniform for the children until Y11, but it is all useless now. Now I have to buy new bazers as there are no second hand ones available. They are £30 each. They changed the colour of the trousers from grey to black so had to buy 6 pairs of new trousers. Thankfully they are allowed Asda ones for boys. My daughter is wearing boys trousers from Asda as well as they did not have any straight legged, black girls trousers with no extra details on them and we would have had to buy some from the school suppliers at £16 per pair instead of £10 for two from ASDA. She needs several pairs as she has a disability that requires she keep a spare pair in school. My son is autistic and will only wear clean trousers everyday. As they take a couple of days to dry (no dryer, no space in the flat) then we need quite a few pairs. We had these in grey.

If girls want to wear a skirt they need a logoed skirt. This is only available at uniform shops. They have just changed the style of skirt. old ones are no longer to be worn.

They changed the tie as well. They gave out new ties for children already in school.

Children have to wear dark coats, navy or black. (Not very safe in the dark as kids are wandering around on busy roads and pavements)Girls are not allowed fur. This makes it very difficult if not impossible to buy a coat from the supermarket. They are only allowed scarves, hats and gloves in dark colours. I have managed to find some in the charity shop.

I had to spend about £20 on new socks as they changed from grey for boys, of which we have a lot, and navy for girls to black for both. They needed two packs of socks each.

The school have phased out the summer shirts for girls. Again an environmental disaster, and meaning that they need more white shirts as they wear them out quicker.

The school shoes are difficult to source anywhere other than Clarks or Startright to get the right style.

We went overdrawn on the account by £92 due to the cost of uniform.

I am on Carers Allowance and do not have much income. I am using savings to replace things.

I do not have a problem with them wearing uniform, if it follows the Department for Education guidelines. (There is another waste of money, renaming this department several times in the last decade or two)

Supermarket trousers, shirts jumpers and PE kit is fine.

Another local school just has plain black shoes, they did require you to buy an i pas though so that was crossed off the list of schools to apply for. A child who drops everything and loses things will not be going to a school that requires and i pad.

The children are wearing £800 of uniform/equipment between them.

Maintenance goes on bills and sometimes some food.
Everything else comes from:
Child benefit for two children.
Carers Allowance
DLA, middle rate care, lower rate mobility.

and savings

covkids thats eye watering, What a disgusting state of affairs.

It was the mumsnet survey where you added up things like calculator, bag, lunch boxes, pens, pencils, crayons, rubber, sharpener, glue, maths sets, rulers, pencil cases, socks, coat, shoes, gloves hat, scarf, PE kit, shoes, notebooks, art equipment, fruit shoot water bottle, wallet, highlighters, ear buds for music, plastic folder to put hoomework in, some sort of devcice to access homework on line. (or the cost of a trip to the library everyday) printing of homework, not to mention the ingredients for food tech, the boxes to transport it to school, tin foil pie dishes. (Where the fuck am I going to get one of those?)

Thank you Emma.

Hello

Thanks so much for all your thoughts. Parliament's team have asked us to post up the following:

“Thank you to all those who took the time to contribute to this discussion. Your comments were passed on to Emma Hardy who used them to inform her debate on Tuesday.

Several MPs from the Labour, Conservative and Democratic Unionist Parties took part and represented their constituents’ experiences of school uniform costs.

Nick Gibb, the Minister for School Standards responded to the points raised, and set out the Government’s position.

Here are some excerpts from the debate:

Emma Hardy: “Uniform dress codes now rarely consist of a simple badged sweatshirt and dark trousers or a skirt; they now include shirts, ties, blazers, and PE kits, indoor and out, all branded and often available through only a single supplier. I was devasted by the parents’ description of skipping meals to try to meet the ever-increasing costs… "

“Research from the Children’s Society shows that nearly one in six families said that school uniforms were to blame for their having to cut back on food and other basic essentials. Its report, “The Wrong Blazer 2018: Time for action on school uniform costs”, revealed that families have to find an average of £340 per year for each child at secondary school—an increase of 7% since 2015. Parents of primary school children spent an average of £255—an increase of 2%..."

“Half a million children [have] suffered the indignity and humiliation of being sent home from school or put in isolation—punished for no reason other than the misfortune of having been born part of a family that is living in poverty…”

Nick Gibb (Minister for School Standards):

“While school uniform can have a hugely positive impact on a school, by providing cohesion and community for the pupil population, it may present a financial burden to some—particularly to families on low incomes —as has been widely discussed in this important debate. In 2015, the Department commissioned the “Cost of school uniform” survey, which provided the most recent information that we hold on the cost of school uniform and indicated that the average cost of most items decreased between 2007 and 2015—the date of the report—when adjusted for inflation. Moreover, most parents were pleased with the overall cost and quality of their child’s uniform. More than two thirds of parents were happy with the cost of uniform and PE kit. However, in the same survey nearly one fifth of parents reported that they had suffered financial hardship as a result of purchasing their child’s school uniform. It is therefore vital that we do what we can to ensure that school uniform is accessible for all, no matter what the family’s budget.

“It is for the governing body of a school, or the academy trust, in the case of academies, to decide whether there should be a school uniform policy, and if so, what it should be. It is also for the governing body to decide how the uniform should be sourced. However, we are clear that governing bodies should give cost considerations the highest priority when making decisions about school uniform. The Department published best practice guidance for school leaders on developing and implementing school uniform policy. That guidance sets out that a school should ensure that its school uniform policy is fair and reasonable for all its students. It should make certain that the uniform is affordable and does not act as a barrier to parents when choosing a school…”

You can read the full transcript of the debate on Hansard, or watch it on Parliamentlive.tv.

The House of Commons Library have written a recent briefing on school uniforms which covers current policy, proposed legislation and relevant reports.”

I'm disappointed that "uniform exchanges" are seen to be an answer after watching the start of the parliament clip. Yes in practice this is a fantastic idea, but have you seen the prices that people are charging for secondhand? Almost price of new, because they need to get the money back to buy the next stupidly priced blazer. And it comes in dribs and drabs through the year, not when DCs lose bits of uniform (often clearly stolen at PE as it is very common and it never turns up in Lost bin) or outgrow clothes. If logo badges were available to sew onto uniform, it would work much better and cost parents so much less. And kids would be less likely to steal PE kit if PE kit didn't have stupid logos and prices.

Unless the guidance has teeth there is fuck all use to it. Eg our school would say they have grants for the poorest. They are not taking into account the just about managing. Or replacement as kids lose it or break it.