Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Dawn Picken: Stop fleecing parents - make all kids wear same uniform

By Dawn Picken
Weekend and opinion writer·Bay of Plenty Times·
30 Jan, 2019 09:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Starting School

COMMENT:

It's 40 minutes before closing time Saturday afternoon, and the uniform shop in Tauranga is buzzing.

Three employees zig and zag from racks, to the stock room, then back to racks.

Two other assistants stand behind registers, trying to churn through as many customers as possible.

They answer questions like, "Why don't you have this shirt in stock? When will you get it?"

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A toddler has chosen the store as his personal speedway, zooming from wall-to-wall.

A pair of preschool siblings are locked in a battle of wills, each trying to out-obnoxious the other.

It's an errand many parents dread - spending more money on simple clothing than seems necessary, because we have no choice.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Slap an emblem on a skirt or shirt and it suddenly costs up to 10 times the price of a similar item at a chain store.

Parents get fleeced buying fleeces, socked in the wallet buying socks.

I'm all for school uniforms and appearance codes - they resolve the "what to wear" dilemma and remove drama surrounding how many labels children can display.

Also, it's refreshing to see nary a bare midriff or mohawk on school grounds. But the expense of uniforms baffles my brain.

Discover more

New Zealand

Explained: what the heatwave is doing to your body

28 Jan 08:07 PM

Dawn Picken: What I won't tell my daughter about life

06 Feb 04:00 PM

Principals react to Te Puke student growing back beard

08 Feb 09:00 AM

What do you love about where you live?

14 Feb 03:07 AM

The Bay of Plenty Times Weekend recently ran a story saying school costs were forcing some parents to tell their kids to drop subjects.

One mum said she has spent more than $400 on school uniform items another $200-plus on school fees and $600 on bus trips, so she wouldn't be paying more money for a tablet or Chromebook.

New school expenses hit post-holidays, as we reel from the aftermath of spending on gifts, travel and extra food for festive meals.

It's one thing to grumble about spending $95 on a jersey; quite another to not have that $95 to spend.

A national survey in 2017 found one in five New Zealand families (22 per cent) had sacrificed basic necessities such as food, electricity, clothing and personal hygiene products to cater for back-to-school needs.

READ MORE:
• Dawn Picken: Eight ways to wow visitors to the Bay of Plenty
• Dawn Picken: Goal for 2019 - read more books
• Dawn Picken: Make-believe scares can comfort in troubled times
• Dawn Picken: To my children: please procrastinate

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Of the more than 500 parents surveyed, 72 per cent found school uniforms too expensive, 53 per cent believed they were of poor quality, and 69 per cent of parents wanted the option to purchase a less expensive generic uniform alternative.

The study also revealed only one in five schools allowed generic alternatives to school uniforms (18 per cent).

Help with back-to-school costs is available from Work and Income, charities and sometimes, schools themselves.

But accessing those resources means one more hurdle for parents to clear during an already-busy time.

Parents are also encouraged to fund automatic payments to a uniform account to spread the cost over time.

I'll get right on to that - after I pay the mortgage, rates, insurance, KiwiSaver and all the other expenses that auto-gobble my money each month.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

If you're lucky, you can find items second-hand. I was able to get my daughter outfitted for her first year at college for around $150 by buying a used uniform from a private seller.

But kids grow, the faded black jacket turns grey and soon you're back at the uniform shop, buying a $95 jersey and $99 jacket. Add a $32 polo shirt, because, like the jacket, hers were looking grey.

I hope Miss 15 never wants or needs a school blazer because they cost $220.

Retailer Postie+ began offering unbranded school uniform items about four years ago.

They sell a plain white polo shirt for $3 that's similar to one I just bought for $32 (the costlier version has stripes on the collar and the school emblem).

Why can't schools order their own emblems and sell them to families, who could apply them to generic clothing?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

No student would be allowed to wear anything with a Nike swoosh or Adidas stripes, or any other branded good - just basic clothing with a crest mum, dad or grandma sewed.

The black shorts with emblem I just bought Master 13 for $42 cost $7 (without emblem) at Postie+. The Warehouse sells two generic polo shirts for $6; black shorts cost $15-$17.

You could argue the pre-crested items are superior in quality to their generic cousins. I doubt that's true, as my son's monogrammed polo and shorts were made in China, just like many generic items.

Regardless of their cost or origin, uniform pieces in our house get lost, stained, stolen or faded, negating any value almost immediately.

Many schools have second-hand uniform sales shortly before the start of Term 1. We donated a heap of polo shirts and fleeces to my son's former intermediate in hopes they'll get a second life with someone happy to get a bargain.

Other schools, such as Te Papapa in Auckland, have wiped fees and changed the uniform so it doesn't require emblems.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The Herald reported last week children at the low-decile school can wear an inexpensive polo shirt from K-Mart in blue or maroon. It's an option local school boards would do well to consider.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Second venomous sea snake washes ashore in Coromandel

12 Jul 06:00 AM
Sport

'My moment': NZ-born boxer becomes first Māori to be crowned undisputed world champ

12 Jul 03:58 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Puchner makes history with silver at U23 canoe slalom world titles

12 Jul 03:37 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Second venomous sea snake washes ashore in Coromandel

Second venomous sea snake washes ashore in Coromandel

12 Jul 06:00 AM

These snakes are highly venomous – the public and pets should keep clear.

'My moment': NZ-born boxer becomes first Māori to be crowned undisputed world champ

'My moment': NZ-born boxer becomes first Māori to be crowned undisputed world champ

12 Jul 03:58 AM
Puchner makes history with silver at U23 canoe slalom world titles

Puchner makes history with silver at U23 canoe slalom world titles

12 Jul 03:37 AM
One taken to Tauranga Hospital after SH29 crash

One taken to Tauranga Hospital after SH29 crash

12 Jul 02:27 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP