Extras on top of fees

[Ladymuck]

A full initial uniform kit out for a boy locally is GBP350-450, and a girl GBP 350-550 (lacrosse gear seems v expensive). That can be reduced significantly by buying sports kit second hand. IME it is the sports kit that is the most expensive item so worth a)not buying absolutely everything on the list until you know exactly what they're doing and when; b) talking to existing parents and seeing what is necessary, c) buying 2nd hand.

Most, though not all, kids seem to survive on 2 blazers - one for years 7 & 8 and one once they have their growth spurt (own clothes at 6th form). It is not the difference in blazer cost that is noticeable, but more the frequency of specialist footwear (especially when they lose it!). But again, 2nd hand is your friend. Rugby boots are GBP5 in the sale.

We have quite a lot of drama trips which can add up. We pay for lunches and exam fees but not books until 6th form (when the difference between the courses is very noticeable).

Whilst the initial kit-out is expensive, the yearly top-ups have been very manageable.

[kenyancowgirl]

With the sports kit, I suppose it depends what you do already...we are not at an indie but my boys already played rugby so base layers, body armour, boots and mouth guards were already owned and are just upgraded for growth or falling apart! Ds2 is in Y8 and we have just spent £60 on a new blazer as he had a growth spurt - the quality is very good though so the old one is going to friends who have a son starting in Sept. He will need at least one more before y11 but £60 over even a year's worth of wear is not much!

Edited to put the correct spend on blazer - senior moment!!

[Catseye]

At one time Indies where extracting the urine out of parents, but nowadays ordinary middle classes cannot afford the frills anymore, most of us Indie parents are broke and we insist on geography trips to be local areas e.g Llandudno, Wales as opposed to Yellowstone Park in USA or Reykjavik.

My DD State School trip to India for R.E £2000+ Why can't they go to the local Hindu ,Muslim and Sikh places of worship in Manchester is beyond me and talk to the local Imman, Hindu Priests ect???

I will not and have never indulged our globe trotting teachers at my expense from which ever sector.

[doodles]

Yamin151 - you seem to conveniently forget that I have actually taught at a Private school - one with uniform from Harrods

Did you teach at my school in Kent Guest55 The traipse up to London was a pain and uniform was awful but it had a Harrods label......

Our GS blazer is around the £100 mark, depending on size, but it's very hard wearing heavy felted wool so quite waterproof and no overcoat required or to lose. Most of the boys get away with two - yrs 7&8 then 9&10 and they go into suits in yr11. Apart from the tie the rest is high street. Basic games kit is reasonable and then you can buy fiddly bits and pieces depending on your sport and level of involvement.

Most school outfitters also do a discount month - usually July - some give up to a 10% discount, so it's worth asking.

[ToadMum]

St Helens:

Fees do not include lunch; school lunches £240 / term, described as optional so presumably you can send them in with a packed lunch. (This compares with a newish indie in ?West London discussed elsewhere on the forum, where lunch is a compulsory extra at £5 per day and the uniform is truly ghastly to boot).

Also do not include exam fees, but do include text books up to year 11.

Uniform: Blazer £87 (34"), skirt £36 up to 26" waist, then £43, blouses £31 for 2 (34").

HABs:

Fees may or may not include books, couldn't see info on website. Exam fees extra. Lunches £3.50 / day or £5 per term 'table charge' if you take your own (now that is something I have yet to come across in a state school but perhaps they should consider it as a fundraiser?).

Uniform: Blazer £81, skirt £37 up to waist 28", then £45, blouses £19 for 2. Not sure why the St Helen's ones have to be so pricey, especially as the HABs ones look nicer?

Thank you, Mr Google

[Yamin151]

With the sports kit, I suppose it depends what you do already...we are not at an indie but my boys already played rugby so base layers, body armour, boots and mouth guards were already owned and are just upgraded for growth or falling apart! Ds2 is in Y8 and we have just spent £60 on a new blazer as he had a growth spurt - the quality is very good though so the old one is going to friends who have a son starting in Sept. He will need at least one more before y11 but £60 over even a year's worth of wear is not much!

