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Original poster

To sodding hate book bags

199 replies

Gileswithachainsaw · 21/06/2016 10:12

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

OP posts:
DifficultLemonDifficult · 21/06/2016 19:09

£6.50?
£3.99???

Ours are £15.99. DS will be using it for the rest of his life. It will be the Trigger's Broom of book bags.

ElleBellyBeeblebrox · 21/06/2016 19:25

£16 for a book bag!!!??? Does it also have a cup holder and Bluetooth?

SatsukiKusakabe · 21/06/2016 19:26

Grin @ Trigger's Broom.

Yes I'd be making him graduate uni with it (6 quid here)

DetestableHerytike · 21/06/2016 19:35

Our book bag has a place for water bottle on the front, which of course distorts the 'hang' and pulls on the Velcro.

If they were the same size but with a zip fastening they'd be better

PlatoTheGreat · 21/06/2016 19:37

Agre, agree, agree.

I was probably the first parent to give dc1 a proper bag in reception. That wasn't the done thing then and I got a few Hmm both from teachers and parents.

But... It was so much more practical.

I'm happy to see that my idea took off though Grin

TinklyLittleLaugh · 21/06/2016 19:41

Meh, DS's school specifies book bag not back pack.

We laugh in the face of school rules and send him with a backpack.

I pointed out to his teacher that he cycles to school and he ain't gonna manage it with a book bag in one hand, lunchbox in the other, PE kit round his neck and water bottle goodness knows where. She saw my logic.

AgentPineapple · 21/06/2016 19:43

We had to buy a book bag as well, in to 2nd term we stopped using it and just put his homework in his school bag, no one has mentioned it

LaBelleDameSansPatience · 21/06/2016 19:51

Back packs really annoying. Large class, small cloakroom. Backpacks mean that other children can't hand up their coats and PE bags, which end up on the floor, being walked on. It is not beyond possibility to carry a lunch box in one hand, a book bag in the other and Mum carries the water bottle. Or get a water bottle or lunch bag with a strap. We have both.

DetestableHerytike · 21/06/2016 19:53

Our ckassrokms have some kind if rack for the book bags to lie flat on. Backpacks not an optikb.

Beeziekn33ze · 21/06/2016 20:09

Backpacks for ever !!

MissClarke86 · 21/06/2016 20:09

Ladies, the school really aren't going to shout at you for bringing your book in whichever vessel you choose...surely!?

I'm a teacher, and don't give too hoots how the book gets to school..as long as they're reading and bringing it! What will happen if you do take it in a rucksack!?

Lukesme · 21/06/2016 20:12

I was fed up too and bought cat kidston ones. Pricey but decent quality and still great after a year.

megletthesecond · 21/06/2016 20:14

I've just remembered the other reason I junked the book bags. I needed free hands to deal with tantrums and carry a kicking child. .

KirstyJC · 21/06/2016 20:23

If it's a state primary in the UK, can they even insist on a bookbag? They can't enforce uniform so I would be surprised! I haven't seen anyone over Reception age with a book bag - we all use backpacks and have done since our first was in Reception and we realised how crap the bookbags are.

The only kids we see with bookbags are always the eldest of the family's children in Reception - anyone with older siblings just starts with a bag straight away as parents feel the hate pretty quickly!

DetestableHerytike · 21/06/2016 20:26

"They can't enforce uniform "

Yes they can!

RiverTam · 21/06/2016 20:28

LaBelle and if they're cycling? Do tell how that'll work Grin.

BluePitchFork · 21/06/2016 20:29

detestable what a fitting user name.
so my dc should get posture problems because the school is not well organised?

KirstyJC · 21/06/2016 20:31

Maybe it's just our LA that doesn't enforce uniform then? Hmm

I remember we got a letter in with the welcome pack saying something along the lines of 'although you don't have to comply with the uniform policy we hope you will agree it is important and try and comply' or similar.

DetestableHerytike · 21/06/2016 20:36

Bluepitchfork, what are you attacking me for?

TellMeDani · 21/06/2016 20:36

Mum carries the water bottle, you'd need to be an octopus surely? that's 3 water bottles and a wriggling pre-schooler...and then then there are the 3 coats, jumpers and possibly PE kits, oh and the reception child who needs their hand holding to cross the road.

I even wondered about buying one of those wheeled shopping trolleys but decided that I'd look silly.

Original poster
Gileswithachainsaw · 21/06/2016 20:39

Maybe we should load the teachers up with shit ajd tell then their bag needs to not fit any of it and see them try to cycle home. or even open a door without putting it all down.

no one has answered what the point of a bag is when you have to carry everything that should actually go in it.

I mean you'd not buy a smart car when you have three kids right?

OP posts:
dizzyfucker · 21/06/2016 20:51

I hated book bags. I got them generic backpacks from John Lewis, in the colour of the uniform. Much more practical. In their new school they have wheely bags which are even better. I got ones that have shoulder straps for when we go on the bikes. It makes life so much easier when they come home with art projects and the such like.

DeltaSunrise · 21/06/2016 20:53

I agree.

Our school do actually allow rucksacks. They have to carry a spare change of clothes, water bottle and lunch. Plus as most kids go to school wearing only shorts and t-shirts all year round, most of them have shoes and jumpers/coats in their bags too. (We are a country that can experience all 4 seasons in a single day Grin )

So all their bookbags are used for are their reading books. Nothing bulky or heavy. Yet ds's is fraying around the edges and has holes in the seams and the handle is hanging on my a thread. He only started school in February.

Bloody useless things but at least we have back packs.

I'm a bit surprised at the schools that won't allow kids to have a rucksack. Does that mean they are juggling lunches/bookbags/water bottles/coats in their hands?

Nomorechickens · 21/06/2016 20:53

I don't understand why each child has to take a water bottle every day. When I was at school we had free access to drinking fountains, and a glass of water with lunch. No-one ever died of thirst as far as I remember.

bookbagdrama · 21/06/2016 21:34

name changed for this post as it would out me.

We absolutely not allowed anything other than book bags. We had a text informing us last year and how it was enforced was all the children who didn't have appropriate bag were called out by the head and spoken to..Parents had to collect book bags that didn't fit requirements from the school office..So basically by humiliating the children all parents complied. My child who is a nervous child I spent £3.95 on a new book bag rather than leave him worried in school..