Ridiculous uniform policy for secondary

[freakinthespreadsheets]

I live in a fairly poor working class area, former mining village. I don't even have secondary age kids but this has got me riled up.
The local secondary has been taken over by a MAT and introduced a new uniform. They say that the blazer, PE kit and jumper must be logo'd from the supplier (which i think is pretty standard everywhere) but also that every item MUST be Trutex branded. Shirts, trousers and the skirt (which you can't even find a dupe for if you wanted to as it's a silly tartan design). No supermarket brands allowed. The boys trousers must be sturdy or slim fit, girls can be slim fit only (so "fuck you" to girls with thick thighs then??)
They also insist the trousers must not be skin tight fitting and the skirt must be knee length, or detentions will be issued (but they're only allowing one design/fit, from one supplier, so if it doesn't fit a taller/chunkier teen then what are parents to do?).
Not to mention the fabrics are scratchy and kids with sensitive skin (I was one, and Mum had to order my uniforms online from a place that did skinkind fabrics) who might not get on with the plasticy Teflon fabrics.
I find myself fuming on behalf of these parents and teens - as a curvy, tall female with sensitive skin this would NOT do for me at all! Not even sure what my question is, I guess am I being unreasonable in my thinking that this is OTT and doesn't follow the new government guidance (which I know isn't fully compulsory but still)

Edit to add : in a poor working class area, to set a kid up to attend the local high school looks to be around £350 for uniform - the prices are awful, £35 for a skirt etc

@TizerorFizz what's wrong with Crocs?
I mean they are ugly but (apparently) very comfortable.
Nurses wear them because they are comfy for such long working hours - plus they are easy to clean.

I remember that in another thread somebody described a blazer to be a portable cupboard with 6 pockets full of stuff 😄

Not in the uk there isn’t

I think there's some in North London

While I'm with the OP fully on fabric and cut/ sizes as my kids had to get trutex throughout secondary, but I'm confused on price as it really isn't that expensive. One positive of trutex is its longevity and its easy to wash. I bought 2 blazers for each child plus a handful of trousers/ skirts each in their entire 5 years. At the end I thought it had been economical. How can you spend £350 in one go? That would be loads of blazers and trousers/skirts. But can only agree that restricting fits that are allowed (and trutex does a few) is crazy and I just can't see how it would work in practice, plus the uniforms are heavy and hot to wear in summer.

@Yalta well, that's your opinion but I doubt you're familiar with every school in the country?

@Needmorelego Lots wrong with crocs. Children need shoes properly fitted when feet are growing. That’s been known for a long time. Slopping around in crocs all day is terrible for feet and should not be acceptable in school. What you do at home is up to
you. I definitely would avoid a school that thought this was ok. I want higher standards. Some trainers are not much better. Sweaty horrible plastic “shoes” is a no from me and to be fair, I’ve never seen them worn around here.

Trainers are better than the horrid stiff school shoes you have to wear in the UK!

Its only hot enough for crocs for about a month of school time here, tops, so I'm not worried about children wearing crocs to school at all. The vast majority of the year they are in proper trainers or winter boots (and barefoot inside the school, which is even better for feet)

High standards in a school for me is about the quality of education, and the way students and teachers and the school building and its surroundings are treated, not about what shoes they wear. They might look scruffy in their crocs and joggers and hoodies at my daughter's school but the children are treated with respect, the teachers don't have ridiculous work loads, and everyone helps keep the school and the area around it clean and tidy. That's high standards to me.

Maybe in this case they have a reasonable issue that this type of policy is directly contrary to government guidance and, in some instances, the law? https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cost-of-school-uniforms/cost-of-school-uniforms

This requires that, amongst other matters:

Parents should not have to think about the cost of a school uniform when choosing which school(s) to apply for. Therefore, schools need to ensure that their uniform is affordable.
In considering cost, schools will need to think about the total cost of school uniforms, taking into account all items of uniform or clothing parents will need to provide while their child is at the school.
Schools should keep the use of branded items to a minimum.

"Branded items" includes both the unnecessary use of logos, and insisting on things like Trutex when cheaper alternatives are available. The Equality Act means that this school shouldn't be differentiating on trousers as between boys and girls. There is also a potential discrimination issue in relation to the insistence on having a skirt on the knee, given that that is obviously going to affect girls more and doesn't recognise the obvious fact that children grow.

I went to a private school whose uniform was actually considerably more sensible than that of many academies today. The main uniform in winter was a simple skirt, shirt and jumper combination, and it was our choice whether to wear a short- or long-sleeved shirt and/or the jumper. In the summer it was a cotton gingham dress and the same jumper. So long as shoes were flat and sensible we had a free choice. There was none of the current nonsense of insisting on wearing a blazer in class and needing permission to take it off.

It's perfectly possible to have a sensible uniform without making children uncomfortable and without making their parents spend a fortune. The problem is that some academy heads seem to opt for a new uniform as an easy fix, because they think it will impress parents and it's much easier to be strict about uniform rules than to improve teaching and learning.

@Natsku Why are decent leather shoes stiff? Thats the general choice here for children’s shoes. Maybe you should read about what’s best for growing feet? I never bought stiff shoes. But Crocs are informal leisure shoes and most schools I know of will not want them. If you can find a barefoot school here - well done. But you aren’t here I assume. Many parents do prefer a uniform but not an expensive one. It should be washable, long lasting, comfortable breathable fabrics like cotton and wool, and smart to instil belonging to the school. It’s not Forces standard but to me, it’s part of school life.

