school uniform rip off
 

I was listening to radio 2 this morning but this was also on the news . and they were going on about how schools were appointing specialist outlets to sell their uniforms in order for the school to make money. it told how one girl got excluded from school because her parents couldnt afford the specialist shop prices so bought her child a jumper which was a differant shade of red.from a shop that was pricing them within her budget .. just how bad is that? and also schools putting parents over a barrel and forcing them into buying things like track suits with the school logo on it or a pair of socks with the school colour stripe on them ,costing about £4 a pair .and it goes on .. now having put 4 kids through school myself Iam all for the school uniform but wasnt it introduced to stop kids from being catorgorised..and help the low paid familys feel no different to the high paid ones .? but surely this is a good way for school s to bring back the whole im better than you thing and making a bloody mint in the process.. thank god that trading standards have picked up on it and are taking action before it gets out of hand

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Even worse is when the school uniform allowance for 1st uniform for secondary [year 7] has been scrapped so those on very low incomes have been shafted on top of hiked fussy logo prices so how are they supposed to afford it - a nightmare i have to face next year where i will have to get a loan shark to get a school unform:(

No wonder education system is crap when kids get sent home for not exact logo'd uniform:( again disadvantage to those that cannot afford it so kids lose out on education for sake of school fussy uniform policy

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I agree accymel fortunately we still get the school grant here but i know many areas have scrapped it , its a disgrace

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They have only just scrapped it this year & its not gone down well specially with those that definately need that help.

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seems to me that kids go to school for a fashion parade rather than to learn these days and its not even the parents to blame

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Primary schools not to bad. I've got two in senior school, so when I've had to pay premium for their uniforms and P.E. kits they tell me that they want £120 Rockport shoes because everyone else has them. £100 La Coste jackets because their mate has one. Cost a bomb TN trainers because they're in fashion at the minute (I thank e-bay for getting those cheaper than the £120 in the shop though ;)). Stationary has to be the latest fashion, having two girls it has to be Playboy, again hyke the price up to exploit the parents .......... kids who'd have em, I'd be loaded it if I didn't! lol! :rolleyes:

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This has been going on a while and has been spreading across the country. I heard it on the radio last year. The school deffended its decision by saying it was getting them badly needed funds by making parents sponsor them in the form of only being able to buy from appointed outlets.
Idiotic in my opinion.

Re: school uniform rip off
 

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schools should supply the uniforms at cost.

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Im sorry but the schools can try to riip off parents because of the lack of funding coming in from the Gov or else they need to explain there reasons as to why many low incomed parents have to feed a family on beans n toast for a week for a month to afford to kit out their kids in senior school is beyond beleif!!!

Im sorry but food & essentials come first & whatever i have left then i will attempt to get the best deal i can with uniforms otherwise if its a policy that uiniform is paramount before education then i will gladly tell the education office why if my child is to be sent home!

Mr Blair doing best to counteract child poverty??? providing better educational standards in school???? well this is going about it in the opposite way & many taxpayers would be questioning their tax money & fact of being stung again for their child to receive standard education so whichever financial coin your on its ripping people off - it beggars beleif!!!:(

Re: school uniform rip off
 

Well thats what i thought it would be, my kids are at priomary & their jumpers/coats/tshirts can be bought from school which isnt bad for price although the choice is still with me whether i choose school orders or Abbey street but still uniform is expensive worse still secondary school . Im so dreading trying to afford it for next year when my eldest starts secondary sept 07.:eek:

Re: school uniform rip off
 

100% right madhatter, Kids go to school to learn not for a fasion show. If uniforms are required then they must be available at the least cost to all families without causing any hardship to anyone.

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The idea of school uniforms is that it does not become a fashion show Jaysay .. can you imagine the problems it there weren't one, and the cost of a daughter or son wanting to look cool every morning :cool: .. horrors !!

