TWO in five parents struggle to afford mandatory school uniforms, and this leaves children unfairly open to punishment, isolation, and even exclusion, the Children’s Society reports.
Its most recent poll of 3000 parents of state-school children shows that pupils in secondary school face the harshest consequences for uniform breaches out of their control: one in eight is placed in isolation. Overall, more than two in five children (44 per cent) experience negative consequences relating to participation in lessons or extra-curricular activities.
The poll has identified school jumpers, cardigans, PE tops, and ties as the most commonly required branded items. Currently, many require several items bearing the school’s name or logo, or a design or pattern specific to the school, which can be bought only from a specialist shop. The average number of items is five for primary schoolchildren and six for secondary.
This is well above what parents say is necessary or affordable, the charity has said.
More than three-quarters of the parents (78 per cent) wanted to see the urgent introduction of a statutory limit of three branded uniform items, something called for in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill put forward by the Government and currently at the Committee Stage in the House of Lords.
Analysis from the Department for Education in April found that parents were having to pay £442 on average to kit out a child for secondary school, and £343 for primary school.
The Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has said: “Looking smart at school shouldn’t cost the earth, and no parent should be forced to choose between buying family essentials and a school shirt or tie. Alongside our free breakfast clubs, these new laws will save parents hundreds of pounds a year, and make sure family finances have no bearing on children’s time at school.
“Uniform can create a sense of identity and pride for pupils but it can also be a source of anxiety, and in some cases even impacts school attendance.”
The Children’s Society survey identified the regions in which parents struggled the most to meet costs. Northern Ireland and Wales topped the list, at 44 per cent and 42 per cent of parents, respectively. Among cities, Brighton (52 per cent) and Norwich (48 per cent) were highest.
“Punishing children for circumstances outside their control is deeply unjust,” the chief executive of the Children’s Society, Mark Russell, said. “Every child should be able to attend school without fear of detention, isolation, or exclusion because of uniform costs their families cannot afford.
“With school uniform costs still crippling family budgets, we welcome the proposed limit of three branded items as set out in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, and urge the Government to implement it, especially as parents overwhelmingly support this much needed change.”