School costs

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xpd

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Topic # 245146 21-Jan-2019 08:37

This really ***** me off - the fact parents cant afford to get the "correct uniform" for the school - https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12192463

So many schools these days, force the students to wear certain types of clothing, and buy certain books etc and charge the fricking earth for them. Its no wonder people have to reach out to charities for help.

Our local college charges something like $90 for a school approved sweatshirt yet can pick up the exact same thing without school logo for $30 elsewhere. But if we did that, we'd get a letter from the school saying our child isn't wearing approved clothing.

Even primary school kids are thrown into uniforms straight away - which is the worst because they don't take care of the clothing and it ends up badly damaged or lost. Cha-ching for the school/manufacturers.

When I went to school, long as the clothing was school colors, they didn't care if it had the logo or not. They didn't care that we didn't shop at the "school approved" stationary store. As long as it had what we needed to do the work, that was it.

So many of the books kids buy these days never even get touched during the school year.

School uniforms need variety - they all look the same to me these days, only thing to tell them apart is the logo, but instantly add $60 to the cost for that. I was a witness to an incident years ago involving school kids, cops asked me which school they were from, my response was "don't know, all look the same". The cop agreed....

Anyway, schools/education board, need to stop being so anal about their uniforms and either drop the cost or drop the logo requirement.

My 2c/rage/rant/outburst for the day.

TLDR; Families cant afford school gear because of cost.

XPD / Gavin / DemiseNZ

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Reply # 2164538 21-Jan-2019 08:52

I agree. My high school changed uniform from any white polo to white polo with a tiny school logo on the chest and thin coloured strip on the collar. This effectively banned $10 postie plus polos in favor of $50 school uniform shop polo. Virtually no effect in terms of aesthetics, but a big impact on tight budgets

Coil

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Reply # 2164540 21-Jan-2019 09:04

Its just another extortionate component to NZ Schooling. I recall at Takapuna Grammar the woolen jerseys were around $100-$115 each, Shirts for men at $50-55, blazers were $200.... https://takapuna.school.nz/inline/files/School_Uniform_Pricelist.pdf

Pretty sure that school also made us "Donate" $400 each per year. This is a public school, NZ is really fair, if you have rich parents I suppose...

BlueShift

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Reply # 2164541 21-Jan-2019 09:06

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I was on the BOT of my kids' primary school. There was a sizable minority of parents that were dead set on getting a uniform implemented.

We ran a referendum of all the school families which came up about 40% in favour, so we didn't bring in a uniform. A few years later, after the BOT elections, there was a largely new Board in place, five minutes later, there was a new referendum on bringing in a school uniform. Again, about 40% in favour. This time the Board got cunning: they defined a uniform, found suppliers etc, then announced a voluntary school uniform for everyone that wanted one. In the school of 700ish kids, <10 ever turned up in uniform, and I bet they loooooved their parents. Never heard another peep about uniform referenda.

The question I always ask is: How does this school uniform improve the students' learning outcomes?

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Reply # 2164551 21-Jan-2019 09:23

BlueShift:

The question I always ask is: How does this school uniform improve the students' learning outcomes?

It doesn't, It takes money from the pockets of parents who may need that extra money to make a difference in their childs learning.

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Reply # 2164554 21-Jan-2019 09:27

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BlueShift:

this school uniform improve the students' learning outcomes?

A uniform is not about so much about learning, for me it is about making life easier for parents. Not fighting over what to wear each day.

And, I suppose a uniform may convey a schools values to some degree.... ie, that of being orderly, disciplined, and goal oriented. As opposed to schools without uniforms where you might think the kids smoke drugs and doodle all day.

xpd

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Reply # 2164557 21-Jan-2019 09:39

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I'm not against having uniform at intermediate/college level, but having to have a logo etc is just a joke.

I'm just glad for my eldest starting intermediate, we managed to get most of her uniform second hand at good prices. Still cost something like $30 for "approved" freaking socks.........

XPD / Gavin / DemiseNZ

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networkn

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Reply # 2164558 21-Jan-2019 09:39

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BlueShift:

The question I always ask is: How does this school uniform improve the students' learning outcomes?

The theory behind it, is that every kid wearing the same thing, takes away the social stigma for the parents who can't afford to dress the kids in whatever is fashionable today and the pressure that kids put on each other to have the latest and greatest. There is also easy identification of children in School uniforms etc, for assisting in truancy reduction. They are generally good quality and very hard wearing and last longer than other clothing in my experience. I actually more or less support it. You can buy second-hand uniforms reasonably and for the majority of my school life I wore hand me downs and second hand. I don't recall a logo on my uniform but I suspect the shirts had them, I'd have to check my photos. There is a higher upfront cost to uniforms, but overall much cheaper than kitting kids out all year round I think.

I think requiring a logo for everything is over the top, I think It's reasonable that a Jersey and shirt have it.

