Does anyone know if school uniforms at Kmart and Target usually go on sale before school starts each year?
Buying School Uniform Basics
PcisT on 08/12/2025 - 21:11
Comments
I’m aware of stationary sales, but are uniforms usually reduced too?
No, and they sell out fast.
Agree. If shopping basics at Big W, Kmart etc, get in quick. These will sell out shortly after Christmas and parents frequently struggle for sizes come Week 0 (week before return)
Appreciate you sharing this info
stationary sales
Looks like someone else needs to go back to school
And for us who have our kids in private schools, better off shopping at RL then paying ridiculous prices for pants, shorts, socks and ties from the schools uniform shop.
usually go on sale before school starts each year?
There's a small window of time each year when the majority of people buy school uniforms.
For the generic non branded/non school specific clothing, The price is the sale price :)
Better off asking for gift cards for Christmas than timing this market haha or try FB marketplace
I recall seeing school uniform basics at Kmart on sale sometime around the middle of the year. I doubt you will see any sales before Term 2 2026.
@PcisT, school uniforms are currently on clearance at Kmart.
https://www.kmart.com.au/category/kids-and-baby/clearance-ki…
Some stuff is listed out of stock but set your location and check other nearby stores you might find what you need. Good time to get next sizes.
Lots of polos with chemical coatings this year (teflon and 'odour shield') that I'd personally steer clear of, but other shirts, shorts, skirts, hats too.
Most look to be half price or better.
Have you tried the schools 2nd hand uniform shop, run by the p.&c? Some of them have cheap, near new clothing.
And don't overlook the lost and found box.
Usually after Boxing Day. Not at reduced prices, but the above mentioned stores, relatively cheap.
If you live nearest to a store, best option is click and collect - or home delivery (if you don't want to go in).
Not meaning to sound lowly cheap, but sometimes op shops have finds. There's always Facebook marketplace for your local area too.I find best & less usually has stuff in stock longer than Kmart or BigW, but the trick is to find a store that isn’t near a school that has the same uniform colour as yours. For example, at my nearest Best and Less, there’s rarely any shorts or trousers in navy blue left but loads in green or red, but if I go to one a few more kilometers away, they have plenty in blue (but don’t have any left in green).
How do you get the school logo on the uniform when not buying from the school uniform shop or from second hand shop run by school?
send kids to a school that doesnt require the school logo on their uniform for the sake of just charging extras for uniforms :)
No hope with that one. All the local primary schools require it in my local area and also secondary schools. They are government schools and uniform is compulsory. My son got told off for wearing correct colour, plain jumper and no lego on his jumper. Was told to get one for $80.oo from school. He would have used it for around 3 weeks and was his final year in government primary school. I didn’t buy it and he put up with the complaints. All schools enforce it here in my local area.
Are we sure that a public school can force a children to wear a specific school uniform.
Is it a law or is it a policy.
Govt created legislation that children must attend school. What, they're going to exclude them because they can't afford a uniform and turning up naked would possibly become quite awkward.
All schools enforce it here in my local area.
Consider researching that or challenging it.
One of my brothers is a school principal, he has to fight the parents and bribe the kids to get them to turn up to school, he couldn't give an absolute toss what they wore as long as it was suitably modest for any intended activities.
If their own clothes aren't satisfactory and clean, they get whipped down to the nursing area, and they get fixed right up, from lice wash, to shower and hair wash, teeth cleaned, nails trimmed, the decent clothes. Maybe not new, but definitely clean with all buttons and any repairs and ironed.
From there, if no shoes, shoes and socks allocated.
Once clean and acting in a reasonable manner, they may enter the food hall and collect their breakfast trays. Mon Wed Fri cold cereal, toast & fruit and water or juice or milk
Tue Fri hot breaker with fruit and juice, water, milkMust be a rich school to be able to employ a nurse, get a nurse to do things outside nursing duties, and feed the kids as well. Most schools have visiting nurse to check hearing, vision, arrange free vaccinations etc a couple of times a month.
