Branded uniforms are a ‘financial drain’ on parents
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2py4xd2ppo
Posted by Forward-Answer-4407
Branded uniforms are a ‘financial drain’ on parents
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2py4xd2ppo
Posted by Forward-Answer-4407
48 Comments
Schools should have to provide them, I bet they’ll become affordable/unnecessary when they come out of their budget.
Yep, costs us hundreds a year to kit the kids out due to very specific uniform requirements.
No £2 Asda shirts and trousers for us. £45 blazers and £20 trousers
Thing is there’s two sides to this coin:
On the one hand, a set, defined, branded uniform ensure that the kids aren’t wearing different clothes, promoting a bit of espirit de corps, and it ensure that kids aren’t being bullied for not being in the latest threads, removing a “my parents are rich” vs “my parents are poor” fighting point, but;
On the other hand, for a long time now, these have been shipped off by schools to one shop in the local neighbourhood, where the price is 2-10x what it should be for a little bit of custom stitching, as a method of propping up the school budget with a kickback to the school.
If you fix the second point, either by legislating, or, preferably, by funding schools properly, the fact that some parents can’t afford the uniforms should become far less of a point of contention – it should be possible to supply the school uniform – not at the price of the cheapest Asda clobber, but at the price of some of the higher quality kids clothing out there, since a kids school uniform needs to be hard wearing.
It used to be possible 50-100 years ago, *without* globalisation and Chinese / Indian / Bangladeshi / Vietnamese sweat shops, it should still be possible today.
Yup.
I’m not a parent but remember the strain on my mother – single parent working part-time with a disabled kid who grew like a weed (often too big for standard uniform).
Our school blazers had to be from a specific brand/store with our logo which cost a small fortune, due to disability my opinions in general skirts or shirts were a little limited, and our school would change the dress code for gym every half term. Our school colours were also purple, which isn’t the easiest colour to find so we had to special order gym shorts and gym skirts too. Then they introduced special school sweaters for gym too.
The idea of uniforms is outdated. They don’t help kids adjust to the working world – half of my coworkers rock up in jeans and band shirts or sweatpants. At very least bring it down to just generic smart trousers/skirt and shirt, maybe a tie and a school patch to show what school they go to for purpose of identification in public.
Yes. £14 for a pair of branded PE shorts which cost £3 from Asda.
Totally. The reasonable schools ask for generic school uniform basics and you have to add a patch with the school logo. And I completely get why “tagging” schoolchildren is important.fir the local community. I andy.children went to those sort of schools.
Then there are the pretentious schools where a five year old girl.needa £350 of specialist uniform, from the headmaster’s brother who is the only person who sells it, every year. My friend, who totally couldn’t afford.it, was stuck with this. Yes, as you guessed, religion was involved.
Fortunately my younger son’s primary school is just any black smart trousers, any white polo shirt and then we just have to buy the school jumper – happy with that.
My oldest son at secondary school; they’ve just changed to an academy so that now means (as it seems with every academy!) blazer and tie, branded trousers etc.
they must get some kick back from all branded uniform, seems really unnecessary.
Also no one apart from politicians and estate agents wears blazers and ties anymore, and I’m not keen on my son aspiring to be either!
Anything other than a branded sweater and unbranded coloured tie seems excessive. Should be no requirement to “update” their uniform for the 4 year term either, if they change the uniform it should only apply to the new year
Our school community is a very disadvantaged area. Our school uniform is a Grey jumper and Black Trousers/skirt. No branding at all. The way it should be!
When I was a kid in primary school, the only thing that needed to be bought branded was the school jumper and school tie. You could buy those from a few different local shops.
When I got to secondary school , same again , only thing branded had to be jumper, tie and blazer, everything else could be bought from local shops .
My kids secondary school brought in full branding. Including on trousers and skirts with specific colours shown in the split of the skirt as well on the underlayer. The PE gear also had to be branded.
This school is in an area known for its high deprivation. They were charging an absolute bomb for the school uniform , worse if you have more than one kid , and restricted supply to one supplier in the area.
