Things to take to boarding school for the 1st time

Boys : Sliders, reading lamp, crap clothes, crap haircut, some junk food and their phone which they will never use to call you with 😂. Sports paraphernalia or whatever extras they need for their hobbies/electives. My ds has 11 sessions of sport a week at the moment (many of those are electives) . He is in heaven.

Check the torches, alarm clocks, led lights... everything electronic they are taking to see what is required to change the batteries. A small Phillips screwdriver (or similar) might be required. Consider a few spares too, particularly any of the more unusual type batteries.

If your kid is using fountain pens, a piece of rubber or vinyl or some other surface they can put onto their desk.

The whole fountain pen and stationery topic is one that some schools will cater to wonderfully (a couple of decades ago Berkhamsted School had it’s own shop where students, including boarders, could get their supplies and it included excellent paper, perfect for fountain pens, that was quite difficult to get elsewhere), whilst others do not put any importance whatsoever in helping kids match their writing tools with appropriate stationery. Finding the right pen with affordable replacement nibs and paper that takes the ink well and is a pleasure to write on is a gift; a child will probably write many more miles over the course of the next ten years than they will in all the years that follow leaving education.

Depends on how old the child who is starting is, and what their room / dorm set up will be, but large fabrics to pin to the walls if they are single/double rooms.

Crocs.

Easy prep food packages like pasta etc. You know, the naff stuff that you just add water too. School food gets repetitive very quickly. Also squash, and if access to a microwave popcorn.

Games - bop it was a huge hit. Cards.

More than one pair of trainers for sports/gym because they are insanely difficult to dry and used often.

Flashlight / Head lamp

Double towels and double bedding - at our school washing took a week and you can only do your own in sixth form.

Forget slippers and take slides instead. They all wear them with socks - the brand new slippers we bought remain unused.

There’s a fad of decorating dorms with LED lights at my DDs school. Gone are the days of fairy lights.