What size backpack for secondary school?

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How much stuff do they usually carry around with them? Is 16L (40 x 28x 20cm) large enough? Or should I go for the 23L which is 46 x 28 x 22?
He'll have a separate bag for sports kit.

We are on year 5 of DC's similar North Face rucksack. Despite him carrying around 10kg of stuff every day it's as good as when we bought it.

It's a lot to spend but imho worth it compared to replacing a bag every year.

@PurposefulBear

What do they use to carry stationary?

Well a pencil case only holds pens and pencils, maybe a sharpener/rubber and I can't speak for all but mine just put them in a section of their bag.

Have a look on the school website, there’s often pictures of kids in the playground/in corridors with their bags.

You just need one that will fit A4 books in. Most have Adidas or Nike here in black, a bit of colour on the logo/zips maybe. Then a separate sports bag.

My DC pencil case holds (routinely) pens, pencils, rubber, sharpener, calculator, protractor, ruler, glue stick and a highlighter. Having tried different pencil cases out, I've settled on good quality clear plastic zip ones because it's easy to see what's in it, and fabric ones get either very grubby or scribbled on!

Also, my kids started off with a pencil case but within weeks all their stationery was in their blazer pockets. Totally stupid, their pockets are over full but just leave them to it.

By the time they get to 6th form, they realise how stupid they are and even start wearing coats. 😅

@BringOnSummerHolidays his Yr 6 one is a Minecraft one so I was assuming that would be higher on the social suicide level than a plain black one.
The only info we have is a photo of the contents of the pencil case they will be issued with on the first day which they have to have in each lesson. I've no info on folders/textbooks etc.
adidas was an absolute no-go for primary and as all will be in the same secondary, I assume there as well.
North Face is a bit out of budget right now.

He doesn't care what he has (yet) and told me to choose.

At DD's school they issued a huge list of mandatory stationary:

3 different colours for pens for self-marking, marking others, correction work and then black/blue for the actual writing
pencils
highlighters
rubber
sharpner
ruler
maths equipment and maths was 4 out of 5 days each week
colouring pencils
glue stick

If you were caught short it meant same day detention. And with blazers only worn by Y7-9 the stuff needed to be kept somewhere.

That’s the point. To all be the same. If in doubt, I would buy Nike. It’s the coolest mid range brand. Failing that, Adidas. The decathlon bag will be social suicide.

As for size, it depends if the school has lockers. My dd doesn’t carry the folders, she puts what she needs in a plastic wallet and keeps the folders at home… but you need to be super organised and not need all the info etc.

PE kit squashed in a separate tiny drawer string bag. When Year 10) dd was in year 7 and 8, Kudos was gained if your PE bag was a plastic one from places like JD or footassylum. Not sports direct.

At least a 30l one. They carry so much stuff.

https://www.adidas.co.uk/power-backpack/HB1324.html Ds has this one (he doesn’t take an extra bag on pe days, he can just about manage to get it all in the one bag).
https://www.adidas.co.uk/adicolor-backpack/H35596.html Dd had variations of this one through high school (now at college). There seems to be a lot of these around as I take ds to school.

i try to notice things like bags as ds doesn’t and I want him to fit in.

Nike is a safe bet. None of ours seemed worried about the style of their pencil case though. Just something simple from Wilkos.

How did she fit a geometry set, scientific calculator, 30cm ruler, art pencils, markers, fine liner, pens, pencils, etc in her blazer? The list I've been given includes a whiteboard as well as all the above and more. My DS bag weighs 10kg on an average day and that's not including pe kit.

Ha. Your child goes to a very canny school who are using parents in order to save on their own stationery budget. That is not a typical equipment list for most state schools. BYO whiteboard is particularly cheeky!

How did she fit a geometry set, scientific calculator, 30cm ruler, art pencils, markers, fine liner, pens, pencils, etc in her blazer? The list I've been given includes a whiteboard as well as all the above and more. My DS bag weighs 10kg on an average day and that's not including pe kit.

She didn't. She had about three pens, three highlighters, protractor and a pencil and a glue stick. Her ruler was 15cm. She put her calculator in her bag.

She has coloured pencils and fine liners at home but as far as I know she never needed those for school because if she had needed them, she would have taken them as she's very conscientious.

Her PE kit was shorts and one of those tops made from football shirt material so the whole kit probably weighed 500g without the trainers. I forgot the socks.

It varies by school from @BlackeyedSusan lists my kids didn't have half that

Exercise books, dd yes ds no books kept by teachers in school permanently like primary
Text book (occasionally) not seen until dd went to sixth form college with reading lists it was worksheets or online
PE kit in the bag so you are not losing post COVID DD wore in on pe days as they never went back to changing D's did have kit but seperate and cheap joggers and t shirt £100 equipment
Trainers daily for the astro to play football at break? Not a thing at schools here
Coat. Plus blazer in summer.possibly jumper depending on your kid/school blazers generally enforced until kids start passing out then they tied round waist/threaded through strap, coats were not worn ever
Lunch, mine used to a snack and eat after-school as no real space to eat
Water bottle in summer
Food tech ingredients and box to carry result home in which needs to be put in flat. (Possibly same day as PE kit. ) Always seperate bag and only once week one term per year
Pencil case contents DD has beautiful stationery collections D's has a biro in his pocket regardless of what I say
Maths kit ? A protractor etc, dd had in pencil case not seen Ds ever use
Calculator
Their phone. (Though that often migrates to the blazer pocket even though it shouldn't) always in pocket so didn't get stolen
A football ????
Any medication dd had paracetamol for period pain but technically banned
Musical instruments and books possibly. Mine didn't but surely most instruments you carry seperate as wouldn't fit

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Mine have always had North Face Vault. You can usually find it on sale somewhere. They last really well and are a good size.

DS - just finished Y9 - uses a 30L Eastoak rucksack. No lockers at his school, usually has :
2 or 3 text books,
English reading book,
3 or 4 exercise books,
pencil case, calculator
Packed lunch and drink
Food for FFT once a fortnight
Cagoule and umbrella

In separate bags:
PE kit - twice a week
Guitar - twice a went

They will need to fit around 5 A4 books per day plus a PE kit twice a week including shoes, so nothing too small or they will not be able to do it up! Also maybe a packed lunch box and definitely a water bottle. Potentially cooking ingredients in Year 7 too for a few weeks.

They do not like to go to the lockers even if they have one as they can't be bothered to use their free time walking to it, so everything needs to be in the bag all day.

What sort of packed lunch box and water bottle do secondary school kids use?

DS had a unbranded backpack, there were many different bags, not a uniform one

DD(16) upgraded from a 16L Kanken to the 17" laptop one for years 10 and 11.

She could just about squeeze her games kit in. It's a useful size bag for overnighting and flight carry on.

Both seem bombproof, but some schools/kids are funny about bags.

Unless you are currently using a TINC or Smiggle bag, I'd be inclined to buy a replacement once you know what you are going to need to carry.

My son just has one of those Sistema boxes and varying types of water bottles - they never last! Plain stuff. He usually picks it himself but he often buys food from school instead.

A primary school style packed lunch bag is also a no no. DC1 had one with her but pretty soonish she told me it’s for babies. She is now using a Sistema Tupperware box. The type adults put sandwiches in.

We need one big enough for the Chromebook, PE kit and packed lunch.

He wears black trainers to school to avoid carrying them in PE days.

As for drinks bottle. DC1 isn’t cool and she has her old chilli still. I think they are all wanting air up?