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

We take a small backpack for water bottle/anything else and carry the book bag separately (Y1). My Y3 Dc is big enough to carry a backpack that is also big enough to fit the book bag in. I think it is to do with needing to put the bags all in one place in the classroom but I think folders (not as big as book bag size) would be better. Then these could go inside backpacks.

our sodding bookbag isn't waterproof.

resulting in a soggy reading book & reading diary.

unhappy child explaining "it rained on the way to school" to unhappy teacher

unhappy mammy telling school that coming by car isn't an option and that a bag should be waterproof if they don't want this to happen.
(oh and apparently they don't want wet carrier bags in school either so putting it in one to keep it a bit drier isn't an option.)

We have book bags, we got one free at the start. DD has also ruined the corners on hers letting it hit the ground as she comes down the steps at school. (I'm going to reinforce the corners tbh rather than replace it, velcro must be better on ours as its fine)

I wanted to purchase the bag they have in juniors as a little bit bigger (over the shoulder type), looks better than what we have now, but no we can't use that before then or replace it with something else because the draws in the classroom are only deep/wide/long enough to keep the book bag she has now.

Though we take a backpack and put the book bag in it, water bottle (though struggle finding a decent bottle that doesn't leak!) and the odd occasion lunch bag so it's all in one bag. She hangs her backpack on her peg and takes the book bag to the classroom.

All that will change in juniors when she will have to carry everything separately again because using another bag for juniors isn't optional it has to be that bag (no backpacks) as there will be no pegs to hang backpacks on as they have no room (this is a new build too!)

However did we manage 30 years ago at school before book bags were even a thing...

I dislike them. Dd uses hers as a treasure trove of shite that she finds on the field at lunchtime. Yesterday I tipped out sticks, leaves, some moss, half a birds egg and a small bone from some kind of creature, while looking for misplaced permission slips/party invites.

elle your dd is amazing

I think we are starting to get the "bag 'o'crap" from all the stuff in their drawers....

My recycling bin is getting full

In my yr1 child's class all the book bags are stored in a large crate whilst they are in school. The teaching assistants then go through them to remove homework, the teacher has the one big box to go through when checking reading records once a week, and so on. So I can see why it would be a nuisance to have to go through 30 random school bags kicking around the cloak room but on the other hand it does mean a lot to carry. Water bottles are explicitly forbidden from being transported in book bags in case of leakages. The only good thing is the supplier has changed in between dc1 and dc2 and the bags are much more durable now. I was always stapling the remains of the Velcro back on to the old one.

I do love it really. But I now have a drawer full of treasures (mostly bones ) which I don't know what to do with!
And yes to the junk models, I can't bring myself to chuck anything, (even last years) and she would know in an instant if I did (despite not knowing what she had for lunch today!)

My dd is just the same. I have to empty pockets of daisies, stones, grass, snails etc

Bits of tinfoil taped to a yogur pot in the bag....

She does love her junk ,modeling

My high point this year was three live snails. Thankfully the actual books live in a clear zip lock folder.

God I hate Conker season...

You can replace the velcro when it starts to fail, you know. That's what I do with the kids'. Costs about 70p per piece of velcro from the local sewing shop, (I'm lucky enough to have one near) and I hand-stitch the replacement bit on while I'm watching telly.

We get given a book bag on the first day in reception. Ds is just finishing year 1 and his is still fine. They don't use them in juniors generally

Because like fuck am I paying £6.50 for a new bookbag!

6.50 ? Wow I wish...

Not an affluent area.

Even less reason to make parents waste money on stuff that's not fit for purpose....

Begs the question why the same items vary in price so much

Well, ours were from a schoolwear shop that does all the town school bookbags. I had the impression that they were all that price, whichever the school, a couple of years back.

Have you all thought about how much more rubbish they can get into a back pack? One of my dd's friends managed half a stall of rotten fruit by the ed of one term.. .. seriously though you are right - book bags only work for children who are drive to school and don't have to juggle water bottle/book bag/art project/pe bag/swimming bag and lunch box. DDs first school actually insisted on a backpack as they were up and down stairs all the time and they wanted to have their little hands free to hold on to the rail. Next school insisted on a book bag but we were on the bus and usually had to go upstairs to get a seat so I insisted on a back pack and used to fold the book bag up and shove it in.

Don't get me started on trying to carry a drawstring PE bag full of kit though...

Teacher wades in ...

Book bags are to keep books flat and undamaged.

Most schools do not have sufficient space for bulky back packs on pegs (eg at my school, the coat pegs are only 8cm apart).

Please, never put water bottles in the same bag as their school books ... you'll only get upset when they leak and the school asks you to pay for a replacement book.

We got DS's draw string bag from easy2name, and it's now lasted 5 years. IT was part of a set with clothes labels and labels for shoes, cups etc.

DS' current book bag is from Tesco. That's the one where the lining is breaking off in fragments so it's no longer waterproof. It's no better than the school issue ones, it just breaks in a different place.

The free book bags mine got in year R at school are still going strong as music bags for my 15yo and 12yo.

I always put the books into a plastic wallet and the bottle into a freezer bag. There is fuck all point to a bag that is designed so everything else has to be carried separately.