To hate bloody book bags?

[Rainallnight]

Why are book bags a thing? They are annoying, uncomfortable to carry and can’t sensibly hold anything else. Which means I end up carrying them plus whatever other bag is needed for DCs’ bits and pieces.

Why can’t reading books be put in an ordinary backpack? Is there something I’m missing?

They are a total pain. Until they graduated to rucsacs I used to take an ikea bag if I was collecting my nephlings to tote all the stupid book bags home.

To make it worse my DSis had a shared childcare set up with another family so I often ended up collecting 4 kids and negotiating them all on to the bus home..

Once they hit rucsac age they had to carry their own crap.

Now they are all teens and they joke about how mean Auntie Mauve was... But they still want to see me (including the shared childcare kids who aren't even related to me) so I mustn't have been all bad!

Our school bookbacks has a cross body stray as well as the little handle so it was much easier.

Rucksacks were allowed from year 5 only.

We have a clear ziplock bag which helps us remember to check for notes and return the book. However it's very easy to see which book band each child is on when they line up, which I suppose could be an issue for some.

Rucksacks don’t fit on the pegs or in the tiny cloakroom cubicles. They just sit in the middle of the corridor tripping people up and getting kicked around.

We had to use them for reception as the physical space for hanging bags woudn't allow for every child to have a backpack.

I did however buy a clip-able shoulder strap for it so it could be carried like a record bag, and I bought a neoprene bottle sleeve with a carabiner clip thing on it so the water bottle could be clipped externally as it always leaked otherwise!

Rucksacks are bulky. We don’t have room for 30 rucksacks in class. Spare clothes are in draw string bags and books in book bags which are lovely and slim. It’s the only way that it all fits on a peg.
Coats are obviously flung on the floor! Only kidding!!

My son easily fits a small flat snack pot, reading journal, reading book, library book & jumper in his book bag. All UK infant children are offered school lunch, if parents choose not to take this up and send a lunch bag that's their choice.

I have a pannier bag for the bike about the size of a messenger bag that everything fits inside of.

Unfortunately a lunch box is completely necessary for my child as there is no way he would eat the food on offer at school.

16 fucking years of that during infants, for about a 3rd of it we had 2 bookbags (y2 + reception).
I despised them.

My youngest is in y3 now and oh what a joy it is that he has a backpack now as well.

Not enough space for 30 odd backpacks in a classroom

@DeepaBeesKit

My son easily fits a small flat snack pot, reading journal, reading book, library book & jumper in his book bag. All UK infant children are offered school lunch, if parents choose not to take this up and send a lunch bag that's their choice.

Infant school children in Wales don't.

Don't presume that because something is a rule in England it applies to the whole of the UK.

In my school the book bags do fit in the trays. Coat hooks are in the classroom & are far too close together to hang backpacks on. We don't allow backpacks as there just isn't space to store them safely.

So if it’s the case that there isn’t enough room at school for backpacks, how come it seems that it’s ok in the older years?

@Theunamedcat

Our school stopped back packs due to covid

Book bags are supposed to fit in trays

@Theunamedcat

Are you also at our school? With the mad headmistress that thinks back packs carry Covid but book bags definitely don't?

@Rainallnight

So if it’s the case that there isn’t enough room at school for backpacks, how come it seems that it’s ok in the older years?

At our school the older years have lockers. Also by that age they are more than capable of taking their own work, books, letters etc. out of their drawers and putting them in their rucksacks. They also normally change their own reading books by that age so a staff member isn't spending hours routing through rucksacks in a cloakroom to find reading books.

@Theunamedcat

Our school stopped back packs due to covid

Book bags are supposed to fit in trays

So did ours but reinstated now. At least we've learnt SOME ways you are highly unlikely to catch Covid and sense is beginning to prevail.

I really can't stress enough how much faster it is to change 30 children's reading books if I can just go down their book bag trays, pull 10 out at once, easily find the books and put them back as opposed to trying to carry 10 rucksacks, go through various pockets to find the books, try and work out which bag belongs to each child to put it back again. Same goes for putting newsletters etc. to send home. We really do have more important things to be doing, like spending time with the children.

I always thought of book bags as just mini briefcases. Which is funny now, as I've not seen a briefcase in years.

But the principal is the same. Protect the books and the paper. Letters in book bags are less likely to end up a soggy mess than those in book bags, both because they are water resistant and because they're too small to shove a big water bottle into.

I carry my child’s book bag because they scoot home. I would love a book bag with a cross body / shoulder strap, but until then I’m afraid you’ll have to curse me as Balancing is much easier without a book bag hanging off the handle.

It's one bag.. per child., fits a4 stuff in.. carries in a hand...

Not really an inconvenience... my two are 3 and 5 and carry their own.. pack their own.. check their own fir letters and homework.,

@Theunamedcat so did ours, they even sent a letter before school started in September saying no book bags or backpacks. So I didn't buy either. Except when school started I saw majority of the children with book bags and back packs and so now my children have been bugging me about a bag. The school annoys me, if you have a rule you bloody need to enforce it.

@Rainallnight because when they are older they are more independent so when you hand them a letter they are more likely to independently put it in their bag and ensure it gets home. Same for reading books, in key stage one we can encourage independently changing books and then putting them away but they often need help. It’s much easier to help if you can just put them in a drawer in a classroom rather than go through bags in the corridor.

I agree. I got one for my son as requested, and then they handed out those big clear plastic book bags for the reading books. So I have to carry the plastic bag, the boom bag, a water bottle separately. Then on forest school days there is another bag with wellies and waterproofs to carry too. We get the bus or walk over a mile so it is a total PITA for me because they are awkward to carry, especially when my 4 year old wants to keep holding my hand, swapping hands, have help balancing on walls etc. I think I might rebel and buy the rucksack meant for year 3's up.

I agree they’re a ballache, especially if you walk to school. My DD is year one and takes a backpack which she brings home full of shit every day like conkers and wet play colouring pictures

Genuine question.. those that are claiming there’s not enough space for backpacks if yr 4 or younger, surely there is a chair for each child that the backpack could be hung on? Also if a school has the room the host a p.e bag all the time bar half term when they are sent home to be washed it would be a fair presumption going by responses on this thread that parents would rather go in with a rucksack everyday and use the p.e hook than negotiate the school run with book bag lunch bag water bottle plus w.e else separately. For all the teachers / ta’s saying book bags are easier, there’s plenty of things that would make my job easier unfortunately I still have to do it the hard way. Suck it up. Putting 30 books in 30 rucksacks isn’t worth getting worked up about surely?