How much school uniform?

[blinkineckmum]

Hi.
My little boy is off to school in September, so I suppose I'd better buy him some uniform.
How much do I need? How many pairs of everything? Would 2 be enough to start with? I'm hoping I can pick up some spares 2nd hand later.
And where is the best place for labels please?
And how does the Tesco Direct school logo thing work?
When should I buy school shoes and where from please?
Any other tips?
Many thanks

We have 2 of everything, but I do a wash every night, or it would go mouldy waiting to dry.

Don't know about Tesco Direct.

I'd buy shoes the week before he starts in case his feet grow, Clarks until they get too expensive, then any supermarket.

Just have to say that Clark’s are not the only option for “decent” shoes. It’s not supermarket or Clark’s with no other options!

Startrite, Geox, Primigi, Ricosta etc etc etc. None of my DC have ever worn Clark’s because they are too wide for their feet - we go to independant shoe shops and get a much wider choice. Schuh have also become quite good for school shoes in the last couple of years - they won’t have stuff in until later in the summer though.

This thread has just prompted me to go and order some more uniform. John Lewis are having a 20% early bird sale - but they have sold out of the trousers my son wears (but I did get him shorts).

If we have a hot September, the kids will want to wear summer dresses / shorts and they won't be in the shops. It's worth getting those now (buy in a bigger size). It does make me wonder what happens at schools that make the boys wear shorts year round do - shorts are really hard to get after July.

Some great tips, thanks! Especially buyin g good quality to hand down (though the next two are girls).

By the way, Tesco Direct is closing on 9th July!

Girls, so a little different.

But for Reception age DD I have:

5 plain polos, 3 logo polos, 3 cardis, 2 sweaters, 4 summer dresses, 3 pinafores, 3 skirts. Plus the PE stuff she needs.

It's all so cheap that I rather just have plenty. I also don't make my kids change out of uniform after school, it's cheaper than normal clothes, so just let them wear it the rest of the day while playing/eating etc.

I'm never rushing to get stuff washed/dried in time this way and I'm happy enough to throw something away if it won't come up clean etc. (Like all my whites to be white, stuff to look neat etc.)

We've got 5 of everything and I've realised that's not even enough. DD comes home covered in mess every night - e.g. 2 days ago it looked like someone had poured a bucket of paint over her! She needs enough clothes to get her through the week (though we also wash during the week due to paint/grass/general muckiness), and she needs spare clothes on her peg in school too so they can change her if it's really too bad.

I bought enough so that I never have a ‘oh my god it’s all in the wash’ moment.
So we have 8 polo shirts, 6 shirts, 2 cardigans, 2 jumpers, 2 pullovers, 2 skirts, a pair of trousers, a pair of shorts and 4 pinafores and god knows how many socks. Tights are the only point of contention (lots of rips/tears/holes so we constantly have to buy more). The rest seems to be enough.

I'm jealous of pps who can buy all cheap uniform. Ours have to wear logo'd jumpers - £15 each! So £60 for 2 DC.

Don't you have second hand sales at school? Or your local sales group?
What do parents do with uniforms when they are too small?

You don’t need 5 sets of everything, two or three is plenty.

we havd primigi school
shoes. much better quality compared to clarks, and cheaper

We buy uniform from Asda as it gets trashed / grown out of too quickly to spend the money yo buy from the school shop. It also means I can buy more. I get 5 sets of skirt, t-shirt, cardigan and 10 sets of socks (as I am SURE my machine eats them). I get 1 set of PE kit including tracky bottoms and a hoody for outdoor sport. I buy white T-shirt and black other bits for PE. I buy shoes from Clarks in an attempt to get something that fits.
They also need:

• Wellies and waterproofs / snow suit hat, gloves, scarf for outdoor playtime (which seems to be a big thing in early years - particularly if you have forest school). School will steal your wellies and not return them so you need a home pair and a school pair.
• Warm coat
• Lunchbox (if you intend to pack-ups)
• Book bag (school have a particular one and we bought that in the end).
• Sun hat
• Bag of spare clothes (useful in first year in case of craft / toilet accident).

You also need to label EVERYthing and may find a supply of little envelopes and paper handy for the gazillion notes and little bits of money you need to send into school.

You don't need 5 sets by the way but as my DD (age 7) somehow manages to get something dirty every day I start the week with 5 hangers fully kitted out with a whole uniform. I often have bits of a few or a whole hanger left clean at the end of the week but I don't have time (or the inclination) to launder school clothes halfway through the week.

Anything that is white or has knees, buy extra cheaply. I have girls but ripped tights or school trousers was the norm for many years. For pen, paint or food on white polo shirts, washing up liquid scrubbed in before a hot wash is your friend.

For shoes, I've only bought Clarks twice and they lasted less than half a term. M&S school shoes have always lasted at least a term and I've only had to upgrade on size.

If you have to order school uniform with Tesco Direct (mine does also or via Clive Marks) allow up to 6 weeks just to be in the safe side and definitely get your order in before the summer holidays.

I buy multi packs of polo shirts from asda or Sainsbury's, very good quality. The trousers I buy from M&S as they're none iron and very good quality.

I buy their school shoes from an independent shoe retailer, they stock all the ranges. They take time with their fitting unlike Clark's and suggest styles to fit the foot shape rsther than selling the latest gimick I'm looking at you Clark's

2 trousers/dresses each
5 polo shirts each
2 school cardigan/jumpers each
5 x tights/socks

That suffices for us.

For sewn in nametapes, I use Cash’s. Otherwise I use Stikins.

It’s worth labelling shoes and bookbags.

Tesco direct is closing down but embroidered uniform can still be ordered from Tesco.com (according to Tescos FAQ page) but you should allow extra time for delivery. My dd is going to order at the beginning of July this year as last year she left it to first week of August and expected delivery was given as 3-4 weeks.

go to the school summer fair as there is usually a stall selling second hand uniform there. Also our school you need at least 1 logo polo shirt and jumper for school trips and photos.

Sorry didn't mean to put a link in my post.

This is the FAQ response:

From 9 July, only the Embroidered Uniform Service will be available online. Our school uniform range will continue to be available in selected Tesco stores. Use our store locator to find your nearest store with F&F.

3 sets of uniform. One wear on Monday, one on Tuesday then on wed when they are at school in set number 3 I wash Monday and Tuesdays uniform ready for Thursday and Friday.

I'd say three of everything. I buy 5 but I work so easier to wash all.uniform all uniform at weekend and know it's ready for the rest of the week.

Boys clothes normally need changing daily.

I’d get a 5 pack of polo shirts at least and 3 of everything else. Likely by the end of reception, a lot of the stuff will be too small. I have always bought polo shirts /blouses /jumpers too large to last 2 years.

You’ll find white board marker gets on all the clothes. You may want to keep one shirt and one jumper nice for school photos if they’re in the first term. They are at dds school with class photos toward the end of the year, when it doesn’t matter as much.