Uniform a queue... for €5 school gear

Lidl offer provides boost for hard-pressed parents

PARENTS yearning for schools to reopen this September have been given a Lidl bit of financial relief thanks to the German retailer’s back-toschool range – complete with €5 uniforms.

From next Monday, July 6, it will be possible to buy school uniforms in Lidl’s Irish stores for just a fiver, and it’s expected parents will be eager to get their hands on the cut-price school gear.

In a range of four colours – red, navy, green and white – Lidl will have its back-to-school products in all 163 stores nationwide.

Not only can parents stock up on shirts, cardigans, shoes and sweatshirts, there is also a range of other school products including stationery and lunch boxes. ‘Excitement’: Laura Erskine

And if any parents are apprehensive about their children going back to school, Lidl will also be selling sets of face masks to put minds at ease.

Aldi, the other German retail giant, is not due to launch its back-to-school range until August, so Lidl will be hoping to steal a march on its rivals.

‘The idea of buying back-toschool stuff in the first week of July would have parents rolling their eyes, but for the first time ever, both parents and schoolchildren will be excited to make a trip and pick out their uniform,’ said Laura Erskine, parenting expert with BabyDoc Club,

Ireland’s biggest social parenting community.

‘What I would remind parents if they are buying uniforms in July [is] to buy a set for September, and also to buy a uniform which is a size bigger for after Christmas, because if the child does outgrow their initial uniform, they can be very hard to find after Christmas,’ she added.

‘But having been in lockdown for 100 days, people will be keen just to go out and buy school stuff for their kids.

‘Rather than queuing for toilet roll, we might see parents queuing for school uniforms.’

According to the Irish League of Credit Unions, the cost of sending a child to primary school stood at €949 last year. The same survey also discovered the cost of sending a child to secondary school was €1,399 in 2019.

The research also found that the average school uniform costs €133 per primary school child, making it one of the most substantial outgoings for parents.

The new Coalition has committed to helping reduce back-toschool costs for parents with the retention of the free schoolbooks pilot scheme. Children’s charity Barnardos is calling for this scheme to be rolled out nationwide to reduce the burden on parents of school-age children.

‘They’ll be keen to buy school stuff’