ColCHS uniform

[PettswoodFiona]

At DDs school the plain black joggers with school logo were £32 (for a ten year old!) so we got some from Sports Direct and paid a local dry cleaner £5 to embroider the logo. Total cost £10.

[thepackhorse]

So we had a look at the uniform lists and the costs and cried.

My dd is adamant she wants the skirt but I think she's going to have to join the trouser wearers so we can get them from the high street!

Any uniform short cuts for those of us who find the supplier prohibitively expensive? I feel the uniform goes against why grammars were set up but that's another argument for another day... Fact of the matter is even the essentials are crazy money.

Any tips?

My DD is in Year 9 and my heartfelt advice would not to go down the trousers route! If she does go for trousers, she'll be in a pretty small minority and I'd imagine that children that age don't like to stand out unnecessarily. I obviously don't know your daughter at all so this might not apply to her at all - if so, forgive me and ignore all of this - but if you choose wisely (i.e. long length of skirt) it will last more than 1 year. So the initial cost can be averaged over more than 1 year.

As others have said, the uniform is good quality and hard-wearing and not bad value for daily use over 2 years. Doesn't allow for a daughter losing her blazer on the 2nd day of school though...Thankfully we got it back within a few days but that was a tense time in our house!!

As for school blouses on Tesco - we've been looking for ages but they are never actually in stock (in our daughter's size anyway). And then we just got an email saying that they's been discontinued So it looks as though it's off to Coes. Which will sting a bit.

[bravado]

At DDs school the plain black joggers with school logo were £32 (for a ten year old!) so we got some from Sports Direct and paid a local dry cleaner £5 to embroider the logo. Total cost £10.

I'm afraid that doesn't work with ColCHS uniform.

Sadly, GS uniforms tend to be expensive and I remember that my own, back in the 70's and 80's was utterly extortionate - £32 for a summer dress and £6.50 a metre for the material, if you wanted to make one Our blazer was £50.
I totally agree with Minesatea that trousers are unpopular and my dd has never worn them: She's reliably told me (she's in the same room atm) that she'd feel very self-conscious wearing them, as so few girls sport trousers.

As for the other items...
She's worn the cardigan only about 10 times - not worth the money.
Her favourite item is her sports' sweatshirt and she absolutely recommends that people buy one

DD is fairly tall and her blazer, purchased in YR 7, is still going strong at this stage in YR9: I suspect that it'll last until YR 11. The skirts are, quite frankly awful and poorly designed in terms of pattern: basically, the pleats are stitched in a way that makes the material between the buttons "pop" and pull apart - too tight across the tummy and hips. The waists are too large: they need a re-think on the pattern but from what I was told, people are aware of the fundamental design-issues. Luckily for her, she's unlikely to "blossom" much more, if she follows the same genetic path as myself and her sister, so we'll probably get away with one skirt.

It's a shame there's no second-hand sale and not much in the way of a high-street option: the only ones are tesco blouses and trousers.

[Rubycat]

I used to get the blouses from Tesco, not much difference in the quality, but BHS still do them, cheaper than Coes, you certainly don't need all the PE kit.

[Rubycat]

So we had a look at the uniform lists and the costs and cried.

My dd is adamant she wants the skirt but I think she's going to have to join the trouser wearers so we can get them from the high street!

Any uniform short cuts for those of us who find the supplier prohibitively expensive? I feel the uniform goes against why grammars were set up but that's another argument for another day... Fact of the matter is even the essentials are crazy money.

Any tips?

Hi Proudmum, have sent you a PM

[PettswoodFiona]

At DDs school the plain black joggers with school logo were £32 (for a ten year old!) so we got some from Sports Direct and paid a local dry cleaner £5 to embroider the logo. Total cost £10.

I'm afraid that doesn't work with ColCHS uniform.
.

Sorry it was a uniform hack I hoped might work for one or two items and people ere asking for ideas. Not all grammar schools uniforms are expensive. DD is going from an Independent with skirt at close to £50 and PE kit all in about £400. To a grammar with a jumper about £14 and skirt under £25 which is less than some of the local comprehensives. At the end of the day it may be a pain the backside and an expense some will struggle with but on the scale of problems to have it comes in the category of 'mixed blessing'. My Dad's parents wouldn't let him go to the grammar school as they couldn't afford the uniform or the two extra years he wouldn't be earning so he left school at 14. He was one of the brightest men I knew. I wish he was here for me to tell him that his granddaughter had a place at grammar school that we could afford to take up.

[sleeplessinhalstead]

To add to what others have said, everyone wears the kilt, so do look out for one on the facebook site. They are good quality, 1 is enough, they wash well and dry quickly, but buy it big. I have needed to buy a new one every year for the last four years as she has both grown out of them/torn or stained them badly.
The blazers are not good quality in my opinion, I have needed to buy a new one most years.

Tesco do a suitable short sleeved blouse, John Lewis used to also. I've tried both in the past, but they were not as good quality as the Trutex ones. Tescos are a boxy shape and don't suit all figures, my DD won't wear them.

Cardigans are good quality and last well, nice but optional.

Don't buy everything on the sports kit list immediately, it is not all needed.

To start, with you probably only need a blazer, kilt, pack of Tesco blouses, PE shorts, PE top and trainers.

[Proudmumregardless]

Thank you all for your kind advice and PM's. I will most probably be in touch in the next couple of days if that's OK?

Its appalling there is no form of second hand sale through the school. I'm assuming it has been suggested to them before but I think I may suggest it again, and again, and again...

[ToadMum]

Asda do blue short sleeved revere collar blouses as an online exclusive item (if that wouldn't be stooping - not stomping . Sorry, phone has a mind me its own - too low?).

[Proudmumregardless]

Not too low at all...it's where her current uniform comes from lol