Here dc definitely wear expensive trainers and get high end designer gear for school if parents fork out for it. A uniform and limited choices can reduce this.

How can you spend £350 in one go?

Quite easily when it is £50 for a rugby shirt ds never wore because rugby wasnt till later in the school year and by that time they had redesigned it and everyone had to have the newly designed one

£75 on the specific coloured blazer with school emblem which you could only get from one particular school clothing shop

School shirts with the school emblem on the pocket

School colour for PE shorts, track suits, polo shirts and t.shirts

£35 on the school jumper

school tie

These prices were from 10 years ago.

Everything had the sodding school name on with no secondhand uniform shop (Apparently they wanted the pupils to feel good about themselves wearing new clothes. They failed to realise that some children just felt a bit shit that they were the cause of their parents having to cut back to afford all this over priced stuff)

I spent £350 on ds’s state school uniform.

My ASD girl can't wear Trutex.

Yes, that is ridiculous and schools in particular secondary never seem to follow the guidance.

Luckily at Dd's school there is no blazer and tie. But still have to pay out for expensive logo jumper, checked blouses and most of the P.E kit has to be got from the uniform supplier except plain navy sports leggings. I get her trousers and skirts from Next. They have to have their skirt knee length too. I have to say none of the girls I have ever seen have super short skirts but they don't seem to say anything if they're a bit above the knee. At the end of the day girls are different heights so a standard skirt will fit differently on different girls.

The crocs wouldn't be the right shoes for school ws kids run but because if holes they are certainly not sweaty. And also they prevent accidents due to the rubber sole- not easy to slip in it. My son wear crocs when he goes swimming, beach and around home

Is it? We only have one supplier for ours and they're not even in our city!

I know! I wouldn't even know where to buy my DD a slip! However, she always wears cycling shorts under her skirt.

There won't be second hand if it's a new uniform.

Decent leather shoes are ok but many parents can't afford decent leather shoes for children with growing feet, that'll outgrow them far too quickly. Instead they end up buying poor quality shoes that fall apart quickly. And the girls options are very often inappropriate for rainy weather so girls end up having wet feet all day which is not good for feet. Crocs are comfy and breathable, issue is that they're not good for running around in although my DD's classmate played every single baseball game at the end of term in crocs with no problems!

If uniforms were cotton, comfortable, and affordable I'm sure many would like them but they are nearly always horrid polyester (which I won't make my children wear) and expensive and not comfortable.

Uniforms have never been a thing here but brands still aren't a huge issue. When everyone is dressed the same children try to express themselves in the ways that they can, like with expensive shoes or bags, and non-uniform day becomes a fashion parade. But when they can wear whatever they want every single day, and have been raised to wear comfy clothes since they were babies, its not the same as non-uniform day at all.

but many parents can't afford decent leather shoes for children with growing feet, that'll outgrow them far too quickly.
@Natsku
I buy Clarks leather. I get it at Clarks Outlet and only when there is sale. I buy few pairs in advance. I pay always less than £30 per pair

I've just had to kit out the youngest for secondary (I'll come back to the cost), but we recently cleared out the eldest's blazer pockets after it weighed a bloody tonne - and I took a photo of it as it was jaw dropping (included 2 glue sticks, about 27 pepperami wrappers and a random shuttlecock) and ended up showing it to the uniform store woman who was helping fit out DD2 - who was so impressed with the storage capacity of the blazer pockets she showed all the team!

Ours is fairly sensible - we bought extras (logoed cardigans and more of the PE kit) and it came to £130 - could have done it for about £90 with just the required logo bits. Blazer is mandatory (but it's the same blazer and PE kit for both schools in the Trust - so more available second hand), tie (which differentiates the schools) and a PE top and then they tell us to get to wherever's got the sale on for the rest of the stuff.

They've also changed uniform rules 3 times this year to relax things down - all black trainer type shoes now allowed, blazers not required for the summer and they had a consultation document produced by the year 10 girls to revise PE shorts rules to meet between what the girls would like and what the school viewed as acceptable - and it was pretty impressive the level of clarification and way they'd taken the girls' views on board.

Incidentally - we have less issues with skirts up the arsecrack type boundary pushing than the local "would logo yer knickers if they could get away with it" hardline uniform school - I suspect they hang on longer to skirts because of the cost of them.

Many parents do prefer a uniform

I had 11 year of anxiety over dc’s school uniform. Making sure everything was washed, dried and ironed and ready to wear for the morning. I would have much preferred non specific jeans, T Shirts and trainers

Both dd and ds have ADHD. The amount of money I spent on replacing lost uniform was an almost monthly expense I had to take account of in my household budget

Even between school and home they could lose stuff

Nothing was guaranteed to stay in the same place

My DD"s Primary was good like this. They had branded items but they weren't compulsory. I could pick up a whole uniform of skirt, polo and cardigan from a supermarket very cheaply. They also had a school shop open every day selling 2nd hand uniform for 50p a piece (among other things) - I got a fair bit from there too.

The cost of secondary uniform has hit me hard!

Cost of one Primary uniform: £11
Cost of one P.E kit: £11

(Approx cost and some of the prices were for multi packs!)

Cost of one Secondary uniform: £42
Cost of one P.E kit: £54

The guidance says only one item should be branded.

Hyndland Secondary in Glasgow is non uniform. Is considered a very good school.

Comefromaway

Only 1 PE kit!!

Ds’s secondary had 3

Rugby
Tracksuit and polo shirt
Shorts and T. Shirt

SummerDays2020

The guidance says only one item should be branded

But that isn’t a rule that is just guidelines