25kg and going to High School

[KThnxBye]

I’m a little concerned about how my DD is going to manage at High School. I’m looking at buying uniform ready for starting and everything is huge and baggy. I know they grow quickly in year 7 but she understandably wants clothes that fit. 30 inches is the smallest blazer size they do and she looks like she is wearing clown clothes. More concerningly we have tried on the smallest size of compulsory gym shorts they do and they fall straight down without her even moving. But they are also very short shorts in length because she is very slim but an average height (148cm) I could maybe take in the width but I’m not the best sewer, how do I fix the length? We have some sensory issues too about things that are baggy or don’t fit and I have no idea how to find the four pairs of shoes she needs either but that can wait til august!

Anyone else have a lower weight child and how did they manage in the crowded corridors? Or with the heavy bags? She will have a 2.3 mile walk to school and the same again home so I need to get her a good bag but even that seems problematic (all the ones that fit aren’t cool obvs)

Does she have a medical condition? 25kg and 148cm is below the 1st centile and is very underweight.

That is too far to walk given her extremely low weight IMO.

Possibly yes, but its not a long way. There wasnt an option for the bus because you simply couldnt get on the thing even if it turned up.

The girls weight is a different matter, but a 2 mile walk is not excessive once at secondary school

Buy things in the right length and then take them in at the waist. Are you not having to do that with non school clothes already?

Two mile is fine! No wonder there are so many overweight kids if people think 2 miles requires driving.

Two miles could be tricky.

A 2 mile walk on a nice day in spring with no time limits - lovely.

2 miles at 7:30 in the morning in the pouring rain when it’s freezing less so. Especially on the days she has PE, it’s a lot to carry for that distance on top of a normal school bag with text
books etc.

OP says 2.3 miles. Let’s say that’s 45 mins? My children, if walking, would have to leave by 0730 to make sure they aren’t late for school. It’s not just the distance, it’s the time. Two of mine cycle, which of course reduces the time significantly.

@KThnxBye how will she manage with rehearsals and matches and clubs and detentions(!)? Is there an option for a bus?

Sorry, a flurry of useful posts since I posted this last week.

Im not worried about the walk, no, and loads of kids do it, it’s from this village to the next and all her friends, siblings will also be walking. For the person who asked if I walk 40 mins to work, no I walk longer! To town and back, my walk is about 50 mins.

The bus would require a 10 min walk in the opposite direction, 20 mins on the bus, then another 10 min walk to get into school, and it’s not particularly reliable especially on the return journey. The bus sticks to the roads and takes the long way round whereas the walk can use the fields and river path.

We don’t adjust her clothes at the moment because she is a reasonable height for her age and can wear things like leggings and the checked summer dresses at her primary school. She likes leggings, jumpsuits, ribbed vests and fluffy sweaters. We don’t have to wear anything particularly tailored where fit would be an issue at the moment.

She doesn’t have any medical problesm and eats well, lots of variety, and high calorie foods, regular meals and snacks if not massive quantities. Eats lots of fruit and veg but also gets lots of full fat milk, cream, avocados, nut butters, Does sport etc. Just a naturally thin child. Has been between 2-9 on the centile since about age 3, no concerns raised, as soon as puberty hits it won’t be a problem im sure.

Ive emailed the school supplier and looking into how to adjust trousers!

I had the same problem with my DD when she started secondary last September. Like your school the smallest blazer was 30" and even now whilst wearing a shirt and school jumper her chest only measures 27". I had a tailor take it in so it didn't look ridiculous.

Bought a 22" waist skirt which was still a tiny bit big but was just about ok with tights underneath to bulk out the waist 🤦‍♀️

With the PE kit we had the same problem and just told the school the issue and said she'd be wearing whatever we could find that fitted

I think DS1 was heavier than that, but he started secondary in age 8, extra long school trousers (waist pulled in).
The pe shorts had a tie in the waist which was actually functional, so just tied himself into those he's still wearing them now in Y10. Yes, they are very short!
Blazers went to 28" chests, so were OK.

There has been some ruling about not too much specific uniform. I'd also check what the unbranded PE kit rules are (and trousers if you are saying they need to come from one supplier). I've not bothered with shorts (no logo, red is hard) but have with tracksuit bottoms for winter which are a more typical colour.

Text books lived at school (indeed, belonged to school). So just exceeise books, and PE kit mainly. Food supplied by school, so just bringing that home. DT only came home once completed. So all that stuff was sparodic.

I wouldn't worry too much. Get stuff that stays in place. Too big is pretty normal for Y7!

Text books lived at school (indeed, belonged to school). So just exceeise books, and PE kit mainly.

How do kids revise for tests without textbooks at home? My daughter always uses her textbooks for revision

I have also been surprised by these comments as I didn't think anything of the distance when I read it. At just turned 4 my child was walking over a mile to school (and I've seen plenty of 3 year old siblings do it too), which I'd imagine is more challenging than a Y7 walking 2 miles.

And so? That’s a totally normal time to leave for school. She’d need to leave at same time if she got the bus?

I was your dd at school, nothing fitted so my parents used a seamstress. Everything was adjusted to make it appear that it hadn’t been adjusted! No big turn ups with non matching thread!

You're going to let an 11 year old walk home through fields and along a river path when it's dark at 4pm and 8am in the winter?

@KThnxBye your DD is at the very most 65% weight for height. My DD was hospitalised for 9 days when her Consultant met her for the first time and she was that weight for height. You really need to see your GP.

I hemmed the blazer sleeves for my ds, then let them down the following year. Easy enough and im not great at sewing.
Stich a bit of elastic across the back of the PE shorts to make them smaller - just sew in each end like a name label - might not look great but no-one tucks in their PE polo so it won't be visible once they've changed.
Also, my dd liked to wear a croptop style bra top from m&s on PE days, made her feel less self conscious in the changing room and she's shy and not developed at all.

From their notes. DS had revision guides for gcse but nothing before that.

I was wondering about fields in school shoes, unless the four pairs of shoes mentioned include wellies!? Fields are still under water in parts around here.

Impressed that posters are suggesting taking PE shorts to a tailor...

Sew a bit of elastic to the waistband and call it a day.

Yes but this is a very underweight child walking these extra 5 miles a day. That’s going to be hard in cold and rainy weather with a heavy backpack when she’s tiny. Also, burning all those extra calories is probably not ideal when she’s so underweight.

The walk isn’t too far 😂 I used to walk that far to school and so did half the town as the secondary school was one particular side of town. I never got a bus always walked and never remember being cold. I just wore appropriate clothing.

Why is she so underweight?

My older dc already do the walk, have been doing the walk since 11 and the walk is no problem. We are lucky to live so close to school.The primary school walk is about half the distance and uses many of the same paths and the kids are all already walking it. Yes, sometimes it’s muddy, but we are semi rural and everything is, and it’s totally fine and normal to use public footpaths and bridleways instead of busy roads. Or we’d never go anywhere.

Im going to remeasure height and weight and have a look on the charts to see where she is. But she doesn’t look odd amongst her mate group - definitely one of the thinnest but no symptoms of illness of any type, seems strong enough, does cross country running. I was thinking she is just very slim rather than underweight, but maybe I should look into it.