{"id":436,"date":"2023-10-27T14:56:54","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T13:56:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/?p=436"},"modified":"2023-10-27T15:19:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-27T14:19:06","slug":"kent-parents-cause-for-concerns-amidst-heightened-uniform-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/2023\/10\/27\/kent-parents-cause-for-concerns-amidst-heightened-uniform-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Kent parents call for concern amidst heightened uniform costs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Parents within the Kent region have shared concerns over the increased costs and demands of Secondary school uniform requirements. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These concerns are a result of the increased uniform requirements that have been set by some Secondary Schools in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michaela is the mother of a pupil at a Kent secondary school. She was one of the parents who was affected by the costs of uniform and demands of her child&#8217;s Secondary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/MICHAELA-AUDIO.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"612\" height=\"408\" src=\"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/gettyimages-1460738530-612x612-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-469\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.5;width:840px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/gettyimages-1460738530-612x612-1.jpg 612w, https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/gettyimages-1460738530-612x612-1-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 612px) 100vw, 612px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Many within Kent share similar experiences as Michaela. On a Kent- based social media group, a member described the costs as &#8220;excessive&#8221; whilst another said she finds schools to be &#8220;bullying and controlling in this issue.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John Viner and his wife Liz Viner are a retired couple in Maidstone who feel keen to do their bit for these families. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The former teachers have organised Penenden Heath Uniform Bank, based in Maidstone, where they give parents uniform that has been donated to the free bank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They were inspired to begin this after experiencing the issue first- hand with their Grandson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-audio\"><audio controls src=\"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/VINER-INTERVIEW.mp3\"><\/audio><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/img_1_1698414355813-1024x768.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-474\" srcset=\"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/img_1_1698414355813-1024x768.webp 1024w, https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/img_1_1698414355813-300x225.webp 300w, https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/img_1_1698414355813-768x576.webp 768w, https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/img_1_1698414355813.webp 1245w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo from: John Viner&#8217;s Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The Valley Invicta Academies Trust (VIAT) is the board who run four schools in the Maidstone and Malling area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kent Online reported that in parents complaints, the schools under ownership of the trust were the same ones that raised concerns due to uniform costs and requirements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The VIAT were contacted for a statement regarding this issue, but did not respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Overall, what is hoped is for a solution to be reached that fits all parties. However, in the mean time, residents like John and Liz are trying to ease the strain. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Parents within the Kent region have shared concerns over the increased costs and demands of Secondary school uniform requirements. These concerns are a result of the increased uniform requirements that have been set by some Secondary Schools in the area. Michaela is the mother of a pupil at a Kent secondary school. She was one [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[74,25,131,132],"class_list":["post-436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-education","tag-kent","tag-schools","tag-uniform"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":482,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436\/revisions\/482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/centreforjournalismprojects.co.uk\/kentstandard\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}