Soon, every parent of a child enrolled Greenwood Academy will receive a letter demanding that their children strictly adhere to the school uniform policy. https://sites.google.com/aetinet.org/greenwood-academy/uniform This does not just mean that children wear a skirt more appropriate for school or that hair is of a certain length or colour, or that trainers are not to be worn or that ties with ties must be worn, they are going as far as saying that if you child wears a jumper then the jumper cannot be off the shelf from sainsburys, for instance, but must be the £16 jumper from their website. Your child's hoody, which they must have for every PE session must be the highly priced one from their website and not one from the rack at your local supermarket. This goes on and on. It doesn't matter if your child has a special needs diagnosis like ASD which often has traits like sensory issues, these rules must be adhered to else your child will be put into isolation... yes, your child will be segregated because you as the parent may not be able to justify the excessive price of this uniform.

 

According to the schools own uniform policy, this is a breakdown of the costs to send your child to that establishment:

 

Blazer - £31.25

Tie - £5

Jumper (x2) - £32

Shirts (x3) - £9 (will likely need replacing during term) 

Skirts/Trousers (x3) - £21

PE Hoody with badge - £17.75

PE Shorts/Leggings - £5

PE Socks with logo - £5

School Shoes - £25

PE Trainers - £25

School Bag - £18

PE Bag - £10

 

Total - £204

 

Often, these items require changing due to damage or loss. 

 

On top of this we need to add stationery and equipment required for lessons. Also, I've just spent £50 buying revision resources for my child due to mock exams. So realistically we are looking at around £250 to £300 for school uniform and equipment! Did our parents have to spend anywhere close to this when we were young? My parents say absolutely not. And what advantage does this give our children? Does it make them learn better, achieve more? Of course not, this is just the school's vanity and this is costing parents a lot of money. We're in the 3rd most deprived constituency in Birmingham yet our local school expects us to just shell out this kind of money or just clothe our kids in 2nd hand clothes? We are in a huge financial crisis and just before we have to decide whether we can afford to turn the heating on, we have to pay a school uniform and equipment bill. If we refuse to send our children to school in the uniform the school desires then they will be put into isolation, punishing the pupils because the parents can't justify the costs.

 

I know that there will be some who will say "well you knew what the policy was before you enrolled your child". My answer to that is we weren't in this financial crisis back then. My child has been wearing a plain black jumper since September yet nothing was said then. Just because it's a rule doesn't mean it cannot be changed. There is a 2nd hand school uniform link on their shop but who really wants to send their children to school in 2nd hand clothes all because of such a detailed and unnecessary uniform policy? Just as with food banks, we should not be normalising this practice. There's clearly an issue forcing families to use 2nd hand clothing as a resource, the issue here isn't just the cost of clothing from shops but the demands for unique products such as PE shirts that look like football tops, PE hoodies with school badges knitted into them, jumpers with a green thread around the V neck or blazers with a badge stitched on it. It would be cheaper for parents to buy standard, off the shelf clothing. If a badge is required then these should be available for parents to sew these on. Anything else is pure vanity and snobbery. 

 

I'm asking parents of children who attend Greenwood Academy, or people who do not have children at this school but feel that this is inappropriate, if they would sign this petition demanding that the school lower their uniform expectations which in turn will help families financially.

Greenwood Academy Uniform Policy

Greenwood Academy Uniform Shop

Deprivation In Birmingham