25 signatures reached
To: Penair Secondary School Governors
Unbrand Penair schools PE Kit!
To Penair School Governors,
It is a great concern of mine and many other parents that despite changing PE uniform supplier for September 2024 the cost of the kit has not actually come down, and all the items are still branded, what child needs branded socks for PE. The UK government brought in legislation to curb the issue and gave schools time to end or change contracts. Unless a child is competing or representing the school out of grounds then a branded kit is completely unnecessary and a great financial burden on many families that are already struggling during the Cost of Living Crisis. I would implore you to reduce the branded items on the school PE kit to one item, or get rid of it completely for children that aren't in sports teams. A plain tshirt and shorts/skirts are more than appropriate for an in-school PE lesson, which my child has informed me is mainly rounders, table tennis and running. The cost of the hoodie, tshirt, skort and socks for myself is an 8hr days wages, nearly double my weekly food bill or two weeks worth of fuel to give you some examples of where that could be better spent.
Please consider the implications of putting this on hard working, struggling families and single parents during such a difficult time.
Why is this important?
So many secondary schools across the UK put this on families every year, demanding they have expensive branded uniform, which is completely unnecessary. Primary schools cope without anything branded so why should secondary be any different? It's time to stop this financial burden completely. We need branded items to be an ABSOLUTE MINIMUM. One item, a blazer/jumper/hoodie for their day to day uniform and one item for PE kit, unless they want to compete for the school.