Just a matter of prioratizing; we all sat in front of our expensive computers whinging about the cost of our childrens everyday school wear, sorry, one of my pet subjects.

The theory is that to test the economical use of an article of clothing is to divide the cost by the number of wears, so work that one out for yerselves.

As to the mandatory purchase from schools, etc., is usually only the blazers, jumpers, etc.. not the shirts, trousers, skirts and so on.

Discipline in schools should be zero rated, and this has to start with the uniform. My son went into school one day with a new pair of Clarke's shoes, they had brown laces (never noticed) .. took 5 mins. before it was spotted ..and told to change them the next day ... good stuff I say.

Every morning I look at the pupils on their way to school, what a sloppy lot, dirty shoes, ties shortened, skirts just below the hip .. one girl has a skirt that is about 20" long with slits up the side, thought it was torn at first .. sorry, but can't be comfortable.

Re: school uniform rip off
 

I haven't got children. I'm whinging about single parents of three being expected to pay silly costs for designer uniforms that they shouldn't be wearing anyway. As you say, the uniform should be designer free for that very reason, it puts all on a level playing field, standard uniform for all, but it should be designer free at a cost that all can afford.
I'm whinging because I can see it's wrong. I see it as these kids should be well looked after well taught disiplined in the right way, when needed, and shown that people care. They'll be loooking after us when we're old.

Re: school uniform rip off
 

hmph!

i thought this thread was gonna be about strippers ripping off their school uniforms somewhere... ach!

but totally agree - its just another way to scam. it kinda started when i was in school - they wud choose a obsolete colour for the final year students and there would only be two shops we could buy the £30 jumpers from. either that or get messed around mentally from the sheer peer pressure which alot of people brush off far too easily

Re: school uniform rip off
 

Er Erm! Im sat in front of an old basic 10gig harddrive old 17" monitor & cost oo all told £50:eek: dead expensive is that:rolleyes:. You pick Pc's up for next to nowt these days as broadband charges are cheaper!! Least having a pc in the home is educational too:rolleyes:

As long as child is wearing jumper/shirt/skirt/pants/ blazer ok has to have crest on - but really all this school logoing everywhere is that really necessary!! I went to school with only the jumper logo'd with school, least the pe kit was plain basic & very affordable again no logo, i still looked very smart & presentable without the school tattooed everywhere & still was regonisable to all what school i was at. These days its a bloody long list of un necessary - then you have the peer pressure on parents to get the designer/latest thing & we all know that hasn't changed over the decades - so knowing this they make it even more tough & expensive on parents, again worse still for those that cant afford thus being bullied on top:mad:

Education policy within schools is mainly based on 'inclusion' so basically this unform palavour is going to exclude the less well off & bottom income bracket children which Hyndburn has a lot that fall into this category, so they are going against their main basic policy which is ludicrous, also verging on discriminatory. There should be a basic unform set that can be got affordable & accessible to all!!

Discipline in school - erm please enlighten me??? cos the only thing the school can have a hold on is uniform when serious stuff goes un challenged ah like being bullied for not having this or that or not being able to afford & other serious instances you can think of!!! I think this is making some matters even worse than when i was at school.

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Quite agree hatter my very concern to & is hot debate within Hyndburn's Gingerbread group at the moment & a complaint already has gone to one of the councillors already about this issue albeit fobbed of already!!

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i totally agree!! yes, have a school uniform, that way everyone is the same and no arguments over fashion etc.. But the overpricing is just so unfair to the normal people, not just single mothers, or unemployed, as i guess many working families find it a struggle to.
My lad is year 5 so i`ve got it all to come yet, and dreading the cost!

