To ask how much uniform to buy for reception?

[Beadoren]

Just that really! How many pairs of trousers/shirts/jumpers do they actually need.

Depends - my eldest got five sets of trousers, t and sweat shirt and constantly looked filthy with his clothes looking totally knackered by the end of the year; my youngest got two and managed to always keep them clean and was able to re-use some of them the following year.

@womaninatightspot I had the same with Asda they now do a slim fit however I got the slim fit from M&S with the 20 % off

I started off with 4 sets, new set daily as always seemed to get mucky & 1 PE kit. Labelled with a Sharpie pen.

Always found Marks & Spencers to be the best quality and buy every year in the summer 20% off offer.

I found our logo polo shirts are a poly cotton blend (fruit of the loom brand) which are super resilient to constant washing/ tumble drying. I've tried both and ended up sticking with logo although I do buy some cheapie cotton ones mid year if too grim.

We got a jumper and a cardi, a skirt a pinafore and trousers and 4 shirts. Was plenty. Then in summer 2 dresses and 1 playsuit

Just one pe kit though.

I got 6 trousers and 6 white polo shirts (2 x 3 packs from sainsburys) and then 2 school jumpers.

I think it really depends on the individual child. We have figured out our perfect amount of uniform for us now but it has taken a few years.

I buy 4 shirts, 4 bottoms (1 skirt, 1 culottes and 2 trousers), 2 cardigans and 1 jumper. (And eleventy billion pairs of school socks as they mysteriously vanish into skinny air in this house). If she was a boy I'd go with 3 bottoms, we only get 4 as she likes to have options but trousers are the main favourite.

The question of shirts vs polo shirts and jumper vs sweatshirt, again it's personal choice. I would say initially get the option of both but only buy 1 of each and see what your DS likes the best. After a few weeks you know what option he is asking for the most and you can buy more then.
We had a similar option when starting school (now changed to shirt and tie only ) and found DD liked the shirt and tie over polo shirts the first year. This changed the following year when she liked polo shirts better.

Sweatshirts, jumpers and cardigans are handy but most schools are very warm so they get taken off and stuffed in bags more often than not. We could probably get by with one but I like 2 for those days it gets let in school or she spills toothpaste down it in the morning or if you are a lazy parent like me, you take it out the bag the next morning to find a crusty yoghurt stain down the front and don't have time to wash it.

For skinny children most shops do adjustable waistbands on trousers (Asda appears to be the exception along with 1/2 of the sainsburys range). M&S tend to be wide fitting in shirts and size bigger in general that the other shops (as did he now defunct BHS). Skinny DD always looks swamped in M&S stuff. I have found Debenhams trousers fit slimmer as do Asda blouses (not sure about the polos or standard shirts). Next stuff is good quality and they offer slim fit in a lot of things which is great BUT if you have a dog or a cat you might be driven mad as a lot of thier uniform has that type of fabric that attracts hair and fluff - dog hair magnet fabric as it's know in our house.

Sainsbury's trousers and polo shirts fit my DS best. I got a couple of packs of each so probably had 4 trousers and about 6 polo shorts. All for about £10. Tesco do great reinforced knees on their trousers which have been handy. 2 main school jumpers and I just rinse one out and then always have one clean and one in use at all times. Vanish gold powder and stick will be your very good friends in no time!

My DS needs a clean set everyday as he comes home covered in food and crayon. I don't want to be continually washing uniform.

Yes PE kit gets washed every half term, but it's not very grubby.

The shops don't shut once they start school in September! If you buy three polo shirts and it turns out your kid spills yoghurt every day, you can always buy more!

Our logoed jumpers bobble terribly. The only way to keep them good is not to tumble dry them (what a pita) and not to use fabric softener.

My children are very messy and also lose stuff so we have a minimum of 5 sets of everything. I got their polo shirts from Aldi (3 for £5!) and everything else M&S.

Just curious but for the posters whose kids split knees are they playing on a hard surface or grass?

Yes, my son wore his shorts up until the October half term. It's worth buying shorts now as I don't think any of the shops stocked them when I looked in September.

I find this a bit weird as there are schools where the boys have to wear shorts year round.

Pea face, did the one set include only one shirt/polo shirt?

I now cheap and buy enough for a daily clean set. And if you have the option for coloured polo shirts buy them instead of white.

Mine need 5 sets of everything but get absolutely filthy. Lots of rolling round in the grass/mud and wrestling on the black rubber flooring in the playground. And i have twins. M+s slim fit trousers fit mine, supermarket ones look like clown trousers on them. The cheap multipack m+s ones have lasted fine and I buy in bulk on the 20% off which finishes on Tuesday . A bit stiff and shiny but soften with first wash. My dd is 8 and can now just about get away with 3 sets of dark stuff but still needs 5 gingham dresses which regularly need chucking out due to cartwheel related grass and mud stains ( and paint / marker pen etc ) 1 new logo jumper for photos smart days and multiple from second hand stall for 50p to £1.

Pea face, did the one set include only one shirt/polo shirt?

Yes - though they're cheap enough to buy I hate waste and one was perfectly fine.

Really? What's your secret? Do you coat your entire child in teflon?

dunno! She's just not stinky or messy at all... The occasional bit of paint got sponged off or if too bad we shoved in machine and ready to wear again in a few hours.

I've have just seen Aldi's school uniform goes on sale 13th July.

For shoes I swear by geox black trainers; they are outgrown rather than die. www.amazon.co.uk/Geox-Savage-Low-Top-Trainers-Black-x/dp/B003JMFG8W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1499009456&sr=8-1&keywords=geox+black&tag=mumsnetforum-21 I buy these ones. A lot of kids around school have the same ones.

I'd get 3 shorts, 3 trousers, 3 jumpers and 5 polo shirts plus 1PE kit. If there is an option of dark polos I'd go for that instead of white.

Beadoren I really rate Sainsburys trousers for boys, they come with reinforced knees. Don't know about girls trousers though

I have one messy child (DD) and one tidy (DS) and it does make a big difference how much stuff you need!