Edited to put the correct spend on blazer - senior moment!!

One of the benefits of having small lads, £5 blazer bought for y7 still going strong in y8. Treated pretty shoddily so very glad we didn't spend £60 on it! Other do got three blazers in 3 different sizes from kind friend so we will never have to buy one.
And yes, over time the blazer not that expensive but it just feels a lot when you buy everything at once starting out doesn't it?

[doodles]

The cost always seems huge when you transfer but never have to do it again, things just get replaced as and when so its less of a shock.

[ToadMum]

With the sports kit, I suppose it depends what you do already...we are not at an indie but my boys already played rugby so base layers, body armour, boots and mouth guards were already owned and are just upgraded for growth or falling apart! Ds2 is in Y8 and we have just spent £60 on a new blazer as he had a growth spurt - the quality is very good though so the old one is going to friends who have a son starting in Sept. He will need at least one more before y11 but £60 over even a year's worth of wear is not much!

Edited to put the correct spend on blazer - senior moment!!

One of the benefits of having small lads, £5 blazer bought for y7 still going strong in y8. Treated pretty shoddily so very glad we didn't spend £60 on it! Other do got three blazers in 3 different sizes from kind friend so we will never have to buy one.
And yes, over time the blazer not that expensive but it just feels a lot when you buy everything at once starting out doesn't it?

DS1's £5 blazer only lasted a couple of terms of year 7, to be replaced by a slightly bigger brand new one which promptly started to disintegrate in various odd places (in the meantime, the local supplier we had bought it from had gone bust ). However, my mending skills must be a lot better than I thought, as more than five years on, the same blazer managed to survive the whole of DS2's first year at the school and was only replaced for year 8 because he had had the temerity to grow.

[Guest55]

It's not that I don't believe you Guest, I do, but I believe you are selective in what you share. You always share the bad news about indies(including any info on teaching skills) and never the balanced good news.
I am not biased, I have a foot in each camp, or a boy! I just get fed up that state schools are always held up (especially yours) as whiter than white, never overcharging for anything as opposed to private schools which shaft the parents, get all the money they can whilst delivering poor standards of teaching.
I believe there are state schools that are shockingly greedy and indies that are shockingly greedy
I believe there are school trips in either sector that strive to break the bank
I believe that uniform is expensive whereve your child goes, indie or GS, and in a top 100 of costs there would be plenty of state schools too.

Balance balance balance.

I've commented about several state schools in my posts - I know a few very well.

Actually, I don't agree that uniform is expensive - £30 for a blazer is reasonable - shirts and trousers can be bought anywhere. Some schools choose expensive options but not all.

[fairyelephant]

It really is worth asking for details at your chosen school as other posters have said, as the variation is wide. I have DCs at two different north London indies, at one the fees are higher but there is are residential trip in years 7,8 and 9 for which there is no extra charge, and similarly lots of day trips not seperately charged for. One provides a calculator and geometry set, one doesn't and the uniform is very much cheaper in one than the other. Thankfully my DC travel on London buses which are free, so no coach fees. Both charge similar amounts for compulsory lunches.

You just can't factor in the growth spurts unfortunately, DS grew in October when most things had hardly been worn, I bought the clothes big enough to take an extra inch or so up and out, but shoes/ football boots with and without studs/trainers etc etc aargh! second hand uniform sales (often organised on the days your DC go in the summer term to meet their classmates and form tutor) are very good. Get in early! If only I'd known how much DS would lose (currently Y8, tally so far: one pair of trousers, one coat - so annoying, one games hoody, two ties ). He has recovered several other items, but these ones seem gone forever, mysteriously. His friend got in my car the other day wearing only one shoe.... Thankfully DD is more together.