Starting school in September, how much uniform do kids need?

[Wonderwalk]

Hi, it’s admission day for primary school today. It got me wondering when looking at the uniform, how much will I need to buy? I’m happy to buy supermarket trousers nad shorts but would like to buy the branded jumper and t shirts. I only tend to do washing at the weekend but could do one midweek wash, how many of everything do you think I would need? Thanks

Also the polo's shrink in the dryer and can get grubby. So if its white you have buy more.

3 kids here and all have branded tracksuits so I have 2 of everything. I do a wash each afternoon of the tracksuits. 2 sons have branded t-shirts so again 2 each. Daughter has plain white polos and I have 5 of them as I only do 1 white wash a week. If they could go in the general wash I'd only have 2. I'd feel like I was drowning in uniforms if we had 5 of everything.

5 of everything. Then you don’t need to worry about mid-week drying.

DS still comes back covered in mud some days (yr 2).

My DS has got food on his jumper most days in reception, so I would suggest you have at least 3 depending on how often you do your washing.

I bought 5 polos with logos
2 jumpers (but need more)
4 pairs of trousers / shorts as you can get them in 2 packs

We had -

6 polo shirts - enough for one a day, plus one for the following Monday in case of a busy (lazy) weekend!

3 pairs of trousers

3 jumpers

2x PE kit

I think it's very dependant on the child, your facilities (dryer?) and also how much time you have to keep on top of it. I was a SAHM until my youngest hit secondary school, so plenty of free time to wash during the week

When DS started secondary school I went back to work so we bought loads of uniform to save any mid week washing

@needadvice54321

We had -

6 polo shirts - enough for one a day, plus one for the following Monday in case of a busy (lazy) weekend!

3 pairs of trousers

3 jumpers

2x PE kit

I think it's very dependant on the child, your facilities (dryer?) and also how much time you have to keep on top of it. I was a SAHM until my youngest hit secondary school, so plenty of free time to wash during the week

When DS started secondary school I went back to work so we bought loads of uniform to save any mid week washing

Also, unless your school insists on it, I wouldn't go mad with logo polos. I used to buy plain ones for sept onwards, then occasionally a couple of logo ones for the summer term (when you'd actually see the logo!)

Top tip from someone who’s been there. Buy the next size up in July when it’s easily available and avoid utter chais when your child sprouts two inches in December and no uniform is available at any of the supermarkets.

In Reception we have:
5 polo shirts
3 pairs of trousers (can sometimes do two days)
3 branded jumpers
5 pairs socks
1 full set gym kit
1 pair school shoes
1 pair school trainers (in normal times cheap ones as they’re left at school and worn for an hour a week)

This is stressing me lol. My son is tall and while he was only 4 in Jan he already needs 5-6 trousers / jumpers to get the leg and arm length. He's a rake as well so most of those are massive round the tummy.

I fear by September he'll need 6-7 trousers ....

I had 5 of everything. Plus a spare pair of knickers and bottoms for accidents to leave at school.

I work in a reception class these days.
Label every single thing! Even gloves, shoes, wellies, PE kit, cardigans, forest school etc.

I'd really recommend sainsburys school uniform, it washes really well And sizes are really good as they are single ages rather than 4-5 etc it's age 4 then age 5

I always order by end June as things do go out of stock

For shoes we use a brand called Geox, they are indestructible! Available in most independent shoe shops and amazon!

Also stikins for clothes labels and the sticker jar for shoe labels

@Twizbe lots of places do slim fit school trousers now which have buttons inside the waist for adjusting.

3-4 of everything is best imo. Be prepared for them to lose and ruin things at first, I hate the expensive logo uniform for this reason alone:

@Twizbe M&S - and maybe others - do extra long trousers. Buy down on age to get a smaller waist, and up on length.
imo, standard - long is one waist size smaller, and extra long is 2 waist sizes smaller. Plus they have the elasticsted/adjustable waists.

Label EVERYTHING. Sharpie works just as well as name tapes. Stikins (or similar) also easy to use. Show your child where the label is and also teach them to smell their own jumper. It’s foolproof

You may like to keep one shirt good for photo day, Christmas assembly, prizegiving etc.

