Do you label your kids’ school bags???

[PurposefulBear]

Ok boring rookie question. DC1 is starting senior school in September. At his prep school they all had the same school and sports bag, and their names were embroidered on them. Easy, no one loses anything and it gets back to the right person in no time when left on bus / floor / pitch side / track / changing rooms etc etc.

At his next school they can use any bag they like. Have bought a decent North Face bag in black, expecting it to be one of many (ie he just wants to fit in and avoid social suicide).

Question - how do they identify their bags in the event of above?? Or if they’re in a massive pile on floor in sports hall etc.

Does anyone use tags, personalised or otherwise? Key rings? If so what is cool or not?

I am just used to naming everything and the school insists on us doing so, but I don’t know how to name the bags.

Thanks all!

No my dcs have never had a name on their school bag

I write their name in fabric marker on the inside label, but ds has never lost his bag.

Mine have those name stickers on the outside of the bag, on the back at the top, so they can quickly check it's the right one. It has avoided mix ups when lots of kids have the same bag. The stickers also have my phone number in case they leave it somewhere.

Mine are still primary aged, so they're not that concerned about coolness but you can get the stickers very discreet, e.g. just plain black with small white letters.

I label everything that ds takes to school if we want to make sure it comes home! He had a sticker inside his bag with his name on

Name label on the inside of the backstrap out of the way but still there.

Are you really labelling bags for secondary school? I understand at primary school but not as they get older

Realistically they are more likely to get lost at secondary school than primary. In primary they go in and are in the cloak room all day, in most secondaries they get carried from lesson to lesson

I’ve labelled DD’s bag for secondary, but discreetly on the inside so hopefully not too embarrassing. Most students will have planners / books in their bags, which will have their names on.

Mine have their name on the inside label and a keyring on one of the zips, to make it easier to spot in a pile of similar bags.

Super helpful thanks all, sounds like inside strap or label is the way to go. Now to figure out the black Nike sports bag….

No but a lot of young children have charms or keyrings or stickers on theirs so they can tell them apart themselves. As they get older they can choose their own bag, which is usually different from most other children's so they can recognise their own.

Name and (my) phone number in permanent marker on the inside of the bag.

They all have their planner in their bag at all times, so if it is left in a corridor, a classroom, a changing room etc, someone will just open the bag and look at the planner to see whose it is.
If they leave it on a bus or in the park on the way home - the same - helpful member of public opens it, sees a planner for "Nice Town High School" and drops it into school or puts on Facebook they have found it.

I'd leave any decorating with keyrings / badges to your dc's decision. Fitting in, is important at secondary school.

Please write name or initials in permanent pen on everything!! Especially snack boxes, shoes, all clothes. It's a huge time waster in class and not the problem of staff to locate your missing gym bag, jumper or water bottle.

Not the bag itself as there are tons of things in it with their names already. Workbooks, planner, lunch box or water bottle.

Apart from PE, it was rare that DD ever let go of her bag, it seems surgically attached to her.

I would me more worried about making sure you name the pe bag and everything in it, when my eldest dd was in Y7 she lost 2 complete PE bags with full named kit including trainers. I was not best pleased. We did not get any of it back.

As others have said the planners should be in the sch bag to ID who the bag belongs to and write his name somewhere inside the bag.

Initials in permanent marker, somewhere inconspicuous. Charms etc can be removed and some kids are arseholes.

Name inside (plus address and your mobile, they leave them anywhere!!)

I always got more unusual patterns too, easier with girls

No planners for my two but I tend to write first initial and last name on the inside of the backpack along with my phone number e.g. A JONES 07856 123 456 This works for winter coats, PE bags and anything else that's vulnerable to being left on a bus. For musical instruments, I have metal dog tag keyrings made up with the same info and fix them to the outside of the case.

I use a white fabric marker on the black inside of the bag. For pencil cases and blazers, my DC ask me to label them with A. JONES, 8W (or whatever the form is called).

I'd be wary of writing your address if there's any chance your door key will be in the bag.

Exactly.

DH got me a luggage tag with my favourite photo of a pet plus just my phone number, no name or address.