Why can`t they just have a uniform that could be bought anywhere, the chain stores etc.. a easily accessable colour sweater, p.e. tops, etc, and sell sew on school badges (didn`t they used to have them many a moon ago), that way everyone can get the items within their price range for if people are lucky enough to be in a posistion to pick and choose for price and quality, and those who are short - like me- can still send their child in the correct uniform without the children being stigmatised and face bullying and name calling for the financial situation of their parents.
School is hard enough, and kids will pick on each other for anything and the schools by overinflated prices are making these poor kids targets, which can in turn affect their education and ultimatly their future, all for the sake of a certain sweater from a certain shop at a certain price. Poor Kid`s.

Re: school uniform rip off
 

That makes a change, you usually whinge just because you like doing.

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As i said earlier , i completely agree with the school uniform, I agree that dicipline should start with the uniform, i also think that if these so called schools stopped ripping the parents off and trying to dredge the bottom of parents pockets they way they are doing and allow more reasonably priced outlets to sell the entire uniform at a price that people can afford then maybe more families can afford a computer and more children would be able to benifit from out of school educational research like the government would prefer..

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My 8 year old's school has decided to change their school uniform for september. Unfortunately my son is dyspraxic, which means anything he eats he 'wears'. He therefore needs at least 3 of everything for school. In the past I have mixed old with new uniforms, this year I will have to buy the lot 3 jumpers with logo £30+ 3 polo shirts with logo £25 + trousers I can get cheap as there is no logo, School shoes £12 & plain black socks! This is only primary school I dread to think what it will cost when he goes to secondary!!!!

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"there would only be two shops we could buy the £30 jumpers from"

Guess Mothers and Grandmas no longer know how to use knitting needles

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My mum used to knit my sweaters / cardigans.. I`m guessing (no idea for certain) that they arn`t allowed knitted ones anymore, not being regulation expensive issue lol!

Re: school uniform rip off
 

Sorry Cherokee, think I may owe a slight apology here, misunderstood your original post, didn't realise the schools were going for an 'all out' logo'd uniform, which yes, I think is quite silly as, could always have the choice of where to buy the other items. :o

Thought the issue was that the school's were taking over the stocking of the items such as the badges,sweat shirts, blazers, ties, sports wear, etc. this made sense as persuading retailers (like Grays in Blackburn) to take on this franchaise can be difficult due to the layout of stock.

My mum also used to knit the jumpers too for me and sometimes make the skirts, dresses and shirts after having to visit Isobel Winters for the badges, berets and school ties. As long as the guidelines of black shoes, navy skirts, gingham dresses were followed they didn't mind.

Once again, sorry for misunderstanding.

Re: school uniform rip off
 

How long has standing still been fashionable? :)

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one school in the area has a new headmistress whos favourite colour is purple so she has insisted the school uniform is changed to purple to suit her and everyone now has to buy new jumpers wether they can afford it or not

i think uniforms in junior school is disgusting and just plain snobbery on the schools part , when i was growing up it was everyday clothes at juniour school then you wore a uniform at secondary school as you were older and had a better understanding on how to look after clothing especialy more expensive clothing

it is claimed that uniforms are put in place so that the less fortunate kids dont get picked on because they dont have the desighner lables and they all look the same but lets face it there are many parents who supposedly cant afford quite a lot of things yet send their kids in top brand named cloths , also even when the kids all look the same the way their parents send them to school can distiguish them from others simply because some parents either let them wear the same uniform all week without washing it or dont even bother to iron when they do wash the uniforms

scrap uniforms in juniour school its simply a waste of time and an un-needed expense to the parents i wouldnt mind my kids coming home in a ripped pair of £3 jeans from asda because they fell over but constantly replacing the more expensive uniform pants set out by the school can get costly especialy if teh grants are been scrapped

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Well, Chav .. can't agree on some of these points. When my daughter was at All Saints, no uniform then and by the time she reached 7, stubborn personality was emerging and demanded to look good most mornings, and the clothes I laid out for her were a fight every morning and tantrums prevailed. Thank Gawd when my son came along 17 years later, they had adopted a uniform .. much cheaper in the long run. Aren't ripped jeans designer now anyway ? , and believe me, before you answer, no good getting a pair of scissors to standard makes, just doesn't wash with 'em.

