Boarding school tips (sixth form girl)

When my DD went away to school, all her uniform was delivered to house with name tags sewn in. Other stuff that arrived unlabelled eg duvets came back at the end of the term also with labels sewn on (I assume by the Dame). I thought most schools offered this! Even both my DS as day pupils had this service at their school. Sorry if that sounds entitled in a Catherine Tate way.

I still find the odd thing with a name tape in it!!

I offloaded some towels to the boarding teen who was most amused to find that they were loving labelled MauveMavis Boarding House....

My experience was all uniform had to be labelled (games kit on the outside) but casual clothes and underwear did not .

That was because our laundry system was that all non uniform clothing was laundered in wash bags in big commercial washing machines and then tumble dryed in the same bags.... school uniform went off to the external laundry hence the need to be labelled very clearly.

Other schools had different laundry systems so having your pants labelled became more important!

Thanks @ChequerBoard. I'll send some spare Stickins with DD and can order some sew in tapes if completely necessary. I'll also send her with a Sharpie - initials on labels with a Sharpie last forever!

@Card1gan you will be fine, Stickins always arrive incredibly quickly. As I said upthread I have/had 2 DC boarding and we use them on lots of things. You just have to be aware that they do peel off over time. Send a fresh sheet of them with your DC so they can replenish when needed and get them into the habit of checking labels when things come back from the wash.

I would still see in tapes to expensive and most frequently mislaid items like blazers though.

@TheOccupier My DD is about to start at boarding school for sixth form. We don't have a clue what we're doing either. I just wanted to say that I only ordered Stickins last night, so our 'not acceptable' name tapes may not even have arrived in time (although, in fairness to Stickins they have already dispatched the order)!

I hope your DN settles quickly and enjoys her experience. My DD is really looking forward to it even though she's a little apprehensive of the unknown.

*subsidising

Get her a nice fancy wash bag to carry everything back and forth

We got DD2 some towels with her name embroidered on them, so that they found their way back to her. Also, nice bedding, fairy lights, an agenda if the school doesn’t supply one. A photo frame that can hold different sized photos. Nice shower gel.

With the bedding and towels, I would choose a strong colour as the school laundry turns everything that is a light colour, grey.

won't she have access to washing machines etc, to get used to self-caring, ready for going to college.
give her some good multi-colured sharpie permanent markers.
can put name on washing label of garment.
also useful for hard items, laptops etc.

DS's school had a "sewing lady" in each boarding house !!
They had to leave the garment which needed repairing or naming, with a polite note asking her to do whatever was required!

I think most schools clear out their rooms at the end of each term. Overseas pupils can usually leave stuff at school, but the bedrooms are cleared out.

I would set DN up with a uk bank account, using your address if necessary. Go henry is generally for younger children.

Warning - washing bags can come undone in the wash!!!!

OP this was an article written a while back about Carole Middleton...

"She did what?! Is she mad?" scoff any number of mothers and fathers sitting near me. It seems that the one item in the list that really gets people's backs up is the name labels (best say "name tape" if you are talking to Tatler). According to the "mother with a daughter in the same house as Kate at Marlborough" whom Tatler writer Celia Denison spoke to: "It was unthinkable that they would end up resorting to marker pen on labels like the rest of us."

Don't worry OP this is quite ridiculous. Stick on's are just fine. Boarding schools and the parents you find in them can be as varied as chalk and cheese and many parents take the easy route and don't sew labels. You are about to find out that people are people whatever institution they inhabit - there will be a little 'illicit' borrowing but generally things shouldn't wander far.

Logically - I cannot answer that question because I have no first or second-hand experience of stuck on name-tapes! They’re just not part of boarding school culture.

Said in a Catherine Tate ‘Aga Saga Woman’ voice surely.

Maybe you need to ensure your niece takes some ‘good brie’ for her tuck box OP.

Logically - I cannot answer that question because I have no first or second-hand experience of stuck on name-tapes! They’re just not part of boarding school culture.

I recall taking a child for their first day at boarding prep - a House Mistress hovered over everyone’s unpacking, handing out indelible marker pens to parents wherever she spotted an un-named plimsoll or rucksack. And the one or two last minute items of clothing bought and sent during the first couple of weeks () were not allowed to be used by the child until one of the House Assistants had sewn name-tapes into them. (This was a lot of work and a great nuisance for them.)

By senior school level we made fewer errors. I’m sure most sixth form girls behave impeccably ) as regards clothes - but inevitably, where people are living in a group, things get mislaid or mixed up …

DN can sew her own name tapes, or at least share the task.

As long as sons and nephews are sewing in theirs, too! (Not a phenomenon I have ever witnessed.)

Neither DSis nor I can face sewing in nametapes

DN can sew her own name tapes, or at least share the task.

Both my dc's boarding school specified sew in labels.
Both their duvets and toppers had "1805" written on as well with thick permanent marker!
Battery fairy lights, snugly blanket, cushion, good PJ's and dressing gown, one of those jumper/blanket things.

Hot water bottle??
Some pound coins for charity home clothes days/cake sales.
Plenty of phone data in case of poor WiFi
Good, but not too expensive earphones/pods (named)

As an Aunty, send a parcel to her each term with tuck, or other little gifts. DD's best parcel I sent (according to her) contained 15 small tubes of Pringles . Noodles also stupidly popular.

A nice gift might be a picture frame, or a ring, or earrings, according to school policy. Again, not too expensive. Things will get lost and o missing.

My daughter was in school during a lockdown, and she took in a projector to watch films through!

Boarding can be great fun, and wonderful, close friendships are formed. I hope she settles in well. Good luck!

Food items always appreciated at school - in my day it was chocolate and nice biscuits...

My "not a godchild" is at boarding school - I send the odd parcel - noodles, sprite and pringles were the request. I send a separate postcard about twice a term (although there has been a request to put them in an envelope to stop other people reading them.... )

With suggestions of stuff to take I would suggest homely stuff for around her bed space - nice cushion/ photos/ maybe some of the LED battery powered lights.

We used to spend a lot of time lounging around in PJs so good quality ones were a nice thing to have.

I would also suggest nice quality towels assuming the school can handle laundering them (we were expected to provide our own but the teenagers school provides for them and can't handle laundering personal towels).

I still have my tuck box and use it as a coffee table (I left school more than 25 yrs ago!) so although it wasn't essential I'm glad I bought one when I went to school.

Sewn-on name tapes are and have been compulsory at every boarding school I’ve known, OP. And they go on everything that can be sewn - no exceptions.

You can pay people to do this for you - but you’ve left it a bit late …

Don't be daft, peeling off a sticker takes seconds and needs no equipment. Removing a properly sewn in name tape needs a stitch unpicker, knife or scissors and takes minutes.

There are obvious needle holes where a sewn in tape has been removed, not so with Stickins.