It’s idiotic and there’s nothing stopping from going back to the way it used to be where only minimal pieces needed bought , the rest only had to match white or grey shirt/white blouse, black or grey trousers. Plimsoles in primary school, black shoes in secondary school, black or grey skirt etc
I don’t know why we persist in educating kids in uncomfortable outfits , dressed like little estate agents . We could switch to one branded sweatshirt black trousers black shoes and everyone would be a lot happier . It’s 2024 it’s nuts we still cling onto uniforms
My wife is a primary headteacher. She deliberately made it so that only the jumpers have a logo and even that is optional. They also have a second hand uniform market, and other help available for the only other required item (a £5 tie)
I’m grateful that my son’s school allows the choice of either branded or non branded of the same colour, we save a branded one for picture day and most of the others are non. The cost difference for something he’ll grow out of and/or lose in a single half term is obscene.
The first things you are taught in school is that you have no choice in what you wear, or how you spend your time, or what you do. Your opinion doesn’t matter that much, and if you dislike something that doesn’t matter either. Compliance is rewarded and non-compliance is punished. This makes you a useful and subordinate citizen.
Unnecessarily expensive branded uniform, therefore, compliments the function of schools nicely, and we should keep them if we value state indoctrination. If we don’t, then the education system needs to be drastically overhauled and improved.
When I worked in education, the uniform shops paid the school for the tender. It paid for 2 librarians.
The lead time on school uniform, at least for my kids is ridiculous. I can get a 3 pack of generic purple sports shirt delivered overnight from Amazon but the school demands I send my order to the same two old ladies in the Cotswolds who serve half the country so my typical lead time for a piece of School Uniform is 6-8 weeks.
And of course because it’s pricey, and the kids grow quickly I don’t exactly want to buy lots of spares.
It’s absurd. The only time in my working life I wore a uniform was working for Mcdonalds – and they at least provided the damn thing.
When I was at school (15 years ago) we needed a white shirt, formal trousers (could be black or grey), black formal shoes and a school tie. The school tie was the only branded thing, and I’m pretty sure the rest of my clothes were ASDA George.
I was in the last year at my school that didn’t have to have a branded blazer, with a branded house badge on it after it got made into an academy.
Now I keep hearing about children having to have branded shirts and trousers as well. It doesn’t make seem reasonable, and just seems like academies profiteering.
We are in a wealthy area and my daughter’s state primary requires branded cardigans (£28 a pop!!), branded fleece, specific tie, branded polo shirts for when they wear shorts or skirts, branded caps for summer, branded PE T-shirts…none of it is cheap! They do have a second hand shop but it’s limited.
These threads make me so glad that my school’s rule was white shirt with tie and black skirt/trousers. They tried blazers ordered from them, but it didn’t stick, and everyone wore ones from New Look, Topshop, etc.
They were kind of lax, so you could really wear anything as long as you could see your shirt and tie. It let you dress up a bit with dresses and things over your shirt and any type of skirt as long as it was black. Everyone loved those stretchy bodycon skirts with a shirt tucked in. So comfy!
Just scrap school uniforms.
The argument around bullying due to clothing choices etc is just so weak. Let kids be able to express themselves fully and enjoy being who they are, and wear clothes they feel comfy in for learning – I assure you a simple change like that would see massive productivity.
When I was at school you got the badge and had to saw it on your blazer. The only thing you had to buy specifically was the tie.
Now I’ve had two children go to secondary school and had to pay £50 for a blazer which can only be ordered from one place and had no competition to drop the price
So my partners niece had a list a couple of years back for school uniform, almost everything had the words “embossed with the school logo” on it. They could wear anything that fit within the brief from anywhere but had the nuisance of having to get a bunch of stuff embossed.
For me it was: Blazer (branded of course); Trousers (in a particular shade); school tie; optional school jumper (branded again); shirt (very specific colour again); coat (branded); scarf (optional but branded); school branded sports kit (only thing permitted for PE, even included socks!).
Total was about £600/£700 fifteen years ago. And of course the senior school had a slightly different uniform so another cost. And of course appalling quality, sourced from a few specific shops. I don’t believe it’s much different even now.
