Year 7 Essentials

Adidas backpack is what most of the girls have in our year 7. Plain pencil case and if anything like my daughter a plastic wallet thing for books as her bottle leaks all the time! We don't have a PE bag as they just put it in a JD bag in her bag - apparently not cool to have a separate one. Secondary school is certainly an eye opener and came as quite a shock but loving it now and we have both found our feet. Good luck!

Female friendships in year 7 are volatile. Be prepared for many tears. By Xmas. In Jan and later.
If they have made great friends in primary stick with them.

And my DS is not bothered by brands, but we went with a firetrap backpack, and nike sports bag and both have been good.

See if there is a fb group for 2nd hand uniform for the school. Is useful for picking up spare PE kit, ties etc as can be expensive new if needs to be school specific (think our pe kit is £16 a top and £15 for shorts!).I think theres also a uniform sake once a term. Yours may have similar.

It varies from school to school. This is my experience though:
Stationary, pencil case and calculator is cheapest when bought through the school
Primary school may well give out calculators or French dictionaries as a leaving present to the year 6's so don't buy stuff too soon.

Everyone in year 7 has a blazer that's either second hand or 3 sizes too big because they are so expensive, same with pe kit.

Don't buy football boots until they are doing football in pe, it might not be until February and their feet will grow fast at this age.

Hype back packs and a drawstring bag for the pe kit.

Buy extra pe kit because at my dc school they wear pe kit every day during enrichment week and during heatwaves.

My daughter (current year 7) has a pencil case with most bits in but also a blazer pocket set of stationery. We didn't wear blazers at my secondary school so this is all new to me. Multiple bag/home/blazer stationery is definitely the way to go.

She has a black tote bag from Primark. I think we went through about three or four different bags until she settled on this one. Her PE kit is either in a cheap black drawstring bag I got from Amazon, or she just shoves it in her tote.

Oh also, if a tie is part of the uniform, buy three. We lost two in the first half term, and luckily we have a uniform shop in town that serves all the local secondary schools and you can buy ties from them. The student services office in the school is supposed to have spares available to buy but they often don't have any. Otherwise I'd have to order online and delivery takes a while!

No pencil cases here either. Be prepared for everything to live in the blazer pockets. Keep a stash of spare biros at home but not much other stationary seems to be used
Black rucksack preferably with Nike logo. Lots of white socks (again the Nike logo is preferred) Bag is just used for pe kit and lunch
I've been genuinely surprised how little has been needed

A spare key in a lock box if he/she is letting themselves in.

your post has really made me chuckle

If you are going to attach a house key to your DC's bag (as opposed to blazer pocket) and they travel by public transport, perhaps make sure that your home address isn't also somewhere in the bag, just a mobile phone number for contact, in case the bag is left on the bus / train / tube.

Don't buy Clarks boys shoes (unless they chuck in a complementary tube of Gorilla Glue).

My daughter has this backpack since year 7, and still going strong 3 years later! She has no wish to change it so hopefully will last until year 11
https://www.trekitt.co.uk/rucksacks/everyday-commuter-packs/fjallraven-vardag-25-black__44317

She wouldn’t be seen with a tote bag, nor would her friends.

she still loves a pencil case!

Make sure you and your DC can access relevant apps. All homework at DD’s school is on Google classroom which you can monitor. I also have EduLink where I get messages, behaviour points, achievement points etc.

Don’t stew over any worries - contact the form tutor and ask. They would really rather know rather than worries at home.

Friendship groups do change - DD has several groups of friends. You don’t really get to know their parents which feels a bit weird when they want sleepovers, but I went with. (I can’t keep track - no not that Izzie, Izzie who sits with me in Maths and does X.)

Extra-curricular is a good way to meet new people and often older years too who help them navigate things.

Teenagers hate coats. They don't want to carry multiple bags so don't bother with a PE bag...apparently its cooler to use a Lidl carrier bag and then you won't look too 'try hard'. The girls love pastel highlighters at my school. Here the favouritds are Eastpac or Vans backpacks or an Urban Outfitters tote for the girls. Black Nike backpacks for the boys.

You're welcome. This time last year I was a nervous wreck so fully appreciate how it feels to send your first to secondary! Honestly the first year will fly by although the first half term I lived on my nerves and it felt like an eternity 😆

DD has a plain black Hype backpack. PE kit lives in a carrier or Primark tote bag.
Pencil cases are so yesterday and her blazer pockets are stuffed full. Although she has a plain black pencil case for her maths equipment.
She just takes food loose in her bag too - just a selection of boxes.
Coat is never worn. She has one as I feel she ought to have one, but she doesn’t wear it.
We have a good stock of stationery, paper and ink for the printer at home.

My son's school only allows transparent pencil cases. This is pretty common I think. They say its so they can check the pupils have everything required at the beginning of class.