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Original poster

could we have a MN campaign around school uniform please?

67 replies

overthemill · 02/09/2010 10:45

based on cost, availability, suitability?

Lots of reasons but the high cost, the monopoly on supply for logo'd stuff and the lack of alternatives for medical needs.

PLEASE MNHQ?

OP posts:
TheArsenicCupCake · 02/09/2010 10:58

I'll pop on and second.. The monopoly issue is a total nightmare as is logo'd everything ( just waits for logo'd undies to be on the list for next year!)

also just a quick add.. ds2, asd but goes to MS school..as lots of dc like him do.. We are having major issues with embroidered polo shirts next to his skin ( sensory)..but without it he'll stick out even more!

JenaiMarrHePlaysGuitar · 02/09/2010 11:03

Isn't there legislation in place already?

Original poster
overthemill · 02/09/2010 11:04

legislation, no, guidance, yes. Schools are all governed independently and therefore apply their own policies.

OP posts:
HerBeatitude · 02/09/2010 11:13

Overthemill we've already got guidance, and it's not working.

Not everyone can suddenly access a couple of hundred quid in the summer holidays without it affecting their food purchases and it's simply wrong to hit low-income families in this way.

I can't understand how it's even legal tbh. To have monopoly suppliers of clothing in the twenty-first century is just.... well, shit, really. Why isn't the Office of Fair Trading sorting this out?

SlartyBartFast · 02/09/2010 11:14

it is so unfair - at primary you can buy clothes for next to nothing, now, at asda, tesco what not. but as soon as they are at secondary school, bam, everything needs, as mentinoed, to be logo'd.
there was a shop near me that would sew on logo's to items. but i am not sure if that exists.

HerBeatitude · 02/09/2010 11:14

Oh and I don't want to be told that if poor families can't afford the uniform, they should choose a school with a cheaper uniform.

All the grammar schools around here have monopoly suppliers. It's a bloody disgrace.

SlartyBartFast · 02/09/2010 11:16

perhaps we should suggest schools provide the logos to be sewn on individually?

HerBeatitude · 02/09/2010 11:18

Government guidelines do suggest that Slarty.

And schools ignore them.

Original poster
overthemill · 02/09/2010 11:18

HerBeatitude sorry, was responding to poster who said don't we already have legislation. No we don't and the guidance we have simply isn't sufficient to sort out this issue for the majority of parent/children.

Huge costs are an issue for all of us, elitism/discrimination,
lack of consideration for genuine medical needs

OP posts:
HerBeatitude · 02/09/2010 11:18

(As is their right, currently.)

HerBeatitude · 02/09/2010 11:21

oh sorry over, hadn't clocked what you were saying. Was skimming and am in ranty mode about this one as I am frankly incredulous that the situation is still being allowed to continue in the 21st century. It is beyond belief really.

scurryfunge · 02/09/2010 11:22

What is the average spend for logo'd uniform?

My DS' school insist on tie, blazer and rugby top from one particular shop (everything else can be bought elsewhere). I have spent £50 this term on the compulsory purchases.

Be interested to see what other have spent.

MentalFloss · 02/09/2010 11:30

I know people who have had to spend £300 - £400 to get the uniform list before they start year 7. It isn't logo'd but is old fashioned and can only be bought from one shop. If kids don't have the right uniform, they get a detention after school for 45 minutes.

notso · 02/09/2010 11:35

DC's school have decided not to sell uniform at school anymore you have buy direct from the factory shop, I couldn't believe the price difference between local schools, varying from £4.50 to £8.50 for polo shirts for primary schools.

JustGettingByMum · 02/09/2010 14:32

Ours has school blazer, school shirts, tie, rugby shirt/games jacket (boys/girls), and sports polo shirt and socks, all of which can only be bought from one supplier and all have the school logo on them. They are all compulsory.

GetOrfMoiLand · 02/09/2010 14:39

OOH that would be a good campaign.

I am SICK of monopoly supply.

DD's old school - a state school, not a grammar, you HAD to buy a godforsaken blazer from one shop and it cost £70. The shop is ridiculous - should be a museum exhibit for ye olde shops of wartime. £70! And £10 for orange hockey socks. And £10 for a fucking DT apron. And £8 for nylon GYM KNICKERS IN THIS DAY AND AGE.

Bollocks to it I am going to name and shame. The Famous in Cheltenham (anyone who knows it please agree with me that it is like the bloody shop out of Are You being Served).

One year I spent 4 hours in there queueing to buy the damn blazer.

DD's new school is no better, you have to buy the jumper and tie from teh school and the jumper is £25 for a hideous manmade fibre jobby. They are profiteering and it shouldn't be allowed. And dd's school is a bog standard comp in an area with selective grammars. I complain about it but can easily afford it, there must be some families who send their kids there for whome £25 for a jumper is a lot of money.

GetOrfMoiLand · 02/09/2010 14:40

OOOH aren't I ranty today.

Tortington · 02/09/2010 14:43

i would so support this even though my kids aren't at school anymore. secondary school blazers for example were 2 years ago - £40 each - at one point i had to buy three when my lot were all still at secondary, and that doesn't take into account wear and tear throughout the year - i digress.

i just dont understand why there are certain uniform shops that seem to have a monopoly on uniform dfor certain schools.

i dont understand why schools insist on having uniform with logo - it is costly.

if anything sell the bloody patches so we can sew them on.

GetOrfMoiLand · 02/09/2010 17:32

Agree with patches to be sewn on.

HOW can a vile blazer cpst £70.

And I am still bitter about that bloody DT apron. It was a blue heavy cotton apron like they wear in that Four Candles sketch in the Two Ronnies.

Bloody old fashioned bastards (the school shop, not Ron and Ron, gawd bless 'em)

Original poster
overthemill · 02/09/2010 17:52

custardo even tho your children have left school you're still a mum aren't you and have experience of the issues? Seems totally appropriate for you!

OP posts:
MaamRuby · 02/09/2010 18:05

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

tvaerialmagpiebin · 02/09/2010 18:06

Getorf I agree about the Famous. It is in some kind of timewarp. You expect John Inman to pop out and shout "I'm free" and the temptation to make joked about "my pussy" almost overcame me in there.

I haven't got to school uniform stage for my dc yet but I remember having to buy my own from just one supplier, we had a certain style of blouse that no-one else in the world woudld sell anyway. In the sixth form we were allowed plain white blouses but the staff thought this a good excuse to be the Blouse Police (when they weren' busily making us kneel down to check that the hems of our skirts exactly hit the ground).

pointythings · 02/09/2010 20:14

And here's me adding my voice to the call - yes please, let's get Mumsnet on the case. WIth us heading into a possible double-dip recession there is no excuse for fleecing cash-strapped parents in this way. This government is supposed to be keen on market forces - let them put their money where their mouth is.

I was just browsing for uniform skirts (getting a knee-length black one is unbelievably hard, the ones that fit DD's waist are too short, the ones that are the right length she drowns in as apparently all suppliers have gone mini. And no, I refuse to buy it from the school supplier. Anyway, I spotted a skirt on the John Lewis website for one of the private schools in Cambridge - £47 for a single skirt!!! And not all parents who send their children to private schools are rich so it's the independent sector at it too...

spiritmum · 02/09/2010 20:21

We have monoply uniform supply from the school at primary level. They've just changed it too, and breached guidelines left right and centre.

grannieonabike · 02/09/2010 20:45

PTAs can organise a uniform exchange, where you can buy second-hand and donate old uniforms.

However, in our family boys go through trouser knees in the first week of wearing them. They can't be patched, passed on or worn again and have to be replaced by new, equally thin trews. But a blazer never wears out, and nor do skirts.

A local uniform shop could have a stall in it (staffed by volunteer parents on a rota?) for second-hand stuff.

The only sensible uniform in my opinion is overalls.

I have never understood why so many parents love uniform. Can't understand it. (Shakes her head in sorrow and disbelief).