How can this school get away with this rip-off?

Posted on 19th August, 2009 by

Comprehensive defends new school uniform costing nearly £100 | Education | The Guardian

On the subject of Portsmouth, one imagines that you will not find much overlap between the riders on the new London-to-Portsmouth Greyhound I mentioned in my last entry and the clientele at this state comprehensive school in the outlying Hampshire town of Waterlooville. Oaklands Catholic school has introduced a uniform, which will be compulsory for first years in the coming term and for everyone the September after, which for girls will cost as much as £97, consisting of a bespoke skirt and a blazer made of recycled plastic bottles (nice). The male uniform will be cheaper as the trousers can be bought elsewhere.

The school is using the excuse that the uniform needed changing as it’s supposedly dated, and Catholic girls’ uniforms often look rather fetching and feminine, but that’s just my rather old-fashioned opinion (two of my cousins went to one such school and hated the uniform), but what is the sense of introducing a new bespoke uniform in the middle of one of the most severe recessions in living memory? For that matter, why have a bespoke uniform ever, since they are always more expensive than generic uniforms as they have a tiny production run? State schools are meant to be for everyone, not just those who can afford to throw money down the drain like this. Why do state schools persist in acting as if they were private charitable foundations, when they are not private and not particularly charitable, and why does the government allow them to carry on doing this? One parent described it as looking “like a private school uniform, but not as comfortable”.

One would hope that this ridiculous scheme would be struck down by a parental rebellion, and if not that, then by a sex discrimination lawsuit.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Possibly Related Posts:


FacebookTwitterIdenti.caDeliciousDiggStumbleUponWordPressShare
Education, , , Permalink
  • M Risbrook

    Several home educating parents have told me they have saved lots of money by no longer sending their children to school. Uniforms, lunches, sports equipment, and all the latest toys and fashion accessories to comply with peer pressure all add up to a frightening figure at the end of a school year.

  • Thersites

    “State schools are meant to be for everyone” Except that this isn’t a state school but a Roman Catholic school. It can be selective about who it admits- the closer a child’s connexions to Roman Catholicism, the more likely they are to gain admittance. It’s in the very comfortable position of getting about 85% of its income from the state, but admitting pupils according to its own definition of suitability for the school- which can include beimg able to afford or willing to sacrifice money on a deliberately expensive uniform.

  • http://www.blogistan.co.uk/blog/ Indigo Jo

    Last time I checked, being able to throw money down the drain on a bespoke skirt and religious piety are not in any way related.

  • Thersites

    No, but it is strongly related to either being middle class or being eager to provide a child with a supposedly superior education even if it is financially difficult.

  • Jason

    £100 is cheap for a school uniform. My daughter has just started secondary school and her uniform cost over £300 for just the compulsory parts of it. There were several “optional” elements to the uniform we will still have to buy as well. Her uniform is very specialised hence it is expensive.

    My son’s uniform, which is far more generic and thus inexpensive, costs us about £100 per year for a new blazer, trousers, shirts, etc. Although we can buy everything, except the blazer, elsewhere we find the specialist school uniform supplier offers better quality clothes at a better price so we buy there.

    Although it is just one of a number of significant costs I don’t mind. I choose to send my children to a Catholic school for a number of reasons including the higher quality of education and the hint of a faith ethos - not much and often at odds with what the Church actually believes but not too badly. It’s worth it in my view.

  • Pingback: Indigo Jo Blogs — Faith schools are no menace