My kids are moving schools, and we are going from a very layed back school that was just happy kids showed up, and wasn't all that strict on uniforms or black shoes. They give all new students a free uniform, and if parents attend parent teacher interviews mid year, you got a free winter uniform. We didn't have to provide anything like books and stationary.NO SCHOOL FEES, as they held fundraisers to help cover this. This was so helpful being a low income family and me on a pension.
Next term, they start their new school, witch is far from lax. Uniforms must have logos, no basics for girls from bigw or best and less. They even have rules on what colour hair ties the girls can have. Their uniform costs a fortune. Like, the old school a shirt was $20, this one the sports shirt is $50. Girls dress $70. Boys uniform is easy, light blue button up, and grey shorts. Girls have no options of a skort, it's a dress, even in winter. The school jumper has to be a zip with logo, witch is also $50. Must have black school shoes, and school hat with logo. Each year there is a huge list of supplies for the classrooms, like white board markers, tissues, glue and the list goes on.
I know for most of you, this is probably the norm, but this is a huge adjustment for us. I can't find any uniforms in the op shops, none on FB market place. They have a school clothing bin but have been told they aren't much cheeper then full price. We have never had to cover school fees, and that's scary for us. I look at our budget, and getting these kids into their new school will leave us dead broke
6 Replies
Are they going to a private school? It sounds private. If it is a public school, it has to be inclusive. There is lots of help in every public school to help all parents cover costs and make sure the kids have what they need.
It's public, in a very good part of town. A friend told me they offer very little assistance for uniforms
Bypass what your friend has told you, and speak to the school yourself about assistance with school uniforms.
I assume the need for the change in schools was due to a move? Is there no other school around that may better suit your needs?
This seems pretty standard across the board though. My primary schooler's fees are about $300 for the year (that pays for any excursions, classroom resources and their books/basic stationery).
Dresses are $70 for summer, $75 for winter however they are optional at our school as we have a unisex uniform but most of the girls like to have them in addition to the unisex uniform and even that's still expensive at $40 per polo top, $50 per fleece jacket and $85 per formal jacket.
We are supposed to wear the official school pants but seeing as they're plain black without a logo you can get away with cheap generic ones.
You will find that a lot of public schools place too much value on appearances, last assembly I went to our principal prattled on for half an hour about the uniform rules. I can remember sitting there thinking that the kids could be doing so many things at that moment in time that actually enriched their education.
This will most likely be a big outlay for you, ask this school of they have a social worker (I know ours does and they help you apply for assistance with uniforms).
This probably won't help you right at this minute but going forward, have you heard of the Smith Family? In my state they have a program where they will match your savings upto $500 towards school necessities if you participate in their financial courses.
Might be worth looking into.
Do you get FTB? You can get an advance payment you pay back in small amounts over x amount of fortnights (I can't remember the exact number of fornights).
Perhaps look into that to buy all of your kids unifroms and supplies...as for fees, usually you can set up a payment plan where you them off weekly or fortnightly.
This is generally standard cost of schools, but don't be discouraged by what people have told you. Unless you speak to the school principal yourself, you won't have accurate information about support they provide families who struggle financially.
Where are you located?
There’s a program here in Vic called State School Relief, which covers some of the uniform costs (not all)
Unsure of what’s available in other states