To sodding hate book bags

[Gileswithachainsaw]

They never last dd2s is getting a hole in the corners on top of the Velcro starting to fail meaning as soon as you put the water bottle in the flap just comes open when you carry it.

She's going to need a new one for September on top of the new uniform and shoes and they can't have a bag til juniors. For an extra few quid I could by a decent quality back pack and get a couple of years or more out of it. All dd1s back packs have lasted well. Instead I'm replacing the book bags with another book bag that won't last...

They are such a sodding waste of money... Grrrr

The books are only changed once or twice a week and homework once. The on,y reason they are opened and closed so much is cos they fill it full of adverts and magazines and book club catalogues.

Take away the advertising they'd not need to go in them so much that having a backpack hanging on a peg would be a problem....

I agree that book bags are rubbish, but dd's pe bag did her from reception right through! Was only a couple of quid from shoe zone as well!

Surprise surprise we have logo pe bags too. Lost count of how many my dads have got through

Dds

DDs didn't even last the whole of reception year. It was fine, but no where to put the bottle and she hated carrying it. They pretty much all have backpacks now in year two!

I think I got dd1 a back pack half way through ur 1 after three replacement book bags...

Sadly at the reception meeting the teachers specifically said they had to have them til juniors as the bags go in classrooms in a box at the front and there's not room for 30 back packs

Book bags are rubbish the corners always went in my Dd's ones. Don't agree about the P.E. bags though. My Dd's have had the same ones since Reception - Dd1 end of Year 8 Dd2 end of Year 6. They are still immaculate. The ones we have I got from ebay with their names printed on. The holes are reinforced with metal rings.

Is this a just British thing? At school in NZ I took a bag - whatever bag we wanted, to carry our stuff. Kids in other countries seem to take backpacks too.

DD is in Y3 and takes her book bag (NO OTHER ITEMS ALLOWED IN IT), a packed lunch bag and drink bottle, most days.

Other days she needs to take swimming kit, other club stuff.

WTF can't she just take a back pack every day?

How do schools even get to dictate this to us? School books could easily be protected inside a folder.

And yes, they fall apart for us too.

rebel me just told them, tough I'm not going on 2 trains each morning and afternoon laden with several bags per child.
tbf school didn't give me grief and many other parents copied my idea.

I guess in Britain they are just obsessed logos and uniform and it seems to take priority over functionality,practicality, and comfort.

Ironic how it's supposed to stop the poorer kids being obvious yet forces parents to buy and constantly replace expensive items with logos on....

get a water bottle bag. They are so handy.

www.amazon.co.uk/SHOULDER-BOTTLE-NYLON-INSULATED-SLOT-Blue/dp/B0080BHM34

you can even pass the shoulder strap through a lunch bag handle to carry them both hands free.

just reinforce the corners with Duct tape. you can buy it in a colour to match the bag.

I can see the point with there not being enough room in school for back packs. Give a kid a back pack they will fill it with crap.

I didn't even realise that replacing the book bags with back packs would be an issue, I just did it.

I don't understand book bags, schools are all for promoting Independence and yet they don't want to allow the children to be able to carry all of their own kit.

I did see these on Amazon, made by the same people who make book bags, so if you school wants them all neat and the same colour that could be a compromise.

Sounds like a bollocks policy to me. I'm guessing that they are supplied to the school by a third party for buttons and the school sells them on to parents at a profit?

Forcing you to buy and use something useless so they can make money out of it is extortion surely? What happens if you refuse to follow the rules?

Give a kid a back pack they will fill it with crap

But the crap comes from the school

In the form of leaflets about sports cams and holiday camps and raffle tickets and magazines and sponsor forms.... Etc...

We buy from a uniform shop in the local town not from school

Ah yes, new ones here every year despite taking care of them.

And surely given the bottles go at the back of the classroom and lunch bags go somewhere else the only reason to go in them more than once a week is to fill it full of said crap.

So why would a back pack on the peg outside be a problem...

it wouldn't. just go for it.
lots of parents will give a big sigh and be happy that you have started it.
wrt bookbagcrate: the plastic binder can go in there.

Yes I hadn't thought of putting the plastic folder in the crate and leaving bag on peg

Is this a just British thing?

Yep. Maybe we could ask the EU for a ruling and put us out of our misery

Would it be to PA to put a "no junk" sticker on the folder.... Homework only

Yes I hadn't thought of putting the plastic folder in the crate and leaving bag on peg

Totally feasible if you personally take your child to school and see them into class.

go for it

Ha ha yes dd would probably need reminding... Goldfish alert

No flyers
No "art" projects
No out of date magazines