I recall a battle somewhere at a school where a cunning parent copied the uniform including the logo and the school cottoned on to the fact it wasn't through the authorized channel and the logo wasn't identical. It went right the way through to court I believe and the parent won. I can't find anything online about it now, but it was a few years ago now.

Coil

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Reply # 2164575 21-Jan-2019 09:57

networkn:

BlueShift:

The question I always ask is: How does this school uniform improve the students' learning outcomes?

The theory behind it, is that every kid wearing the same thing, takes away the social stigma for the parents who can't afford to dress the kids in whatever is fashionable today and the pressure that kids put on each other to have the latest and greatest. There is also easy identification of children in School uniforms etc, for assisting in truancy reduction. They are generally good quality and very hard wearing and last longer than other clothing in my experience. I actually more or less support it. You can buy second-hand uniforms reasonably and for the majority of my school life I wore hand me downs and second hand. I don't recall a logo on my uniform but I suspect the shirts had them, I'd have to check my photos. There is a higher upfront cost to uniforms, but overall much cheaper than kitting kids out all year round I think.

I think requiring a logo for everything is over the top, I think It's reasonable that a Jersey and shirt have it.

I recall a battle somewhere at a school where a cunning parent copied the uniform including the logo and the school cottoned on to the fact it wasn't through the authorized channel and the logo wasn't identical. It went right the way through to court I believe and the parent won. I can't find anything online about it now, but it was a few years ago now.

The Takapuna Grammar uniforms were made of that flannel like business shirt cloth and not durable at all, They had a logo that said SWOT in red or something. After about 6 months of sweat and washing the fabric would degrade and become very easy to tear for an active bloke and the ladies had issues as the shirts did not permit for horizontal growth, Also ending in torn shirts.

I agree that a durable design and quality fabric, reasonable cost, uniformity is good for keeping everyone equal looking and helping reduce the general cost in mufti clothes, It if they actually made them to the quality they suggest then it would work but from everything we ever had, it was a money extraction exercise.

The other issue you would have is Uniform theft, a $120 jumper your parents cant afford in Winter is a decent winning.

networkn

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Reply # 2164576 21-Jan-2019 10:00

My mother sewed in name labels to our clothing. Wasn't easily removed. Prevented theft somewhat.

If you wore the same peice of clothing 3-5 times a week for 6 months, it would degrade. They are hard wearing not invicible. Boys tend to be harder on their clothes than girls traditionally.

martyyn

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Reply # 2164597 21-Jan-2019 10:27

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Don't get me started on Chromebooks having to be bought from the local "trust".

$600 for a something I had delivered from Amazon for $240.

My daughter's last year of netball cost more than my son's football academy. Five sessions a week with professional coaches versus two training sessions which changed day and time every week run by a parent.

martyyn

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Reply # 2164599 21-Jan-2019 10:30

Coil: The theory behind it, is that every kid wearing the same thing, takes away the social stigma for the parents who can't afford to dress the kids in whatever is fashionable today and the pressure that kids put on each other to have the latest and greatest.

And yet they are still bikes and phones and laptops to do all that.

networkn

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Reply # 2164606 21-Jan-2019 10:33

martyyn:
Coil: The theory behind it, is that every kid wearing the same thing, takes away the social stigma for the parents who can't afford to dress the kids in whatever is fashionable today and the pressure that kids put on each other to have the latest and greatest.

And yet they are still bikes and phones and laptops to do all that.

Yes, it's impossible to get away from the fact that some kids are provided with more than other kids. This removes ONE large barrier. They are in clothes 7 hours a day other things not so much.

Coil

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Reply # 2164610 21-Jan-2019 10:36

martyyn:
Coil: The theory behind it, is that every kid wearing the same thing, takes away the social stigma for the parents who can't afford to dress the kids in whatever is fashionable today and the pressure that kids put on each other to have the latest and greatest.

And yet they are still bikes and phones and laptops to do all that.

Yep, I recall I was the first kid with a Blackberry at my school, then the iPhone when it came out, always had a mint bike.
We didn't have laptops back then. But yes, Does contribute to the class divide which will always be present in a society construct that we currently have.

martyyn

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Reply # 2164612 21-Jan-2019 10:40

networkn: They are in clothes 7 hours a day other things not so much.

You haven't seen too many kids these days have you ?

networkn

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Reply # 2164619 21-Jan-2019 10:54

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martyyn:
networkn: They are in clothes 7 hours a day other things not so much.

You haven't seen too many kids these days have you ?

I have 2 school aged kids. Both have devices, and we limit their time. They aren't allowed those devices in breaks at school and only at prescribed intervals during specific learning, or in limited amounts during their "free time" at home.

I am well aware of how SOME kids are allowed by their parents to use devices well beyond the recommended amounts.

If you want to discuss that, then start a new thread, this is about uniforms, they are effective for the reasons I outlined. You might also be surprised to know, they don't solve world hunger, don't replace parents in providing guidance for device use, nor will they make coffee.

They are designed to be hard wearing clothes that makes everyone look the same for the variety of reasons.

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