How much school uniform?

[Carolwithane]

DS 4 starts P1 in August (we're in Scotland)

Started thinking about buying his uniform but I'm not sure what I need. How many pairs of trs, jumpers, shirts etc.....

Also he is tall but slim, any recommendations for trousers? Is it worth buying more expensive brands or better with Asda etc....

I feel as if I don't know where to start so thus far I haven't started at all 😂

Stikin name labels are really excellent.

We’re a shirts and pinafores school, so we have 5 shirts, 3 cardigans and 2 pinafores (expensive, so
fewer of them!) - which I reckon would probably translate to 5 shirts, 3 jumpers and 3 pairs of shorts - colours much easier to wash midweek so don’t need as many of them, whereas as a PP mentions, need to build up more to justify a white wash.

We have 5 sets of uniform for DS2 starting school. We don't have a tumble dryer for the winter and I remember ds1 very rarely coming out of school with a item of clothing clean enough to wear again. We get school uniform from Sainsbury's with a few school branded bits from the school supplier or the school's second hand shop.

Oh also Tesco school shirts are much more generous size wise than John Lewis, feel nicer and wash just as well.

You definitely need enough for a week without washing (I'm also in Scotland, drying washing in time is not something that can be guaranteed!) and we find the supermarket stuff fine. One logo jumper for photos - which DS wasn't allowed to wear much until he'd had the photo taken! Sainsbury's is good for long length trousers and they have a patch on the inside of the knees to make them harder-wearing. All of the trousers we bought have adjustable waists and as far as shorts go, we bought two pairs to start P1 (was scorching weather) that he was still wearing on the last day of P2... a lot shorter but still fitted at the waist and looked pretty new (worn for maybe a couple of months total) and only needed replaced because they would have been far too short in P3!

Biggest problem we had was finding joggers for PE that were long enough and had an adjustable waist - we bought (and passed on) a few pairs where it turned out that the waist tie was decorative, so whilst they fitted in the length, they would fall straight down. Nowhere seemed to be consistent re waist ties (bought some from Sainsbury's once with a real waist tie, grabbed some extras a few months later which looked identical and it was just decorative, which we didn't discover until he was putting them on) and we haven't found anywhere that does a long length jogger - let us know if you come across any! Conversely PE shorts seemed to be very small in the waist so I bought the largest size that looked like it would fit DS (age 9 for a 5yo!) and they are still going strong - again, not worn that much.

Shoes - our uniform was relaxed on outside shoes as they had to have plimsolls for indoors, so other than first day photos, DS wore whatever practical shoes he had - this did mean that they got trashed a lot quicker though! Plimsolls, while not expensive, were a nightmare to find in stock - if you find them, buy them and the next size! As they live in school, you don't always find out that your child is wearing tatty/torn/too small plimsolls until the end of term 🙄

Last thing - socks - although the uniform says black/grey etc, DS informed me that 'everyone else' has cool socks instead, so I did relent on that and now he can show off his Minecraft socks when he's changing his shoes which is obviously very important to him 😄

I like stamptastic for labeling.

You need a full week's set but honestly, my life was transformed in P2 by buying 10 polo shirts. Then if I was away or extra busy (or just forgot) to wash at the weekend, there were plenty. It also made for a 'full' white wash which is the sort of thing I get anal about.

Trousers, I don't know if it was a DS thing, but they tended not to get so mucky and could just be sponged. M&S definitely the best for boys with no waist.

The other thing to check is shoes. At our primary school they had to wear slippers or gym rubbers indoors so there was no point at all in buying 'school' shoes - he just wore his normal trainers to and from school. Personally I think school shoes are a waste of money for active wee ones either way as they just get wrecked, and don't get me started on girls school shoes, but it's definitely worth checking you aren't burning £40 for nothing.

Our primary has a specific uniform. We have managed with two skorts and three polos plus 5 pairs of tights and 3 long sleeve thermals for the winter. One branded fleece which is £££ but is fine as barely worn by hot blooded daughter.

Thank you so much, some great advice

Will find out about the PE and shoe situation

I'm another who has enough for clean every day. That's said my youngest just finished P1 is a lot less messy than my older kid. He tends to keep his sweaters on so kept his white polo's clean. He's also worn shorts most of the year (few fights over shorts and snow / heavy rain) so his trousers are still in good condition. Big boy destroys school trousers and polo's.

I'd go for a mix of shirts and polo's. I generally stick to M&S polo's, trousers I'm finding Next harder wearing than M&S.

Depends on your washing strategy. If you do a load a day, 3 of everything will be fine. We have 5 polos and 4ish jumpers and trousers and that's loads.

You could try buying trousers from different shops this year, then you'll work out his favourite for next year.

I used to spot clean stuff and bought Asda trousers because the knees ripped just as much with M&S stuff as cheap stuff.

They seem to grow so much I just bought the supermarket stuff (both Asda and Sainsbury's have been fine.) School trousers or shorts often come in packs of two so I usually buy two packs so I have four of each, same with jumpers/polo shirts.

I bought Clarks shoes when DD1 started Reception but she grows so quickly (has gone up 3 shoe sizes since September) that now I just get the shoes from Shoe Zone or the supermarkets and they're fine.

Also check if your school does second hand uniform sales, ours does and it's £1 an item so it's a great way of picking up uniform cheaply.

We have 3 full sets of uniform, along with enough polo shirts for the whole week. I just make sure I always do a uniform wash on a Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. I work part time and have a drier if it’s wet, so it’s not a huge issue for me.

My DD is much less messy than DS and can rewear the same outfit twice, but DS just seems to roll in mud and nothing is ever clean enough for a second day.

Try to get trousers that are as easy as possible to get on and off for going to the toilet is my advice. Those one's with the metal fasteners are so tricky.

I bought multiples from ASDA at that age.

Mine were mucky puppies that needed a clean uniform every day so we bought 5 of everything.

Depends on how much of a filth magnet your child is...

I have about a week and a half's supply so I can get through a week. Some days I'm sponging them off before they even leave the house and others it's already time to change (due to dyspraxia, our routine is to get dressed, and gradually work towards the front door so breakfast then ablutions as the downstairs toilet is by the door)

No point in changing when they get in. Why sully two outfits? 😂
(Different if you have the variety who can stay clean for 6+ hours)

M&S is best for a range of cuts for non-average children.