12.5kg school backpack no lockers

At DDs school, they actually have 5 large fridges in each food classroom so that ingredients can be stored safely. (And the cooked product stored correctly)

@Octavia64

Get him to ask the food tech teacher if he can leave his ingredients in the store cupboard and the beginning of the day

ask his tutor/form teacher if he can leave his PE kit in her classroom.

• So what happens when the other 1000 pupils or even 10 ask to do the same?

Oh does seem a shame. Here textiles are now a part of the Art curriculum, although it was part of HE when I was at school. Product design - is that like Design & Technology? Or is it something different? Design & Technology is also taught all year round here.

Most schools here now have 5-6 periods a day but some still use the older style timetable of 9-10 periods a day so in junior school (1st-3rd form) when there are less doubles and triples you could have up to 7/8 subjects per day. In my DC’s school they have 9 periods a day and I like it because they always get triple PE and HE so 1hr, 45 min each week for those subjects. Tech and Art are always either doubles or triples. The schools that have 5 periods a day have lessons lasting 1hr each and most schools don’t have doubles for anything until senior school (6th form), maybe a very occasional one at GCSE years, but they’d be rare. It’s really hard to get anywhere with practical lessons in an hour. I was on staff in an HE department for years and it was a nightmare getting the pupils to prep, cook and clean up in an hour. They simply didn’t have time to learn the skills that my DC get in an hour and 45min

Soup.

So 33 secondary school student then had to take home a vat of soup each on the bus?! 😆

Where do you suggest a school with 1500-2500 pupils let's them store their PE kit?

It's fairly obvious what he made from those ingredients, surely?

you’d think

oh goodness.. did anyone suggest that??!

what did he make?
Did he then bring home?!

600ml of stock shoved in his backpack with trainers, PE kit and the numerous textbooks you mention? oh and with a leek, potato etc alongside it all. That was brave!

Not having anywhere for kids to store their PE kit is just mean. Please don’t buy him a wheelie bag, though: social suicide!

ah,that makes sense. here it's rotated so there's a term of home ec food, a term of home ec textiles and a term of product design.

It was the same when I was at school now I think of it.

I'm feeling lucky it's still taught as I know of at least one local school that dropped it completely!

Yes my daughters bag is so heavy

I mean there can only be 5 books a day surely?

Trainers 1kg? The weight of a bag of sugar?

Im going to weigh DD's bag later, I don't know how heavy it is but it's heavier than I would want.to carry!
No.lockers, not even an exercise book per subject (some are kept at school) but the ones she does keep yes she has those subjects everyday. Apart from spanish, so one book she could leave out one day.
She carries most.of her stationery in her blazer pocket as well 😆

Goodness - is he on SAS training camp?

12.5kg is what my bag weighed for a week in the Canary Islands. So no, he's not only taking the essentials.

As I said in my post - exercise books/jotters easily fit within the popper wallets linked, as do school produced booklets and even many text books. (Tricolor fits in perfectly)

I have 4 DC and they have all used lever arch files with these popper wallets in them to save space and weight in their bags.

Yes - Home Economics as it is called here in NI is taught all year round. It includes much more than cooking, hence why they don’t cook every week. I had no idea Food Tech was only taught for a term in other schools/other areas of the UK. (Although I knew the GCSE options were different as when CCEA introduced their Food & Nutrition GCSE a number of years ago, there were schools in England who wanted to be able to teach the spec and have their students sit the exam but couldn’t as CCEA is only available to schools within NI)

We’ve had this issue too, weighed at the end of summer term when DD was in year 8 as DD was complaining about backpack making shoulders and back ache. 13 kgs.
That includes Chromebook (from year 7 onwards), subject book for all 5 periods, reading book, pencil case, calculator, plus a couple of sundries such as a snack, water bottle, sanitary towels etc. I thought the idea of Chromebooks was to eliminate the full need for books. DD also carries a separate lunch bag.
The school does have lockers available at a cost of £20 a year but they are largely for P.E. Kit as they are not allowed to pop to the locker between lessons. Worse when it’s blooming Food Tech as they get all that to bring to and from school too. DD has a walk to train station, train journey then walk to school (10 mins). Outstanding school, but with a whole load of back issues just waiting to happen. Don’t get me started on the fact that they are using screens for the best part of the day!

I'm really surprised no lockers at my child's school! Lugging round PE kit, trainers, lunch box, books and a wet coat if it's been raining!

Same at daughter's school... cooking every week so far. I'm really pleased as I was worried there wouldn't be much cooking.

That does NOT surprise me. I've been meaning to weight DS bag too. Will make an effort to now... Will report back

Just over 7kg here. Five lessons tomorrow, plus after school music group. Five exercise books (fat with glued in worksheets), 4 textbooks (for three subjects), English lit text and a4 “fill in” workbook. Pencil case and calculator. Musical instrument (thankfully a flute) and music folder. Reading/library book. Small pouch with emergency sanpro/spare hair bands/anti histamines etc. Will add packed lunch tomorrow. She doesn’t take a drink as the toilets are grim af. No pe tomorrow, but that weighs as they don’t know if they are inside or outside in advance so need two pairs of footwear (studs for mud/grass or clean trainers for inside/astro). We have pe kit in separate kit bag, but it still needs to be carried around all day. This is a not fancy local comp.

Secondary school