School Shoes

[backtolifebacktoreality]

Out of interest. How much would you spend on school shoes for a teenage boy who is in men's shoes?

He will occasionally play football in them at lunchtime. I've previously told him to change into trainers to play football. He did and left his shoes around and lost them!!!!

How big are his shoes ?

DS is a size 7 (so quite small) and walks to school daily. I paid £55 and expect them to last until he grows out of them or end of the school year.

He's a man's size 11.

I just feel mean as I don't really want to pay over about £50 as he's still growing.

However, I don't know if I'm being unreasonable?

Knowing what our local secondary schools are like and how strict they are, nothing comes in any less than about 30-40

£50-£60

I’ve spent £65 on a men’s size 13 for my teen ds

I know what you mean by still vowing. Ds has been a 7 for 2 years even though his height has gone up massively. I bought his shoes last week but am nervous he'll suddenly go up a size.

Mine walks to school in all weathers so I think that £50 shoes work out as better value but he's not lost any so I don't feel like I've been cheated. The trainers he wears out of school cost more even though he wears them less and travels in a car at weekends.

His shoes must be somewhere though surely? If taken off to put trainers on which would've been in his bag or locker?
Did he bother to ask at the office/lost property?

I paid £45 for my DD's school shoes so £50 is fine.

If he lost them through his own stupidity, the cheapest ones possible from Shoe Zone - circa £15 - £20.

He's got some relatively mild learning difficulties which makes it difficult for him to focus and organise himself etc. He's always losing things. It's a big school. Things don't always find their way back to Lost Property!

Hmmm.... tbh £35 purely because they do loose them. DS is dyspraxic in a SEN school and although he doesnt tend to loose things I'm still bitter about his older brother losing a pair of Nike airs and his superdry coat with his entire PE. Never again.

Where you find them at that price in that size I'm not sure. Ds is a 8 and I can still get Clark outlet kid shoes but I dont think they go up beyound a 9.

At the £55 mark they are easy to find but I'm just loath to take the risk. I feel your pain

I spend £50-60 for my children’s shoes. DS2 is growing like a weed and wears a size 9, he’s nearly 13.
He is really hard on his shoes, he had 2 pairs of shoes last year, it would have been 3 if it hadn’t been for the lockdown in January.
I’d rather buy quality leather shoes than cheap plastic ones that I’d have to replace even more often.

My teen is a size 9, and wear Skechers or similar. He’s not fussed on the make to be fair, they just have to be ridiculously lightweight, pull on, and black. Thankfully his school don’t have a strict uniform policy, so he gets to be comfy.

Forgot to add, his last Skechers cost about £45, his current pair that are the same style were a supermarket job at £15.

What are the rules on shoes for school and is there any flexibility to take account of his difficulties? In your situation, I think I'd be looking to buy a robust pair of shoes that would also pass for trainers/vice versa. That way, they should fit well, last until he outgrows them and would be unlikely to get lost because he wouldn't need to change into trainers. If the school is strict on shoes not being allowed to look trainery, I would buy a cheaper pair of shoes and a cheaper pair of trainers on the basis that either pair may be lost before being outgrown.

Either way, I would also invest in a white permanent marker like this one and label the inside of each shoe and trainer where the arch of the foot goes. Write B.REALITY 9S (or whatever form he is in). Photograph each pair so the style is clear but also photograph from above so the labelling can be clearly seen. Send the photos to your DS with a message saying 'photos of trainers/shoes Sept 2021'. If he leaves any of the shoes/trainers lying around, it's more likely it'll be returned to him if it's clear which form he's in. Having the photographs will also mean that if he ever makes it to lost property/goes looking for the forgotten item with a friend, they know what they're looking for.

If he doesn't already have his name and form written on the inside of his pencil case, blazer, jumper and other easily-left items, it might be a good time to do so. I also write my mobile number on the inside of bags, coats, PE bags and instrument cases e.g. B.REALITY, 9S, 07823 123 456 so if anything is left on a bus, it will be nice and easy for the finder to get in touch with me.

A friend's daughter is dyspraxic. She lost her full PE kit at the first week of high school. It wasn't in Lost Property.
The kit was quite expensive and my friend had to replace it all. She's a single mum and money is incredibly tight. At the end of the first year a teacher was clearing out his classroom cupboards and came across her PE bag/kit and gave it back to her. She'd left it in his class and he apparently put it in the cupboard rather than take it to the office. My friend was, quite rightly, not impressed!

If it helps, feet are the thing that grows first and stops first during puberty. My DSs feet didn't grow after age 13/14 but they still grew a fair bit taller. I went to highschool at 5'1 and size 6 feet. Ended up 5'10 with size 6 feet.

DS2 is dyspraxic but not diagnosed until 17. He lost everything at least once. The laces from his shoes was an unusual one...