Let's talk School Uniform - Matalan would love to know what you think - £300 to be won NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

Following winning a Mumsnet Rated badge for their range of Teflon coated school uniform, the team at Matalan would love to explore further with Mumsnetters their general views on School Uniform.

Matalan say "we all know uniform can be expensive and time consuming to keep clean/ keep on top of - at Matalan you can kit your kids out for less with our school uniform range, it's packed full of new features and benefits that will mean less ironing and washing for parents - better still, shop the full range online and collect in store for free! We'd love to know your tips and views on uniform in general and how you help your child feel confident at school"

Please share on this thread your views on all or some of the below:

Your general thoughts on school uniform items - what do you want to see in a uniform? What's important to you when picking school uniform for your children? What features do you look for? What styles do your children like/ hate?

Do you think a school uniform helps your child feel confident during the school year? How?

How do you encourage your children to go back to school after school holidays with confidence? What concerns do you have - if any - about sending your children to school for the first time/back to school after the holidays?
What tips do you have for helping your child get the most out of school all year round?

At what age do your children start getting dressed themselves for school: what tips can you share for encouraging this?

And for those who do a school run - how much - if at all, do you care or think about what you wear to drop off or pick up from school?

Add your comments to this thread and you will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will win a £300 voucher to spend in Matalan (a Love2Shop voucher)

Thanks and good luck
MNHQ

Standard Insight T and Cs apply

Lordtrash has my sympathy in trying to find school uniform for a child who is much taller than I am now as an adult. Therein's my word of caution in uniform buying - my mum did the sensible thing and bought my blazer a bit bigger so I'd grow into it. Thing is, I stopped growing at 11 so it never did fit me!

The more pull on/zip clothes, the better!

A decent range of 'self-coloured' coats would be good.

As I have twins I need school uniform that is reasonably priced and good quality and washes well and also non iron would be favourable too.

My little boy has trouble with the hook fastening on trousers so I tend to try elasticated waist trousers as they are more likely to stay up after he's been to the toilet or done pe. Not many places do the elasticated waist trousers especially in bigger sizes. He is 7 but is quite small for his age.

My little girl loves to wear the gingham summer dresses but her school has the yellow check ones which seem to be the hardest to find anywhere.

My daughter is in her last year of nursery and has a uniform. I like them to be comfortable, practical, and easy to clean. I can currently buy some supermarket components, but that will change when she's in reception (it's a private school with annoyingly strict uniform requirements). I wish she had a different summer dress. It's both short and wide, so it won't fit any children properly. I have to go up a size or two and tie the ribbon really tight to get it anywhere near her knees. I'd rather have a longer dress that makes moving easier. I also don't like how gendered the uniforms are. Why can't she wear trousers or shorts if she wants to?
My daughter has been mostly dressing herself since she was 3 and a half (except buttons and zips, which she's getting better at now). This is mainly because I broke my right elbow around that time and couldn't help her much. But she liked having more independence. I do have to be on top of things some days (when she doesn't want to get ready). I don't give her breakfast until she is dressed. She does go to breakfast club, so I know she won't starve.

There are obvious pros and cons to having uniform. Overall we want something that is minimum care but always looks good. However I do feel that some consideration should also be given to uniforms changing in line with the children getting older in terms of fashion and age. Even if these were small changes. This would, at least, make them slightly more bearable for the children to wear!!!!!

Have had 3 kids in uniform for over a decade and I appreciate non iron shirts that I can dry on hangers and put straight in the wardrobe. Every age trousers should have adjustable waists for my skinny boys and the only bit of school specific uniform I like is my daughter's school skirt which is a hideous kilt that sidesteps all the belts as skirts issues. I don't care who wears what on the school run, but I would prefer flannel pyjamas to the skin tight lycra gym wear showing every crevice as if they were naked.

I like school uniform, school is not a fashion show. My son is autistic and it is hard to find autistic friendly trousers, pill on, soft fabric, no fasteners. He is due to go to high school soon and it is a blazer, formal shirt and tie, he is going to find it really difficult with a tight collar. Like his current uniform, black trouser, white polo shirt an d blue hoodies with school logo.

My 4 year old is in preschool still and her uniform needs to wash well as she comes out covered in all sorts! It needs to be hard wearing on the knees, tights need to not bobble when they're washed and shoes need to withhold the crawling around the floor. Tshirts need to not shrink the minute they're tumble dried. Also summer dresses should be made of mostly cotton not viscose/ polyester.

Love the Matalan scuff resistant boys school shoes. Only £10 a pair and my 5 year olds are still looking great after 3 months

I like school uniform as it makes it so much easier in a morning as they know what they are wearing. It is cheaper than buying fashionable clothes for them and is generally hard wearing. I would like tougher knees on boys trousers as my son is constantly going through the knees. Maybe a reinforced patch inside the trouser to make them last longer.

i wish somebody would make school uniform trousers in a soft material as they always seem so stiff at first. My son has autism and its a nightmare getting new school trousers as he says they are itchy and i have to wash them many times before he feels comfortable in them. we are down to one pair as he has outgrown some. I have the same problem with school shirts but they seem to be ok after a few washes with fabric conditioner.

Your general thoughts on school uniform items - what do you want to see in a uniform? What's important to you when picking school uniform for your children? What features do you look for? What styles do your children like/ hate?
Simplicity. Clean lines. Nothing too fancy. With skirts/pinafores I go for box pleats. With a 4 year old who started school this September and has to wear a tie we've found top buttons fiddly so Velcro instead of a button for the top of a shirt would be fab. Oh and also adjustable waists are a must.

