General Chat

hi GP, i disagree a polo shirt pence to make of the quality our school has even the staff arnt happy after a few washes its bitty and out of shape, primar% sell better quality ones @ 1.99 , a nylon school jacket 29.99 for a child for whom it will last a few months school fleece 19.99 and went horrible after washing, they say they do uniform to protect children from wealthier children, the charges are on par, for designer gear , its digusting but there is only the one shop so i guess he can charge what he likes, i just think in this country its money money all the time, and school trips nearly 400 pound for a few days in france, for my step son, we took 5 of us and it only cost 350 for the week in a tradtional fench cottage, they cant say it wages for staff the staff get payed there normal wage at our school. having a bad toothache day lol

I bought most of what was compulsory on the list when my triplets started but they are now in yr9 and never worn the shorts and only my daughter has worn the polo shirt for Pe whats worse the blazers are purple. The only upside is because they were small for there age when starting secondary the PE polo shirt and shorts will fit my youngest who is going up to secondary school in september as she is also small for her age. Like said a pity they dont do the logo to sew on but for us with purple blazers if wouldnt make any difference.
Hope your foster daughter enjoys her new school
Star

Just been speaking to daughter and she has had the price list now from the School . has to order through the School too, A blazer is £55 and she wonders how long it will last till the cuffs are well chewed and he looks a scruff !! She has asked if she can get the cuffs edges bound with leather to protect them and was told NO

I don't think the cost is all to do with 'screwing the parents' or making excessive profits.

We knew an outfitter when we lived in Herfordshire who supplied school uniforms. He told us he was thinking of giving it up as the wasn't making money, despite the perceived high prices.

Problem was that he had to keep a complete range of everything in all the various sizes and had to fund this stock out of his own money. His own purchase costs were high because of the relatively small order runs which also tended to have longer lead in times than mass produced off the shelf products and these had to be passed on too.

interesting its all to do with how much anyone can screw out of hardworking parents.

Locally to me there is a charity that was established I think in 1700 or so, and they help with uniforms and school trips etc when parents are on low incomes.

Schools should know about any in your areas so do ask, any of you struggling to get the right uniforms for your youngsters.

When I was at High School there were two or three shops that sold the uniform for my school but you could tell the well off people cos they all went to Bonds (now John Lewis) and the colour of the blazers was different and the quality of the skirts was better too. Very unfair really but luckily there wasn't as much bullying as there is today so it didn't seem to make a lot of difference. I had the cheaper outfit and never got ribbed for it.

Lizx

Grandson's secondary school does have a uniform which includes polo shirts with embroidered logos. He has 2 of these, but our daughter also bought some supermarket white polo shirts and used the other option of having sew-on badges.

Shirley that school uniform doesn't sound very practical for those youngsters. Something reasonably priced and easily obtained could still look smart.


Gwyn

I feel they should sell badges separately, as long as parents conform to the colours of the uniform, then they can fit all income pockets. When son was in Grammar School I was caught by the blazer - one shop only sold it and no separate badges, I could have bought a coat for myself what it used to cost. Can recall his entering Lower Sixth and needed new blazer and I warned him to care for it as I was not buying another in his school years!

Step grandson starts his new School in Sept .he will be 11 in June but has special needs so goes to a School for special needs children. He is classified with a mental age of 6 plus at the moment still soils himself and gets in a wound up state and bites himself and chews his clothing. She has several sweatshirts bought through the school with the school logo printed on them with chewed cuffs.
Daughter keeps his well clothed by buying shirts etc from Tesco or Asda but the new uniform has to be bought from the school cos everything including a gym top has the school logo on it. Has to have a blazer too again with the logo so cant buy a cheaper model and sew a badge on it.
Seems a bit over the top when all the kids have special needs some even confined to wheel chairs and have to wear bibs because of drooling . I think School unlform is the way to go but think there must be some flexiblity for the parents pockets.

Apparently our local council withdrew the school uniform grant in Spring 2004. Luckily grandson's school doesn't have a uniform :-)

I'm sure that your foster daughter looks lovely :-)

for foster daughters new school uniform, glad i didnt have to foot the bill, but she looks beautifull and is a very special young lady, im so proud of her could you all welcome her please xxx

The uniform is not of the best quality as ive found out in the past , they can charge that because of the school logo, specky suggested mayby parents could buy the logos to stitch on they could even get the pupils to do it in a craft lesson, but i believe that if you are on benefits you can get help now in most schools x