10:20am Tuesday 1st July 2008
Parents of pupils at a Halesowen school are up in arms at plans for it to scrap its traditional uniform in favour of a new design which they say will prove costly.
Newfield Park Primary pupils have sported a navy blue sweatshirt featuring a red logo showing a furnace for the last 20 years.
But now parents face splashing out on new uniforms at a time when many are trying to tighten the purse strings and are questioning why it needed to change.
The new emblem, chosen as part of a competition at the school, shows an open book with a boy and girl on the pages with Newfield Park Primary School written underneath. It will be on a royal blue sweatshirt.
The new design will stop uniforms being passed down families from brothers to sisters and the sale of second hand uniforms.
Jenny Jones, who has two children at the school, said: "Parents are up in arms.
"It's wasting a lot of money.
"The logo is part of the school's tradition. It was the same when I went there 20 years ago.
"Uniforms can be passed down from siblings - why change it from one blue to another blue?"
Sandra Harbourne, who also has two children at the school, said parents of girls would have to buy them new skirts, trousers and sweatshirt and boys would need new tops and sweatshirts and both would need new PE kits.
Sharon said: "It's the wrong time to do it the way things are at the moment with some people struggling to pay gas and electricity bills."
Headteacher Angela Turner said: "The new uniform is being phased in from September over the next academic year - we have stressed in newsletters and letters to parents it's being phased in - they don't need to buy in now.
"I'm happy to talk to parents who have concerns."
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