Do you think a school uniform helps your child feel confident during the school year? How?
I don't know about confident. My dd just is aware school uniform is a must n she looks smart so has never questioned it.

How do you encourage your children to go back to school after school holidays with confidence? What concerns do you have - if any - about sending your children to school for the first time/back to school after the holidays?
So far dd loves school so it's a none issue. By the end of the holidays she's looking forward to seeing her friends and teachers again and talking about what she's done with her time off.

What tips do you have for helping your child get the most out of school all year round?
To just enjoy it. I think early years is. Still very much about play and having fun anyway

At what age do your children start getting dressed themselves for school: what tips can you share for encouraging this?
When they start! Start as you mean to go on! Just before the start in September for a week or so before we practiced doing up the buttons on shirts and tucking them in and putting socks on. Of course dd is still only 5 and if were in a rush I'll help but she gets dressed herself n I just tidy her up before we leave (straiten tie, tuck shirt in properly)

And for those who do a school run - how much - if at all, do you care or think about what you wear to drop off or pick up from school?
Yes! If we're walking I'm not to concerned beyond wearing a decent coat for when the weather inevitably turns. If we're in the car I make sure she's wearing trousers or grey tights/socks. Sliding out the car inevitably leaves black marks on white socks

I'd like some thought put into kids getting themselves changed after PE. Easy to do up clothes, big clues as to what is the front and back. You wouldn't believe what a state my children get into!

I like uniforms. It saves the worry over what to wear or bullying over not having the latest designer clothes.
I'm not sure about increasing confidence but they always seem proud & happy to get in their new uniforms at beginning of September every year.
To get the most out of school, just like a working life I try to encourage a balance. Get their homework done & go play out.
My children started to dress themselves in reception year.
Now my eldest is 10 she has started to pick her own school uniform
As for what I wear on school run? If not in my work uniform then in my mom uniform (jeans,top long cardigan ankle boots)

Uniforms are great as they all become equal at school regardless of family background. I'd like to know how to keep white school shirts white when you use non-biological liquid.

For my two DC i find that getting the right fit is difficult especially for trousers. They are slim with long legs so I end up having to buy for the length and pulling them right in at the waist resulting in a huge clump of gather of fabric on their behinds. Neither comfortable nor smart to look at.

Style-wise, boys stuff is ok as pretty plain and classic in style, but my 10 year old DD no longer wants the polo shirts with the embroidery on as they are babyish to her, but the boys plain shirts are shapeless on a girl her age and who is developing. May be some nicer older styles for pre-teen would be useful, as would nice skirts that are knee length and not going to flash their pants when they have to sit on the carpet or in the hall for assembly.

I would really like the cuffs on cardigans to be tougher as my daughter keeps wearing holes in them and it is very frustrating as keep having to get her a new school cardigan.

I definitely think it is a good idea, saves arguments and worry - just put it on and go. I have real trouble finding uniform for my tall but not wide child, everything hangs off her waist, and she's not even that skinny. Not sure where people with tall, very skinny kids buy their uniform from!

Non iron stuff is also good, the less time spent ironing in this house the better!

I love school uniforms, it means no struggles having to keep up with the fashion and no rushing to pick what to wear.

I love school uniforms and would hate my kids school to banish them! For the school run, I just throw on some jeans or tracksuit bottoms with a tee or jumper. I'd never wear pjs and I don't have time to get dressed up smartly with makeup on etc!

I think uniforms keep things straightforward and fair. I like them to be cheap and easy to buy, and I like it when the uniforms include trouser options for the girls.

Your general thoughts on school uniform items - what do you want to see in a uniform? What's important to you when picking school uniform for your children? What features do you look for? What styles do your children like/ hate?

Adjustable waistbands - DC 3 is very skinny and without them the trousers fall down

Non-iron shirts - I don't iron anything

Short sleeve shirts - long sleeves get grubby at the cuff

DD (15yrs) likes shirts that are fitted - not baggy

Do you think a school uniform helps your child feel confident during the school year? How?

Being part of the school team - not having to worry about peers views on their clothes

How do you encourage your children to go back to school after school holidays with confidence? What concerns do you have - if any - about sending your children to school for the first time/back to school after the holidays?
What tips do you have for helping your child get the most out of school all year round?

No idea!

At what age do your children start getting dressed themselves for school: what tips can you share for encouraging this?

From Reception

And for those who do a school run - how much - if at all, do you care or think about what you wear to drop off or pick up from school?

I don't take much notice of what people are wearing in the mornings. I usually wear 'activewear' as I tend to do exercise class most mornings. Afternoons I have to stand in the playground longer but try to look at my phone rather than take any notice of other parents. Most of mine are secondary age so I never really see any of their peers parents.

Mine have all left school, but I would have loved non iron shirts, easy iron trousers and skirts, adjustable waists for both skirts and trousers, and if the schools in the local area have specific colours for summer dresses, to actually stock the uniform of those colours. We always had yellow and white summer dresses in all our local school shops, yet no school had that as their uniform colour

I love that my children wear uniform, it gives them a sense of belonging, and being smart. There is also no 'designer wars' to contend with. I always go for the dark grey school trousers that have elasticated waist are teflon coated and need no ironing, and the navy sweat shirts that are thick and you know will stand the rigours of the playground and daily washing. When the class photo is taken at the children all look so smart in their grey and navy it is simply lovely.

Our family love uniform. We are low income family whose children attend a school in a good area so non uniform days our kids stand out more as they don't get expensive designer stuff so would hate for them to feel rubbish every day of school but a uniform makes them feel the same as everyone. So far the uniform has been reasonably priced as can still get most items at supermarket and good quality and has lasted.

pleated skirts are such a nightmare to iron!