Will my DC get laughed at in secondary if everything is name labelled?

Labels maybe uncool in y7 but ds1 doesn't seem to mind me sticking labels on his things ( I found some if ordered when he was in infants and hadn't used)

He may well be the only 6th former with labelled lunchbox

I don't think in secondary having your name on things helps like it does in primary. If staff in primary school find john smiths ruler they can walk two classrooms away and hand it to him. In secondary school they probably don't even know who john smith is.

"There's a time and a place for them, and no at DS's super-selective most of the boys seems to have properly named uniform! As it should be!"

Surely at a super selective (you did say super selective, didn't you?) you don't need labels because the children are all too clever to lose anything, and too well brought up to even think of nicking anyone else's kit?

Just checking- it was a super selective you were talking about?

At DD's secondary school they don't take re-usable water bottles to school. They either buy bottles of water at school or use bottles of water that their parents have bought from the supermarket.

They keep their bottles in their school bags so they aren't likely to go astray anyway.

My DS starts year 7 this year too. I have bought his entire uniform and the other bits and bobs he needs. I will label his clothes with a black marker pen and probably write his name on the inside of his bag/pencil case/shoes but no sticky labels.
Not labelling water bottle and stuff like that.

pipbin my dh went to boarding school where everything had to be labelled. When I first met him he also had a pair of underpants with his name label in. He was 30

OP, I would put initials with a sharpie on things like drinks bottles. Ds1 was always losing stuff when he started secondary school,. He never complained it was babyish. i wouldn't do sticky labels though.

I said "name tags" of ds' clothes. I meant to say "fabric care" tags - although some school clothes also have a wee tag specifically for a name.

DW religiously labels everything. Bought 60 CASH labels for each of the DCs when they were little and still using them (recycles them when uniform clothes are outgrown!). It doesn't stop some items (football socks) getting lost but generally very useful, particularly with boys (who are very careless with coats and possessions generally. DS has had two winter coats (from a stack of 70+ lost ones) returned to him because they've been named!

Our picnic rug has one of DS's nametapes sewn on it, as we once loaned it to school!

There's a time and a place for them, and no at DS's super-selective most of the boys seems to have properly named uniform! As it should be!

A "sharpie" is an indelible marker pen with a thin point. It's a brand name - but they've pretty much collared the market for "easy writing" marker pens.

They're also good as freezer pens.

I just write ds' initials onto the name tags of his school clothes. Enough to identify them (eg after PE) but not enough to embarrass him.

The rest of his stuff is up to him to look after - not just at school but generally. He's just learnt a tough lesson: had to use his own savings to replace his PAYG Moto G phone as he left it unattended in the rugby club changing rooms and it was stolen .

He is nearly 15 though so old enough to be taking responsibility.

Ds (just finished yr 7) lost both hus football boots and calculator last year - despite both being named (sharpie not removable label).
Agree with others to label clothes, kit, calculator etc but not to bother with rulers.

i put name labels inside pencil cases
on the inside cover of calculators

rulers etc i don't bother with

every single item of uniform has names tapes sewn in and additional names on labels etc-it's bloody expensive, identical to everyone elses and they are careless!

i work in a primary school btw and have never heard/seen anyone being teased for having name labels on water bottoles! That's a mad thought! Of course it needs labelling!

name everything! i spend enormous amounts of time looking for lost stuff that has no name in

I label anything that costs more than £5. Sticky name labels on everything are a bit 'primary school' though.

DS going into Yr7 here too. Was thinking label uniform, shoes, PE kit but that's all, the coloured name labels do look young now. Calculator is a good point as it's likely a lot of them will have the same one. He's been peeling labels off water bottles for ages now, I've more or less given up on them, sharpies definitely the way to go.

I have a ds going into year 7. He loses everything - I am talking about a child who lost his school shoes twice in year 5 .

I am planning to lable uniform, because he is used to it and will check. I have given up with other stuff. He loses every water bottle, regardless of name tags.

Hehe YES and that should not stop you, they can adopt a cynical 'mums, eh' look!

I love it when Year 7s come up and obviously have keen mothers it's so cute!

Ehhmmmm whats a sharpie?

CMOT This was because although he was 20 he had gone straight from a private school to Oxford. This means that all his laundry was done for him and everything had to be named to get back to him.

We labelled absolutely everything certainly, including rulers, with the sticky labels. Can't see the problem and not much got lost. Our son was keen to have labels on everything and participated in the process, making sure we did not leave anything out.

At secondary labelling is fine for uniform and PE kit, but I really wouldn't do it for a water bottle and basic equipment like ruler's. As a previous poster said, with more expensive items such as a calculator writing their name on the back with a sharpie wouldn't be a bad idea. I've not seen any students at secondary with labels on equipment, and can well imagine some teasing might unfortunately follow. If you absolutely must label, I agree with another poster - use a sharpie!

Sticky name labels are plain embarrassing by that age.

Scrawled name on pencil case stuff with sharpie marker serves the same purpose but won't invite teasing. It's worth labelling pencil cases and calculators etc. I let the dc do it and use tippex for things too dark for a sharpie to show up.

Pipbin, you may have laughed, but I remember my first term at uni sitting in the laundrette, listening to two girls who had decided to do their laundry together suddenly realising that they both had white M&S pants in the same size....

That said, I'm 42, and still have a couple of towels and my scissors with name tapes attached

I have a towel with a name tape on still

It was more of a worry when I went home with a chap to find he had a name tape in his pants!

I used sharpies too. Also wrote her name in her PE trainers. Good job too as she was always forgetting them.

I'd say for rulers, water bottles etc, a sharpied name would be OK, sticky name label, most def not. In fact I think they start to look a bit young by yr5 tbh.

That said, I'm 42, and still have a couple of towels and my scissors with name tapes attached.

I label school clothes, bags and the back of her calculator has her name on it as that cost £10 - this came in handy on one occasion when she left it in class - she was sure it was hers when she saw it on the side.