KATE OSBORNE: School uniform policies can put increased stress on families

​Whilst kids are looking forward to seeing their friends, learning new skills and the many other opportunities that schools have to offer, their parents are worrying about rising school uniform costs, school meals and the schools are worried about funding, declining teacher retention and so much more.

This month I have been contacted by many parents about rising and in some cases completely unreasonable school uniform costs. I have written to schools about unacceptable policies putting increased stress on families.

No school should be insisting that skirts, shirts, trousers and blazers all have to have the school logo on and be bought from one place - yet too many are.

Schools have a duty to ensure that their uniforms - which are supposed to act as a social leveller - are affordable and accessible for all of their students, so no one is left behind.

Stricter uniform policies, with ‘essential’ branding, threaten to further punish the poorest of pupils, and create greater financial stress. Policies like this don’t help children learn or study, they just put more pressure on already struggling families.

During this cost of living crisis, family budgets are being stretched further than before and families in the North East are feeling it more than most, with some of the highest levels of child poverty in England. School should be a place where children can come to learn, free from the despair of financial struggles.

In some cases schools have said they are doing this because of the cuts in their funding - whilst it is true that schools are literally collapsing under the Tories and the root of these issues can be traced again and again to rising costs and neglected investments in our school’s infrastructure - this cannot be passed on to families.

I have also been contacted by families who are pleased that schools are returning because their children will get a school dinner directly there rather than from the foodbank - to then be met with uniform costs is leading parents into despair.

Across the country education is being neglected by this Government, with schools in the North East - the Jarrow Constituency particularly - in need of significant and urgent investment.

Yet it is investment that this Government is still withholding - once more we saw education neglected in the spring budget - worse than neglected they are expecting schools to cope with yet another real-term cut to their budget - when the vast majority of schools received less funding in real terms than they got in 2010.

Despite the Prime Minister stating in October that education was the best economic policy, it is clear that this is just another in a long line of neglected Tory promises to fix the damage they have caused to our country.

I am impressed and amazed by the continued resilience schools in the Jarrow constituency have shown throughout this crisis. Both Bill Quay Primary School and Wardley Primary School have qualified once more for the VEX Robotics finals and it was brilliant to speak to kids from Bill Quay who are currently raising money to go to Dallas, Texas, to compete in the finals.

I welcomed Michelle and Alison to Parliament from Hedworth Lane Primary School following its fantastic achievement of accreditation with the British Council International School Award.

Last year’s annual Christmas card competition was also a wonderful opportunity to hear from many children within the constituency, who all put forward incredible designs making it harder and harder to pick a winner each year!

So many achievements from our schools locally and I love visiting them and will be going to more schools over the summer term - despite the perseverance these schools - and others - have shown, the Government is letting them down and ruining the lives and futures of millions of children desperately trying to access their education.

The North East Child Poverty Commission found that Jarrow had an increase in child poverty of 10.5% between 2014/15 and 2021/22.

All of these issues combined have helped add to the heartbreaking statistics that almost 9 in 10 teachers report a rise in mental health issues among pupils, and most of the schools I have visited across the constituency mental health has been raised by staff and children.

The North East is continually failed by this Government, and our children are facing the brunt of it.

The Tories will never act like a Government that cares about its country, workers, teachers, parents and children - because they don’t.

A General Election is the only way to truly begin fixing the mess fourteen years of Tory Governance has caused, before the damage becomes irreversible and our kids' futures are destroyed.