Buying uniform once term has started

[EandA]

This may be a daft thing to worry about with the other things I have to do but still...we are relocating, probably at Christmas, so DS will be starting at a new school.

There are only two schools that will have a place in his year group and we won't get to see them and decide on which one for him to go to before October.
Uniform wise both wear grey trousers/skirts, a logoed sweatshirt and a polo shirt - one wears blue polo shirts and the other white.
I can get the trousers in the summer while all the shops still have deals on but what to do about the polo shirts? Should I also buy one or two packs of each colour and later sell on what we don't need or are they easy to find in October or November in supermarkets and Marks and Sparks? I would rather not have to buy them in a uniform shop as it seems an unnecessary expense. DS's current school has no uniform so will also have to fork out for grey socks, black school shoes and the like.

Get the grey trousers, socks and the shoes. Polos will be easy to buy from Marks any time of the year, some supermarkets can run out of colours, but not white and blue I imagine. Selling even unworn polos won't yield much, I just donate unused to charity.

Most primary schools have second-hand uniform for sale through the PTA/school office, where you can buy logoed items.

Thanks for the reply sounds like sound advice. As I've never had to buy uniform before I've not noticed when it is sold. Good point about donating stuff, I am planning to pass a lot of DS's outgrown stuff to a local charity so if I do see any bargain polos I will get them and pass on if need be.

Thanks LaBelle will ask the schools nearer the time

Next, M&S and John Lewis have them available on their websites all year round, you just order them in to store/home.

M & S do uniform online available throughout the year so I'd hold off for now.

Excellent thanks. Will find something else to fret about now...

I'm a master fretter, EandA, happy to supply topics.

Bear in mind that children grow out of clothes all year round! It isn't hard to get your hands on stuff -though the choice is sometimes limited in store and online can be better.

I find blue polos hard to find come October but white is never an issue. Most shops round here have white all year round and any new stock of blue disappears fast -particularly the smaller sizes.

I've found skirts and trousers easy to get all year round but grey cardigans and tights also appear to go out of stock from October onwards and nothing new appears until July. There are always loads of red and royal blue cardigans left.

I think a lot of it depends on where you live and what the most common colours are for the local schools.

It also depends on what colour blue you mean. Pale blue is fairly widely available, royal blue (which our school has) is very limited - I haven't yet found a supermarket/M&S type shop that sells it.

M & S sell royal and navy blue polo shirts

www.mandsyourschooluniform.com/tyne-and-wear-yorkshire-kirk-sandall-infant-school-boys-uniform/royal-blue-unisex-pure-cotton-polo-shirt-with-stainaway-technology_ct8223pd13486.htm

I wouln't worry too much about obtaining uniform out of the peak buying times so to speak. The usual white and pale blue polos are generally available at many retailers online such as at www.schooluniformshop.co.uk/product.php/655/94/trutex-regular-polo-shirt-white my lite rascal has always had the white one from Trutex and his school sweater supplier also uses the Trutex sweatshirts which we can buy direct from the school. The website above also sell the Trutex polos in a huge range of colours including the royal and navy blues as mentioned earlier. I know they are a bit more expensive than the multipacks available from the many well known supermarket chains but little "O" much prefers them as they always feel nice and soft even after lots of goes in the washing machine - I find as a parent that they also wear much better and the sizes are generous allowing lots of wearing time before they are grown out of. Hope this helps you.

Good to know, thanks mrz. Wish they had them in store though :(