School requests that children only wear branded shoes

A mum has expressed her anger after her child's school asked parents to only buy certain brands of shoes for their kids.

In a now-deleted thread on parenting forum Mumsnet, she explained that the school sent a letter to parents saying they shouldn't buy any shoes for school unless they're from Start Rite or Clarks.

The mum added that she didn't like the tone of the school's request. "The tone of the message is very condescending, talking about how 'sparkly shoes may look pretty but they don’t support a child’s growing feet properly' and 'if you don’t have your children’s feet properly measured at a shoe shop you will cause them issues later in life'," she wrote. The mum explained that she agrees that children should have their feet measured when they're smaller but that as they grow, cost becomes a big factor in what she can buy. She estimated that sticking to the school's rules would cost her £50 (around €56) per pair of shoes "That’s probably £150 a year in shoes at the rate they grow." Plenty of fellow forum users agreed that the school was being unreasonable in expecting parents to only buy certain shoes, but what do you think? Has your child's school ever made a similar request? Share your thoughts in the Facebook comments or join the conversation on Twitter.