Secondary School Survival Kit

[Ilovewheelychairs]

Hi hive mind!

I want to create a secondary school survival kit for my lovely Godson who is starting in September and who isn't looking forward to it at all. He's a very anxious child and unfortunately the settling in days didn't go brilliantly for him either.

So far I have:

A notebook
Some nice pens/pencils/highlighters
A stress ball to keep in his pocket/bag
A Costa voucher to take some new friends out with
A memory stick
Maybe a journal/diary of some sort?

Are there any other genius suggestions? Or anything in the above you wouldn't put in for any reason?

Many thanks in advance!

You sound really lovely. As does he!
He might fancy a nice pair of trainers or a new school bag or something if he's worries about fitting in?

ThePhoenixRises I am seeing him for lunch on Saturday so will be giving him things in person. I'm not allowed to take him shopping on his own, I have to take younger brother and Mum with me which makes it harder to treat him as I don't want to overtly treat him differently in front of younger brother. I had to beg to allow him to come to lunch with me and his grandparents on his own (his Grandparents did some talking to Mum for me!). I could give him some money and ask his Grandparents to take him shopping I guess? Although I'm not exactly flush myself at the moment. Was hoping to come up with some thoughtful little things that would help him at school and let him know I was thinking of him.

It's a difficult situation; I spend time and money on him when I can and do write as often as possible as he doesn't like chatting on the phone. I think ultimately he will probably end up living with Grandparents which would be the best thing for him.

His Aunt is involved when she can be too although she has two young children of her own and so is busy and preoccupied. He often stays overnight with his Auntie and they take him out for days out with them etc- they are very well off and so have the funds and time to treat him when they can.

Key ring for his house key and locker key
rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F133075794664

Someone said that sprays were banned at their school but my sons wear Lynx so a bottle of that

Ilovewheelychairs

I was thinking how much nicer the time with you would be, then saw, you can never take him out alone:

I hope he does end up with grandparents full time as it sounds like, that would be so much better for him.

@Ilovewheelychairs you sound like a wonderfully compassionate soul
Make sure you give some of that compassion back to you .

Not RTFT but look on amazon for Rolson money minder key chain. It's a little capsule key ring that you can roll up an emergency fiver into. I gave one (with fiver!) to my friend's daughter when she started secondary and it has apparently been very useful for times when she's been stuck

Great suggestion for the springy key chain for locker key - he can attach it to the inside zip of his blazer, if they wear one at his school.

Decent sized pencil case with stationery? Pritt stick, scissors, ruler, pens, pencils, sharpener, rubber, scientific calculator (I like the Casios, solar powered will save any flat battery panics). The students seem to like Frixion pens at my school.

Hope your godson settles well.

Just a huge thank you to all who've responded. I've taken note of all of your suggestions and when I've made up his little basket of goodies I'll update with a photo!

Our secondary has a list of essentials for Y7 maybe check if his does


Tesco have some double-walled metal water bottles at the moment - in fact I've seen similar ones in a few shops. Like this. I have one, they are excellent for keeping water cool, & the brand I have linked is (IME) leakproof.

I was just coming on to suggest that if you look up the secondary school he's going to OP they should have a list of the things he'll need and what's acceptable for them to have at school.

We have 5DC and our youngest is going upto secondary this september(I'm dreading it but she can't wait thankfully)and we get sent a list from the school but you also usually find it online.

We've had to buy
A backpack.
A lunch bag.
A bottle that matches the lunch bag.
A water bottle.
A scientific calculator,we had to get a specific make.
A black and blue writeing pen.
Writeing pencils.
A maths set.
A large ruler.
Colouring pencils.
Coloured biros.
Rubbers.
A sharpner.
Homework folders.
Highlighters.
A clear pencil case.
Pritsticks.

The bag we got from Superdry(they're very popular with secondary school students)some stores have a sale on at the moment.
The lunch bag and matching bottle we got from Paperchase,when we were getting them for our DS's they usually chose to get those from a sports shop.
The stationary and water bottle we got from Wilko and the Works.

Your Godson is lucky to have you and really hope he does go to live with his Grandparents,living with them sounds like it would be alot happier for him.

Holidays, would you mind sharing which bag you got from Superdry please?
And well done OP for making such a difference to your godson’s life.

What a thoughtful god mum you are ! I’ve got this for my DS To start the school year with from this seller on eBay : hokejist76

rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F323121525881

rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F323647227531

rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F323847479807

Seems like bargain prices for a whole bundle of stationeries which I managed to order some , hope he is looking forward to Saturday with you