The brass neck of head teachers/school leadership is fucking unbelievable. Who the fuck do they think they are? It’s irresponsible and makes me question their professional ethics. The worst of all this is, kids grow, fast. So even if you do buy the lot in their first year, you can be sure for most it’s not going to fit a year or two later. To say nothing of wear and tear.
There’s already statutory guidance in place on branding and logos but it’s currently toothless; there’s no enforcement
Man I was the last year not have to worry about the uniform.
We had a jumper that had the logo updated once in the 4 years i was there before they changed up to fully branded (thankfully they provided all student with free uniforms the first year it wont into place).
But it was a school coat, blazer, tie, bag, sports shirt and shorts. If you were on one of the sports teams you had ta have the correct socks but that was it.
By the sounds of it they’ve retired coat in the last years and have kept the price dawn but some of the other secondary and even some of the primary schools have everything but shoes required to be branded
It’s not the school ‘branding’ that’s the issue, it’s the monopoly of only 1 company having the rights to do the uniform for each school, and heaven forbid you don’t have it booked in 4 months before start of term
What’s the point in school uniform these days? During my career dressing in suit atire or similar for work has completely disappeared. Everyone is in chinos and polo tops
If the schools had to pay for it they’d soon change the rules. Absolute joke.
This stuff is nonsense. When I went to primary school (admittedly a long time ago) the uniform was just dress trousers and a white, light blue or grey shirt with a school tie. The tie was literally the only ‘branded’ item. The rest was cheap generic ‘back to school’ gear. No blazers. Just an optional grey or maroon sweater (no logos or badges – my granny knitted at least one of them. lol)
I remember this pain. Grew up very poor with a single parent, the other wasn’t around and didnt pay anything for support.
First 2 years were fine cheap white shirt, black trousers, and black socks. Only had to pay £25 for a black school blazer, £10 for a black school jumper if you wanted one, and £5 for a school tie.
Then we got a new head who wanted to “make his mark.” He flipped the uniform entirely to this absolutely ridiculous combination. Navy blue blazer, light blue shirt, grey trousers, and new clip on ties. Originally they weren’t clip ons. Had a lot of trouble finding the right trousers as well.
Also, if you lost the tie, or some knob ripped it off and threw it on the roof, you were fined for losing it before paying for a new one.
He also added a whole school PE kit, which wasn’t a thing before. Two, one for inside and one for outside. No more plain white for indoors, or rugby shirt for outdoors.
With all that the new school uniform was roughly £200. The school branded stuff had been put up considerably.
Now it doesn’t sound a lot, but this was expected from a household that couldn’t afford to eat a full meal everyday of the week.
I spent a summer in uni working for a school uniform shop and it was wild. They had state comprehensives, state grammars and also private schools and interestingly while the private schools and grammars had pricy items (eg. Wool blazers costing hundreds sometimes) it was often more expensive to fully kit out a child for a lot of the state comprehensive schools. They were far stricter on having branded everything or specific brands and styles of things like trousers, and there was much more stigma around buying second hand items.
Some of the schools had means tested funds to cover uniform for those who needed it and the few times I worked with those parents it usually didn’t even cover half of the cost. Then you’d have to spend time trying to work out with the parent what items the child could get away with not having with the logo that they could get from the supermarket instead. Made you wonder if the schools were sticking their heads in the sand to ignore the cost.
It really made me see how ridiculous the whole thing is. If we just have uniform, it doesn’t need to be branded everything. I’ve seen some schools sell patches to iron or sew onto jumpers which seems like a good idea
My kids school uniform is £18 a cardigan. Luckily the PTA do a used sale a few times a year where second hand ones are sold for £1
Our child’s school relented a couple years ago and now we can just wear coloured polos and genetic jumpers/cardigans. Saves an absolute fortune, genuinely didn’t know how we would have carried it on
My kids school said that they had to have branded shirts but I do a bleach whites wash so the logos just ran out on the first wash because the logos were done with navy cotton not embroidery thread which would have held up better in the whites wash.