Wow, checking head lice became a No no for schools years ago because of privacy invasion and not listed as a nursing duty for nurses. A letter home to parents is all our school is permitted to carry out if suspected of having lice. Who pays for all the meals ? Who sterilises the shoes and washes the spare clothing for the kids each time used? So many health and safety issues being contravened in your comments !!Public primary school. About 60% Indigenous enrolment. Hardly rich. Significant voluntary contributions from local communities.
You've jumped to a lot of conclusions. The point was that I doubt that most public schools could exclude you because you weren't wearing the allocated uniform. Education is compulsory. The legislation says nothing about any clothing being uniform to access that education.
The important thing is getting the kids to school with the tools they need to be comfortable, respectful, respected, and cared for so they have an opportunity to access the curriculum and receive an equal and just education.
You seem to want to put a lot of obstacles up for kids whose parents either can't or don't want to provide these children with some very basic care, love and healthy provisions.
How comfortable is a little kid sitting in dirty, stinky dishevelled clothes with his hair, skin and hair literally jumping with lice, making him itch so much that he will often scratch so hard that he creates sores in his skin, habitats for even more lice and other bugs, prone to ongoing harmful and potentially life treating infections.
What a sad world where you would deny a kid access to personal cleanliness and clean clothes and a reasonable nutrition program to help these kids have a chance to receive care, love, compassion and an ability to access an education that they are entitled to.
LOL, my brother even has school buses that visit the homes of children who have unexpectedly failed to attend school or did not have prior permission to miss, visits their home and if he doesn't need to organise medical or social assistance, he quick smart marches them onto that bus and gets them into school.
And you're worried about your kids privacy because the school nurse checks if they have lice. Tell me, school nurse allowed to check if Jenny or Maisy got a boo boo on their knee or cooties floating around them?
Simpleton parents be why so many of our kids feel they have no value, respect or advocacy.
The Lack of compassion exhibited by so many members of such a lucky country continues to surprise me.
Wow, checking head lice became a No no for schools years ago because of privacy invasion and not listed as a nursing duty for nurses.
Wow, so full of it.
Can't check for a harmful insect infestation but are allowed to check for phones and guns.
You really want to go with that?
Dear Mrs Noy,
Our teachers have reason to suspect your child has a gun in their possession whilst they are at school. If it's not too much trouble, could you have a look and let us know the outcome in 14 days if your legal team allows for this.
Well said, our school can’t even afford 1 school bus so the funding must be enormous for your school. We wouldn’t be able to fund the fuel, provide a driver for the home visits, and offer all the services you mention.
Where does the money come from ? A poor local school like ours does the best we can but not able to access the funds needed to provide support services to raise our literacy and numeracy standards. Maybe it’s because we have mostly migrant and refugee kids and a low 5% indigenous population.
My point is the law here is very clear about what a nurse is permitted to do and legislation makes parents responsible for looking after their kids and not bringing them up to become dependent on support for life. Parents get an annual grant for school uniforms, books etc but unfortunately for some it is a bonus subsidy for the local pubs bottle shop. We abide by the law our government has passed and the professional standards set by the nursing profession for our school nurses.My brother raised the funds himself (with enormous help of many volunteers and the community, of course) for the two buses and made up the shortfall from his own pocket.
Where does the money come from ?
Largely from the community and the significant efforts they put into fundraising and other voluntary contributions, including time.
My point is the law here is very clear about what a nurse is permitted to do
I referenced a nursing area, that's what it's called, I made no mention of a nurse working in any official capacity.
and legislation makes parents responsible for looking after their kids and not bringing them up to become dependent on support for life
Yeah, and we know how that works out sometimes, eh?
Doesn’t the fact we need legislation to tell us to feed our children, not leave them unattended, particularly in hot cars and more laws telling us not to beat them, but if we do, to seek medical attention if it seems too bad. Then there's the ones they had to create to tell us not to rape them or their pets, tell you the standard of what parents some kids are exposed to?
We abide by the law our government has passed
Which law allows an adult, particularly a school principal to stand by and watch a child in their care, suffer and not have access to the equal and just education they are entitled?
We have specific laws that nominate the "school master" (aka school principal) as a child's proxy parent when that child is in the care of the school.
There will be a plethora of back to school specials and sales.