How much does your secondary school kit cost for Year 7?

[SophiaWinters]

I'm working out my budgeting and am in the process of estimating how much to set aside for secondary school kit. Out of curiosity, how much does it cost (your estimation) to kit out your son or daughter for a new start at secondary school? Include cost of uniform, PE kit, shoes and accessories, stationery, books etc.

I figure dds will cost about £300. She is starting secondary in sept and the school has a very strict uniform policy. I've broken it down:-

Main uniform £150
PE kit £25.00
Shoes & trainers £50
New bag& umbrella £30
Stationery & school approved calculator £30
School planner, locker, etc £15

My dd is going to secondary this September and I've spent £320 so far. I still need to buy school shoes, trainers, jacket and stationery so i'm reckoning on around £400

Compulsory stuff - 2 jumpers £26 1 tie £4.50, pe kit £18, so nearly £50.

(DS also extra £20 for rugby shirt)

calculator, pens and pencils £15

Locker £5 (our planners are free)

Then shoes, trainers, shirts and trousers/skirts depending on your budget and preferences.

School does a loan scheme for football boots so we haven't had to buy those

About £350.

And school bag, (sorry hit enter)

I reckon around £150.

DS jumpers and PE kit have been worn for 3 years and are still fine for Y10 next year.

My major gripe expense wise would be DDs bags. Note the plural and she is only in Y7

Blazer £48
School jumpers (compulsory) £26 x 3
Trousers £20 x 3
Blouses £11 per pack, 3 packs so £33
Tie £3.50
Pe top £10
Pe bottoms £15
Shoes £50
Rucksack £30
Pe bag £8

Plus things like calculator which is about a tenner and all the stationery. So probably getting on for about £300. Dd is coming to end of year 8 and its the same blazer so not too bad. Will have to buy new one for this year though.

If I count in the Kickers, trainers, footy boots and school bag (that he has already), it's about £300

Otherwise about £180?

It could easily have run to £300+ if we'd got everything on the list all at once. I spent about £90 on enough stuff to start the term (biggest saving: second hand blazer), and spent about a further £50 in the first half term buying spares (second hand) and any (reasonable) items that "everyone has".

About £400.

About £200

Blazer, 2 cardigans and school polo shirt were £90
Swimsuit £8
I bought some blouses from next, 15 for two packs
Trousers from next. £8 a pair

She's not having a new bag, will need shoes still.

I bought a cLculator for about £5 and then a compass set for less than £5.

I got a dictionary for £3

Here's my list so far:

Accessories:
Bag - £32
School shoes - £35-£40

Uniform:
4 x Blouses (come in packs of two) - £40 (school logo and design)
2 x Sweaters - £36 (school logo so no option)
2 x Skirts - £43 (school pattern so no option)

PE Kit:
1 x Leotard - £14.50
PE Skirt - £10 (school branded)
PE Sweatshirt - £15.50 (school branded)
PE Top - £18.75 (school branded)
Jogging bottoms - £10
Cycle shorts - £7

Still need to add a coat, but will buy later when the weather gets colder, tights, hockey socks, shin pads and gum shield, trainers. And then there's stationery and she'll need two language dictionaries (french and whatever other language they assign to her which we'll find out later this week) and probably an english dictionary.

That so far will be around £350. There's an induction evening for the parents later this week where the second hand uniform shop will be open so hopefully I might be able to cut some of the costs down a little. However I'm not hopeful, I contacted them in advance and they said not much stock especially in daughter's size as she is very small.

Gosh, I'm glad DCs school isn't as bad as that.

Coats - teenagers don't wear them. Ever. Even when its pouring down with rain or -10.

This is why I'm not buying a coat yet. My son won't wear one and my daughter during y6 has refused to wear hers so I'm going to wait and see if she actually will need one.

Those prices I typed are for all items so the blouses are £40 for 4, not £40 each, not sure if I made that clear the way I typed it :)

SophiaWinters No, I got that, but we don't have to buy lots of logoed stuff.

Jumpers (compulsory) are £13 each and the PE kit (Logoed top and school shorts) is £18. Tie is £4.50. The rest you can buy from anywhere.

there is a logoed poloshirt you can wear in summer term, £10 each

RaspberryLemonPavlova, I agree there's a lot of logoed stuff and the prices seem very high to me which is why I want to look at the second hand uniform shop. My son's school is better, a logoed sweater and poloshirt (for summer) and a tie. The rest I can buy from anywhere. Daughter's PE shirt £18+ ouch! son wears a plain t-shirt that is about £4, big difference :( Those prices I have are for the smallest sizes, daughter is small now but as she gets bigger the prices do go up too.

Ibiza, have you already bought th jumpers? Because ime you will only need one, with a blazer they only wear a jumper when its -10! And I would think you would be fine with 6 shirts rather than 9!

Is it boy or girl? Girl needs one blazer one jumper at least 3 shirts 2 pairs trousers. Get footie boots etc only when you need them. They WILL not wear coats so don't bother to buy them.

£300 - £400
I think most school uniforms cost much the same and the non-logoed stuff can be bought on the high st, its the sports kits, shoes & bag that rack up the price!

They certainly will wear a coat (and jumpers all year round) if they have Aspergers:-) (see other thread!)

£569 and it is only changing primary schools (although it does go up to year 8).

Talkingnonsense. its 3 packs of 2 blouses so it is 6. Jumpers are compulsory and have to be worn at all times as well as blazer. They can only remove jumpers when weather is very warm or until school says. So that is why there is a choice of long sleeve or slipover (tank-top).

Wow, that's strict- private school?

DCs state school only lets them remove jumpers with teachers permission. They don't have blazers though.

Back from evening at school and managed to get the following from the second hand uniform shop for £5 each, all in great condition :)

4 x Blouses - New would have been £40 for the four, I paid £20 for 4.
2 x Sweaters - New would have been £36 for the two, I paid £10 for 2.
PE Skirt - New would have been £10, I paid £5
PE Sweatshirt - New would have been £15.50, I paid £5
PE Top - New would have been £18.75, I paid £5

Unfortunately no school skirts in her size but I'm pleased as that's a saving of just over £75 :)