I haven’t brought any more because of this poor reaction to me washing them correctly.
There’s a lot of social engineering, for want of a better phrase, going on as well. Son is now at college, but he was in a ‘good’ high school that was really hard to get into. You *had* to buy their brand blazer in one of two shops and those shops sold to all of the education district. I checked and the cost of the blazer for the ‘good’ school was almost exactly double that for a blazer for the ‘sink’ school.
School uniform can be a way of selecting pupils that flies under the radar.
Absolutely. As is changing the uniform every 3-4 years.
What annoys me is my grandson’s SEND school which expects children to have branded uniforms. Parents of disabled children are hard up enough as it is, some parents can’t work full time because of carers allowance, children’s DLA has different levels as a welfare benefit and isn’t really enough. Then there’s the expense of special clothing for tubes etc.
Branded uniforms are a racket and the government would do parents a favour by removing the obligation to by such stuff. Some parents will be stumping up a weeks’ disposable income to buy them. Tescos, Lidl and so on sell very acceptable alternatives on to which badges could be sewn if need be.
The entire concept of uniforms needs a radical overhaul; they’re still set to the same standards of the 1950s. No reason whatsoever why blazers and ties should be enforced for any regular school, and shorts of sensible lengths should be allowed in summer months as well in all cases.
They were always back door fees. Of course they are a financial drain.
Branding outside of a sew on badge is simply a scam, designed to raise money for someone. In best case scenario, the schools might be using that money to supplement the lack of funding from Government, but I suspect in a lot, perhaps most, they are going to a company coincidentally related to someone who has the control of such things.
I wore black jeans, black skate shoes and my school Polo over a normal shirt for years in the mid 2000’s. Consistently getting sent to my head of year and sent home with a letter at the end of the day.
My mum had her issues, but she really struggled after my dad died. The idea that a smug fat cunt sat in her school office, can demand my mum pay 100 quid, per kid per year sent me into a state of malevolent non compliance.
After that I stopped wearing uniform outright, used my regular backpack and not the shit school approved nylon bag. By second term of year 11 I wasn’t even going to school most days. I passed most my coursework still, and pretty good GCSE grades. I was accepted into College before the School term officially ended.
That same head of year tried to get involved, saying my attendance and behaviour should override my work and she tried to get me to re-do Year 11. Principal basically laughed at her, fairly sure that’s not a real thing in England.
Fuck you Ms. Beasley. 😤
School uniforms in general are archaic and should’ve been scrapped years ago.
I know the argument is “if kids wear their own clothes they might get bullied for them, if everyone looks the same they won’t get bullied” but that’s nonsense.
Kids can be very mean, if they want to bully another kid, they will find a reason to. Regardless if that kid is in a school uniform or not.
Plus they are ridiculously overpriced and the fact they are mandatory and so expensive is mostly a drain on working class parents who now have to shill out even more money for their kids. If you’re middle class or rich, you’re laughing, you can probably afford it no problem. Not if you’re working class.
School uniforms make life harder for working class parents, and they don’t even prevent bullying. They are pointless, scrap them, it’s not 1932 anymore.
I know they want consistency of colour but I’ve never really understood why they don’t sell iron on patches with the branding and leave it at that.
I had a little logo jumper when I was a kid but other than that I was allowed to wear the school dresses in blue check, white or blue polo shirt and black skirt/trousers.
Looking back at school photos we all looked pretty much identical but we weren’t forced to have quite so many explicitly branded things.
I don’t have kids so I might be a bit out of touch but it seems so costly for some families!
Uniform is a class equaliser. It also represents belonging to something in which you should take pride.
This has been the way for decades. Always wondered if they got a kickback from the uniform stores. Such a scam.
I never understood the school uniform thing. People are saying it’s to stop kids bullying each other over clothes but I’m from country where we didn’t have school uniform and I can’t remember anyone being bullied over clothes. Other things yes but not over clothes.
Our school doesn’t really require the embroidery. Just that you have the right colour.
We buy the Asda and Sainsbury’s stuff, and a local company add the embroidery on for quite cheap. Something like £2 for each piece