Pinafores tend to keep the girls’ shirts a little cleaner than the boys’.

Also buy or practise using tubs for snack time if he will be taking them. Teachers/ TAs will always help but good to have a head start.

By October half term I had bought five of everything. Before he started I think I had three of everything and had hugely underestimated how dirty he would get every day.
With sizing bigger is better. Easier for them to change themselves, they grown into them and they tend to shrink over time.

@Twizbe
School trousers are pretty much all adjustable now, so should stay up even if they look too wide. M&S are a slimmer fit than the supermarkets and also have longer lengths though.

My advice is speak to the school . My kids now go into school in the PE kits on PE days . It's actually working far better so it may continue . You might find you need another set of PE clothes and 1 set less of actual uniform .

I had no idea about longer length at M&S. I'll be heading there for sure.

He's 114cm at the moment and likely will have another growth spurt before he starts school.

Teacher here - however much you buy, make sure their name is written in Sharpie inside every garment! Not just on the label - I’ve known unscrupulous parents take the labels out of other children’s jumpers - yes, really! In jumpers, write the name inside on the waistband. On the shirts, under the collar and in skirts / trousers again on the waistband nice and big!

Also, if they are back to getting changed for PE in class in September, make sure your child can get dressed and undressed independently. It’s a bloody nightmare when 30 children all need their shirts undoing, tights putting on and trousers returned the right way round and fastened.

I have two girls and I've always purchased 5 full sets. With the covid rules, I'd probably purchase 4 uniform sets and 1 full PE set.

For the winter, I usually get 2 x pinafore, 2 x skirt and 1 pair of trousers / black leggings. My eldest prefers plain black leggings now and they are much easier for younger children to put on instead of tights. Both of them will end up with holes in and need replacing / repairing regularly IME. They've usually outgrown the winter uniform (or ruined it!) by summer term rolls around so then I usually buy 5 x summer dresses. 5 lots of jumpers / cardigans - this is the only item that needs a logo in our school and people definitely cut the tags out with labels on . My eldest loses at least two a term and with Covid, you can't just go into school and dig them out of lost property.

Always get plain white underwear, socks and vests too. I keep that separate from their everyday clothes. I also prefer them to have a separate school coat as they've gone walkabout too.

It's worth asking on local groups for hand-me-downs or making friends with people with older children if you can, don't feel you have to buy new!

Normally I buy a LOT (DD2 is the child who can come out head to toe in green paint)... but with how disrupted things were this year and last, and the fact they wear PE kit all day 2 days a week - we've got through so much less this year.

Keep a couple of polo shirts squirrelled away for when school photo day etc rolls around - especially if you've got a collar chewer like I did at that age - then you can at least whack a nice new looking one on and have them be presentable at the point they enter the building (they sure as fuck won't be by the time the photographer gets there)

I always buy grey or black socks rather than white - I've found the white socks look lovely for about 5 seconds.

Asda also do long length versions of some of their trousers (my kids are tall and DD1 is alllll bloody legs). DD2 is dyspraxic and could lose her head if it wasn't screwed on so we lose a tonne of cardigans - all labelled and these days the caretaker just hands them back to me at the school gate as she's such a frequent offender! Thankfully we don't need logoed stuff at all.

My DD is messy and I work full time and didn't want to be washing mid week or have a huge stress trying to get it through the wash at the weekend so I bought 10 of everything apart from shoes.

From my experience this year, I now know that I should have bought
3 jumpers
5 polo shirts
4 trousers (as usually packs of 2)

I only bought 3 polo shirts and my boy seems to get covered in mud/pen/paint everyday so could have done with more. He always gets hot so doesn't often wear a jumper - hence only needing 3.

But I wouldn't over-but with a full set every day. It is wasteful, uniform is expensive and they will last the school year OF YOU ARE LUCKY!

I think it's pretty much that a 4-5 extra long, a 5-6 long, and a 6-7 regular are all similar length, though you might want to check the size chart. They cost more as they don't come in a two pack but they have adjustable hems you can let down another few cm as well.