School Uniform costs

[SarzWix]

The cost of uniform for my kids is so much that we had a choice of clothing the kids or have a nice time in the school holidays. We've only had one family outing in the whole holidays
The boys have to have; sweatshirts (£10), polo shirts (£8), PE polo (£8), reversible rugby shirt (£22) and PE shorts (£8) all embroidered with the school logo. (They have just relented on the school coats, they're now allowed to wear any black coat, as long as it's got no branding on it.) They also have to have black trousers, black shoes, white trainers and football boots. The footwear alone costs over £100! Best (worst) of all, the school has a policy of alternating the sweatshirt colours as the kids move through the school so my eldest is in a grey sweatshirt for years 9 & 10, but when #2 son does those years he'll be in burgundy??!!

DD doesn't have to have any school logos for primary school, thankfully, so I can still get hers from Asda, but she still has to have uniform & school shoes, PE kit & pumps, games kit & trainers...

I reckon altogether with things like bags, stationery, lunch boxes etc, it's cost us upwards of £300, and that's just topping up things that they've grown out of...

[julesapple]

We've only got two to buy uniforms for - both at the same school but different years so we couldn't pass anything down - and as the boys grow at a rate of knots everything had to be replaced. There wasn't much change from £450......ouch!

Does anyone else have to buy gumshields? Last year we bought the ones that the school had specially fitted by a company who came to the school. This year we weren't able to do that because of the boys orthodontics, so it meant a trip to the dentist - two gumshields & fittings, £198!!! And they'll wear them maybe a dozen times.....what a waste! (unless they actively participate in a game and hurt themselves...not likely with my two)

Next week when they go back to school, they will come home with endless letters asking for more money...trips, clubs, DT projrects etc etc. Where does the school think this money comes from, especially in a recession? We're counting ourselves lucky - as one family has five children at the school I think we got off lightly.

Jules

[SarzWix]

Next week when they go back to school, they will come home with endless letters asking for more money...trips, clubs, DT projrects etc etc. Where does the school think this money comes from, especially in a recession? We're counting ourselves lucky - as one family has five children at the school I think we got off lightly.

Jules

The secondary school sent home a letter with the boys, first day back, asking parents to set up a Direct Debit contibution to the Friends of../PTA group Said they weren't going to be running any fund-raisers this year, so please would we give them £10/£20/£30 a month? 'Not feckin' likely' says I...

[Capsid]

The secondary school sent home a letter with the boys, first day back, asking parents to set up a Direct Debit contibution to the Friends of../PTA group Said they weren't going to be running any fund-raisers this year, so please would we give them £10/£20/£30 a month? 'Not feckin' likely' says I...

In a way I can understand this. If I go to a fundraiser event I'll be parted from about £10-£20 anyway. But not x12!!!

[Hilary B]

OK so Uniform means exactly that, but deliberately changing things so that clothes can't be 'passed on' through a family is not on. Glad this didn't arise with mine (no uniform) or when I was at school (they were flexible, as long as it looked right). Must add, my secondary school (no uniform in Primary) had a system for helping families who couldn't afford the 'proper' uniform, basically by a system of 'controlled second hand'.

[bluemoon]

My mum is still reeling from the cost of my school uniform, it cost nearly £100, but that was back in 1971. It was the local grammar school and they insisted on itemizing everything from the black, gabardine coat and black and red blazer, down to, and including, the 5 pairs of navy knickers. Two days after the start of term we were expected to take it all in to prove that we had everything, as some parents had been 'cheating' and, for example, only buying 1 games shirt instead of the prescribed two and quickly washing it overnight. There was a winter uniform, to be worn from September to Easter and a summer uniform, to be worn for just one term, Easter to July. You're growing so fast at that age there was no hope of making that summer one last until the next year and they were still immaculate when they were finished with, I had 2 younger brothers, so no-one to even pass it down to. It was still possible for a child to pass their 11+ exam and not take up their place because their parents simply couldn't afford the uniform, looking back I wonder if that was part of the reason for keeping it so expensive. My own kids went to a different school, it still had quite an elaborate uniform policy, but the relative costs were considerably less. I think mine was something like the equivalent of 2 or 3 weeks' pay for my dad, and he had a good job. My dad went to a private school, but it was during and just after the war, they still had uniform, but it had been relaxed a lot to account for rationing. I think mum's were allowed to knit the school jumper as long as they bought the wool from a certain place and the school themselves supplied the rest and the parents just paid for it.

[julesapple]

My mum is still reeling from the cost of my school uniform, it cost nearly £100, but that was back in 1971. It was the local grammar school and they insisted on itemizing everything from the black, gabardine coat and black and red blazer, down to, and including, the 5 pairs of navy knickers. Two days after the start of term we were expected to take it all in to prove that we had everything, as some parents had been 'cheating' and, for example, only buying 1 games shirt instead of the prescribed two and quickly washing it overnight. There was a winter uniform, to be worn from September to Easter and a summer uniform, to be worn for just one term, Easter to July. You're growing so fast at that age there was no hope of making that summer one last until the next year and they were still immaculate when they were finished with......

Eleven years later, in 1982, my Grammar School uniform, much the same as Bluemoon's, was almost £500. This also included hats (winter & summer) hockey sticks, a tennis racket, swimming gear and a sports holdall with the school's motif on it. I'm the youngest and by that time my Dad was in a very good job in the oil business, but my parents were still shocked at the cost. I started this school in the 2nd year, and by the time I finished 6th form (having been bumped up two years) hardly any of the equipment had been used. I think it was just the school's prestige factor, hardly any of the stuff was needed.

Jules

[Hilary B]

I went to a relatively new school. My sister (9 years older than me) had started there one year after it opened. Perhaps that is why they weren't so bothered about 'status', although the uniform pinafore-dress for the first few years, was supposed to be purchsed from one of a pair of official outlets, or home-made from fabric sold in the same shops. My Mum bought a remarkably similar fabric in the local market. White shirts, could be bought anywhere, the tie was supposed to come from the 'proper' shops, but if you could find a matching one elsewhere, no problem. PE kit was 'generic' for first-and-second years, and girls made the 3rd year version in Domestic science lessons.
Blazer, official shops, or the option of buying a plain one and adding the badge from the official place. That was about it!