School book bag rage

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Does anyone else really hate school book bags? I realise we're probably in the minority walking to school but it drives me mad every day having to carry every item separately (no bag other than the book bag allowed) while juggling water bottles, school shoes (because it's so wet he needs wellies) etc and a 3 year old. I'm sure if you're only walking to a car is doesn't matter but these bloody book bags don't even have a cross body strap and the velcro constantly opens spilling the paper contents into the massive puddles everywhere. Because of a lack of a proper bag lb has left his wellies at school which means on Monday he'll get wet feet on the way to school. I really think in bad weather only rucksacks are sensible. We have tried giving him a plastic bag with the other things; the bag doesn't come back (because they don't want multiple bags) and I only have a handful of plastic bags now. Why do they make walking to school so hard! (I'm mainly pissed off about the leaving the wellies at school which is mainly my husbands fault). Lol 😨

These are a godsend www.facebook.com/bookbagbuddies and totally solve this issue. They clip on securely to any book bag and come in loads of designs to help your child identify their own bag. Haven’t carried my sons bag for him ever since I got one! 🤩

Google Book Bag Buddies they’re on eBay, Etsy, Amazon and Facebook

Carry a backpack - put water bottle, book bag and school shoes in. In playground, change his shoes, put his wellies in a plastic bag then into your back back, hand him water bottle and book bag. Done!

Stop carrying everything for your child! As a KS1 teacher, if I could have waved a wand and changed one thing, it would have been this...It does them no favours in the long run.

My children always packed their own bags and left the house carrying them but I usually ended up offering to carry my older children's bags for them and still end up carrying my younger ones bags.
Now my older two are bigger than me they offer to carry my shopping bags without fail. They are both independent and kind.

They are both independent and kind.

Probably because you modelled kind behaviour by taking their bags in the first place, instead of acting like a snipey sergeant major.

My DC aren’t even in primary yet and I’m already dreading these. When I see them on kids locally, they look so bloody uncomfortable and impractical. No grown up carries all their stuff around in anything like this, so why do we think it’s ok for kids?

It's of no benefit whatsoever for kids to (badly) carry heavy bags, makes health professional scream. I cringe when I see parents making a point of not carrying anything and leaving their kids struggle. Why? Teach them to be selfish and inconsiderate? And hurt their backs whilst we are there?

A near empty bag with a bottle of water is fine, I do mean the heavier or bulky ones.

I don't know any adult who would let me carry all my stuff without offering help, why would you leave the child deal with everything - it's not even their choice what they carry.

Are you not allowed a cross strap one? I always bought my DC the strap ones. They’re older now so thankfully have backpacks.

The thing is, it isn’t really easier to have young children carrying all their stuff. Today we took in a bookbag, music bag, my older child’s rucksack, a trumpet and a bag containing my younger child’s nativity costume. My older child carries his own rucksack but I carry the rest - trumpet on my back and the rest in a bag for life.

If I’d made them carry their own things, my younger child would have carried three bags and my older a rucksack and trumpet in one hand.

I don't think teacher's are expecting children to carry all their things in a book bag. It's designed to be flat for carrying a book and letters only so that the books don't get wet, creased or bent. Surely 4 year olds are allowed a little help carrying their water bottles and PE kits? I always carried my DD's things when she was tiny so that she could run along with her friends on the way to school.

The kids I look after have the type of book bag where there's a flap with a large inside pocket then a smaller, narrow open pocket on the back. I get so sick of seeing the main pocket completely empty but the narrow pocket crammed full of jumpers, blazers, water bottles and reading books so that they're spilling out all the way home. I must sound like a broken record reminding them not to put everything in there... I'm sure they do it just to wind me up!

Elbeagle, the lockers in my DCs' primary school were along the corridors. So were the cubbies in my primary school. All the lockers in my DCs' high school were in the corridors, and when the school building was finally finished in my secondary school and the prefabs moved to some other lucky school there were lockers in the corridors.

It was partly because of the lockers along the corridors that the DCs' school didn't allow parents or other hangers on into the school in the morning or afternoon. All the children lined up outside and went in class by class.

I strongly suspect that a pile of coats and bags of gear like lunches, art kit, PE kit, etc takes up far more space in an average classroom than lockers would. 30 small lockers along a wall at floor height would still leave room above them for displays or other wall use. Lockers for primary school age children don't have to be full size.

They always came home with water bottles and jumpers in their book bags in reception. We had several soggy books or letters as a result of 4yr old DS not closing the bottle properly. With a rucksack there's a side pocket so the water bottle doesn't need to go in with the books. Younger DD was the only child in reception with a rucksack not a book bag, her books stayed dry. And bonus she never came home with someone else's bag. The book bags were regulation therefore identical.

Our primary tried to ban rucksacks as they said there wasn't room for them. Most parents have ignored the rule as it's impractical. The kids have to carry so many things including books, water bottle, lunchbox, glasses, stationery, raincoat, hat/cap, gloves, suncream(when it's warmer obviously), wellies for forest school etc that it's just so much easier for them to put it all in one bag. My daughter started walking to school by herself in Year 5 and without a rucksack she may have struggled some days or possibly dropped something. Each child hangs their rucksack on their peg so there's no issue with space. I think the school makes money from selling the bookbags and so want kids to use them but maybe I'm cynical.

mathanxiety I am not sure how many times I can say it, in how many different ways . I have been in the school many, many times. I know it’s layout. As chairman of governors I have been involved in multiple discussions around how to better utilise the space.
There is no room for lockers.

There is also no budget for lockers, but that is irrelevant as even if there was, there is no room for them .

Most parents walk at our school. DS has a bag that lives on his peg at school with change of clothes for forest school etc. We just replace as and when. No water bottles - there's a jug and cups in the classroom.

I prefer to travel ligth and love a book bag precisely because you can't overfill it. I do generally have a tote bag for water bottles or bigger projects but most stuff fits in book bag if you empty it each day. Bag backs get overfilled and much harder to keep track of where stuff is.

Your school setup boggles the mind, Elbeagle.

Are there pegs for coats?

I don’t really get how there is “no space for backpacks “. just limit size, and then put on peg. coat first, backpack on top. problem solved. if there is space for a separate bookbag, pe kit, lunchbag etc, there is space for a regular size kids backpack

Or the kids puf them under their chairs

Ah bless you mathanxiety for your confusion but it really isn’t too mind boggling.
The ‘wall’ of the corridor that you are talking about is 3/4 glass. This corridor is actually also used as a learning space, with tables against the large windows. Some of the classes have pegs, these are shared as there are nowhere near enough to go round due to the school being forced to take far more students than it can actually physically accommodate. Book bags are kept in their work drawers.
Anyway it’s fairly irrelevant. I’m quite an intelligent woman, as is the headmistress. I can only tell you that we are far better placed to decide whether there is room for lockers than you are, having never been in the school.

Rucksacks are worse IMO as when they’re on a hook, not all the kids can fit their coats on their hooks. Coats ping off hooks and go on the floor. It was once a rule at the school that kids could bring in their book bag (goes in their drawer), a drawstring PE bag (to stay on the hook) and a coat but gradually rucksacks have filtered back in and coats are back on the floor.

What on Earth do people bring to school that needs a rucksack in KS1?
My DD takes:
Spare clothes and wet bags (I appreciate she is unusual in still having accidents in Y1)
Two filled water bottles (so we can monitor her fluid intake)
Hat and gloves if I haven't managed to get them on her as we left the house.
Diary and reading book.
Library book on library days.
All the artwork she brings home
The DCs who do sports after school take their sports kit too (I think they would usually just take trainers TBF).

A double hook solves the coat and backpack problem.