I Had Or Have To Wear A School Uniform

@Blodyn It's just a marketing ploy. Supermarkets are not schools' "approved suppliers" because they won't pay the requisite bribe to the schools. Those clothes will only be acceptable in the more easy going schools that don't have "approved suppliers".

And yet Tesco are advertising knee length skirts. Totally different from last year! @Sharon

@Blodyn as a rule skirts are longer than they were back in the 60s and the 70s.

I like the skirts Asda are selling and Tesco. @Oldmanjimbo

What do you like about them?

I like they are knee length. It makes me feel feminine. @Oldmanjimbo

Does a skirt shorter than knee length not make you feel feminine?

Short skirts make me feel cheap. I am pleased School skirts are longer now. @Oldmanjimbo

@Blodyn Tesco is quite at liberty to offer skirts of any length for sale. All I'm saying is that a lot of schools will not allow their students to wear those skirts in school because Tesco has not paid the bribe to be appointed the school's "official supplier". These bribes represent a significant cash cow for schools.

@Sharon the Scottish press has been highlighting the discrepancies between amounts paid by different local authorities to low income families to assist with school uniform purchase. I don't know whether the differences arise from local budgetary constraints or the extent to which monopoly uniform suppliers manage to inflate prices requiring a higher level of local authority subsidy.

@jackcros I'm not sure grants are even available in England. My local authority no longer give them and nor do two neighbouring ones. Low income families simply have to go without luxuries like food for a while so they can buy the uniform (pay the fee) needed to make use of a "free" public service.

I just hope the local library and health centre don't jump on the bandwagon and introduce uniforms for people wishing to use those services. :(

@Sharon after the next election makes Comrade Corbyn our beloved leader, we'll all be wearing Mao style uniforms 😱

@jackcros If so, at least they'll be issued free of charge.

@suzie1960 just as well because we will all be skint

Whoa! I started this! I don't think schools pay supermarkets to sell the uniforms they want. Schools can hardly afford pencils! But I do think Tesco and Asda are just being sensible. They know what kids want and more important they know what parents want their kids to wear. I have always bought my skirts in Asda. They have always sold longer skirts than Tesco. And now they sell ordinary school skirts and longer school skirts. So girls can choose.

Sorry. And boys if they want to wear a skirt.

@Blodyn You have it the wrong way around. Schools don't pay suppliers to sell uniforms, supplier have to pay the school a large bribe to be appointed the school's "Official Supplier" of the school's uniform. As they have a monopoly, they can recoup that bribe and profiteer by charging exorbitant prices. Parents are being ripped-off.

Only parents whose children attend the few schools that do not have "official suppliers" can shop round for their children's clothes.

@Sharon in my school, many years ago, the school blazer was very distinctive and could only be bought from a couple of shops. To help parents cope with the cost, the school ran a secondhand shop on the premises where blazers that had been outgrown could be resold . As far as I am aware the school made little or no profit on the transaction, both sets of parents benefitted.

This is so outside my experience. All I see is appropriate clothing in Asda, Tesco and M&S. I buy skirts in Asda. And school shirts. I buy bras in M&S because they are the only shop that does kids. Angel bras. Tesco are good for tights and knickers. M&S for cardigans. You got to shop around. @Sharon

This debate seems to have become rather heated. There may be some schools which profiteer but I believe the vast majority have a reasonably priced uniform that can usually be purchased from the supermarket. It is far cheaper for parents to but a school uniform than to have to purchase designer clothes that children would be clamouring for if they didn't have to wear uniforms.

I agree. It got very political. Communist the state bears the cost against Capitalist we work hard and pay. The reality is between the two. But competition between Asda and Tesco keeps the price low. Most schools stick to what kids can buy. Like all the skirts are black, grey or navy. a school that wants green or burgundy skirts can expect their parents to have difficulty. It's checks and balances. @Oldmanjimbo

@Oldmanjimbo @Blodyn I suggest you look at ther uniform requirements of a dozen or so random English schools (the situation might be different in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). I expect you'll find the majority of them require at least some of the uniform be bought from the school shop or the school's "official supplier". Why would suppliers pay schools several thousand pounds to be the "official supplier" if that didn't give them any advantage over their competitors?


@Oldmanjimbo I don't know how long you've been retired but things have changed a lot. Schools are big business now with "Chief Executive Officers". Their primary function is making money and providing a means for petty dictators to satisfy their cravings by strutting around their little empires. Educating the masses is a thing of the past.

@jackcros As you say, "many years ago". Things have changed dramatically since then with children being excludes for the most stupid and petty reasons. Peele Community College in Long Sutton even excluded students for incorrect uniform even though it had been bought from the school's "official suppliers". No doubt some people will say the parents were in the wrong and making a fuss over nothing. If it's "nothing", why was the school being so inflexible? (That establishment does have a pretty poor reputation locally.)

http://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/education/long-sutton-s-peele-community-college-is-embroiled-in-a-fresh-row-over-uniforms-1-7566800