A MOTHER has criticised a her daughter’s school policy of only supplying uniform through one store after paying £36 for two school jumpers for her daughter.

Sarah Davies has refused to support Croesyceiliog School’s policy of only supplying branded items of uniform through Pretty Miss, based in Cwmbran.

Mrs Davies said: “We can’t have one company deciding how much school uniforms cost.

“I’m going through the same hard time financially that thousands of parents are.

“I had £50 to spend on uniform for my daughter this year. Two school jumpers cost £36, and when you hold them up to the light you can see through both layers. I had barely anything left for the rest of my daughter’s items.”

A statement from the school said: “There is a Welsh Government grant available for parents. During transition events, parents are signposted to the relevant website to apply for Free School Meal and uniform grants.

“As a school, we recycle uniform. We have hosted second-hand uniform stalls during transition events and continue to offer this opportunity to parents throughout the year.

“The school tie and the school jumper need to be purchased from Pretty Miss, all other items are from the parents’ choice of stores.

“The limited number of branded items are only available from Pretty Miss. We understand that this is common practice among schools.”

Mrs Davies believes that the quality of the uniform did not match the price that was charged.

She said: “There were better quality jumpers available in Asda for £5. We should have a choice of where to buy uniform from - £18 compared to £5 is just shocking.”

“By the time my son left school three years ago, he was six foot two.

“I had bought more than eight different sets of uniform for him over the span of his time at that school as he just kept growing.”

In 2006, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) carried out a review of the practice of schools requiring parents to buy uniforms from a specific retailer. They found that such exclusive arrangements were on average 23 per cent more expensive than school uniform retailers generally and 150 per cent more expensive than supermarkets.

Welsh Assembly guidelines state that schools must “give high priority to the cost considerations” when introducing or changing uniform.

The guidelines also state that “no school uniform should be so expensive as to leave pupils or their families feeling unable to apply for admission or to attend a particular school.”

Mrs Davies added: “The school are just ignoring the Welsh Assembly guidelines.”

A girl’s jumper at Pretty Miss costs between £16 and £18, while a girl’s shirt costs between £13 and £15.

A pair of slim fit trousers can cost between £17.50 to £20, and a pair of sturdy trousers cost £20.

Support is available for parents in the form of a uniform grant. If a child entering Year 7 is entitled to free school meals they are automatically entitled to a £105 school uniform grant per child.