School expenses

[starryeyed19]

Hi

I was wondering if I could get some advice on how much starting secondary school costs - I'm making a list of uniform according to the school website but is there anything else I need to take into account?

I'm on a very limited income so am trying to do plan ahead a bit

Mam,asletts, if your DS's school is selective, then tbh it is sadly not uncommon for selective schools to send subtle 'our school is not for the likes of you' messages via the cost of uniform, to deter children from specific backgrounds from applying....

I looked round a primary for DS when we moved here where the head was very open about how he used a very formal, very exclusive uniform to deter children from a specific part of the catchment from applying to the school. I was shocked, a) because it happened and b) because he so obviously thought that i would agree that this was a Good Thing.

cantkeep. That's disgraceful. Name and shame. Or at least give us some meaty clues - Mnetters will work it out. He sounds like the exact kind of head who will not enjoy seeing his school mentioned on MN.

He has since retired, and the new head is rather more...inclusive!

However, looking at the secondary schools, it is definitely the selective schools who have uniforms in unusual colours, unique styles, specific blazers (rather than 'buy a black blazer, school sells sew on badge for £3'), lots of specific PE kit etc.

The one 'other' school which has gone for very specific uniform is one in a very deprived area trying to improve its reputation - they give 100% uniform grants.

cantkeep yes, you are right, its a non catchment selective. That is terrible. Didn't look at the uniform before we got a place and didn't occur that it would be wildly different.

Some of the girls' schools (academic and faith) tend to be even more expensive. One of my friends spent over £400 on the St Philomena's kit!

If much of uniform is generic wait for pre-summer sales to get cheap(er) uniform items. If you write out a list and then buy a an item or two every week, you will soon find you're making headway without breaking the bank.

Is that St Philomena's in Sutton? Their uniform is something else!

For anyone not familiar: skirt

Yes, it is indeed Rue - it's those unflattering cream socks that are the icing on the cake!

The biggest costs outside of school uniforms are -
Transport (if applicable)
Computer/ laptop & printer - schools put quite a lot of homework online and expect students to print stuff.
School Trips (usually optional and limited places but trips can often range from £250 to over a thousand for things like ski trips . The deposit payment is often required at short notice with staged payments over a longer period.)

Actually one thing that DC's school does do that caught me by surprise is that it bills for everything in the first few weeks.

So there are trips that DD is not going on until June/July that we paid for in October (run of the mill local zoo, not big exotic things).

It does mean we paid out a lot for school stuff at the beginning of the year so not so good if you'd rather budget over a longer period. On the flip side, that means most of the financial outlay is then out of the way!

Do you know any parents at your DC's new school? Every school is so different in the way it does things!

I just followed the St Philomena's uniform link.

DDs comp the blazer is < £30.
DD1 wore her only one for 5 years, so £6 per year.

Even if you reckon that most people only get 2 years that would be £15 per year, i.e. £5 per term which for something that is worn every day is pretty good I think.

Whereas the PE kit, worn for 2 hrs per week ...

This is all really helpful, thank you. I don't know any of the existing parents as it's basically a new school. They're hoping to have temporary buildings up on the permanent site by the time my DD starts in Sept so I don't really have much of a clue about it.

We spent approx £300 on inform including pe kit, then a bag, stationery, books and there's a residential to allow them to bond at approx £100.

They need a computer and printer, most homework is accessed this way.

actually i think you should just contact the school in the first instance.
dds school had a fund to assist in the purchase of school uniform. another local school helped with the cost of blazer and tie. if you are low income or in receipt of benefits you most likely will not need to contribute to costs of many trips.