I would give anything for a uniform at work; having to try and look smart everyday is stessful and what is the first thing on my mind ?..'what shall I wear for work today' and causes no amount of hassle.

Re: school uniform rip off
 

My daughters uniform is basic so it is not too costly but when she hits the high school I reckon the cost will treble. At the mo hers is for the warm weather white blouse tie white socks black shoes and a pinnifore. In cold weather its a jumper and trousers instead of the pinnifore. To me it does as kate says work out cheaper and as they are all dressed the same it dosnt matter how much or little money the parents have as the uniform is standard. She is not into designer gear as yet and its uniform at the high school as well and it is standard. I would note give in and have even if she could wear designer gear at school as it is costly to replace if damaged.

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[quote=accymel]Even worse is when the school uniform allowance for 1st uniform for secondary [year 7] has been scrapped so those on very low incomes have been shafted on top of hiked fussy logo prices so how are they supposed to afford it - a nightmare i have to face next year where i will have to get a loan shark to get a school unform:(

Instead of going to a loan shark mel join the credit union. If you save for 13 weeks or longer you can get a cheap loan based on your savings. You have to pay it back in a year but its only 1% interest a month and its on the falling amount not on the total amount. You just have to save at the same time when you are paying your loan back. That is cheaper than a loan shark. I'm a member and also a volunteer at HHH Credit Union. It used to be Haslingden & Helmshore Credit Union but now its HHH - Haslingden, Helmshore & Hyndburn. If you work or live within the boundary of any of those you can join the credit union. Clayton has a branch set up they joined with Haslingden & Helmshore and extended the boundary.

Re: school uniform rip off
 

I'm a school governor of a primary school and yes we do have a school uniform. The school sells it - a sweatshirt and a polo shirt. We also ask for them to wear grey trousers or skirt or pinafore. During the summer the girls can wear a gingham dress in the school colours. When the kids have gone on school trips to blackpool or chester zoo we can pick them out easily enough because they all have a uniform. If they didnt then we could easily lose one of them. It also looks nicer for the school. Also there is no nike, adidas or the latest fashions everyone looks the same no matter what.

When you get to secondary school though it's different because they are older and more keep up with the others. When I was at secondary school the uniform was a navy skirt, navy jumper, pale blue or white blouse and school tie. You bought the tie at school on your first day. If you wanted to you could wear the blazer but no one ever did it was too expensive. Now, the same school and my nephews go to it - blazer, shirt, tie, trousers. You must wear a blazer to and during school hours. Also PE is a tshirt with the logo of the school on it. The blazer you buy from school. It's expensive but you pay for the quality. Theirs are good ones and they last. Mind you it is handy the eldest cares for his clothes - if it had been the other way round it would be different.

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Credit unions are excellent, we've got one here, and my nan was only asking about it yesterday. Not so long back they were hardly heard of, seems they've become very popular now.

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are navy blue knickers with a pocket for the dinner money still worn for P E

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When i lived over there my kids went to rhyddings and what a good uniform that was .trousers boys and girls if prefered polo shirt and sweatshirt..a uniform kept simple yet still smart ..and inexpensive ..well done rhyddings... more schools could follow this example making happy kids , happy parents.and pockets still jingling ..my son suggested this to his new school over here and is now being considered,,

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Schools are underfunded, selling the uniform is one way of getting a little bit of extra revenue. Fortunately, my daughter's school (where Zack starts in september) don't insist on a specific supplier or by buying it from themselves. So I buy their sweaters from school (£13 when I could get it a lot cheaper elsewhere) but buy skirts and shirts (£2.50 from Asda when they cost £6 from the school).

When I went to school buying the uniform was a complete week's wage for my parents and a specific trip to Gray's. Now, they can be picked up in Asda or anywhere else for a fraction of the cost so I'm not complaining about it.