What does your reception year child wear to school?

[PavlovtheCat]

DD starts school in september, the school 'uniform' is grey skirt/pinafore/white top and wine red jumper cardi with school emblem on it, or a pink/red summer dress As she progresses she will wear a tie.

I am a bit confused about what the norm is to wear in sept? I have bought her cardigans rather than jumpers as she finds these easier to take off if too hot. I love the idea of her wearing a pinafore, but if so, what does she wear underneath? shirt? polo shirt? Or, will most of the others just wear skirt and shirt, if so, a polo shirt, or a blouse? and what type of skirt, a pleated one, a plain one? What about a summer dress? are these worn in september? It is still warm?

I am amazed at how much this is doing my head in. I keep going to buy some clothes for her, and get my head all spinny by the choice! I don't want her to look out of place!

Our school don't have to take in a snack as they get given fruit everyday by the school. I thought this was a nationwide thing?

In reception DD wore polo t-shirt under pinafore with cardigan. Initially with socks but with tights when it got cold. Make sure all labelled really well! Even shoes!

In summer term she wore dress. In reception they didn't get changed for PE until summer term, they just out PE shoes on.

DD in reception had:

2 pinafores
2 pleated skirts
6 polo shirts (came in packs of 3 from M&S), was far too many but only £1 each and DS will wear
2 polo necks
3 cardigans
1 school jumper with logo
2 x summer dresses

Polo shirts stayed clean under pinafores. I just bought her the next size (going into Year 2) and she did not want any more pinafores (she said they are for the babies in reception). Decided that 3 skirts are enough.

I wouldn't buy anything for PE other than the shoes - wait and ask teacher at start of term. At DD's school they do PE outside and she needed a navy tracksuit (bought cheaply from M&S) and a red t-shirt. Also needed shorts for the summer.

cece yes they do snack of fruit at the school, they gave a form for us to complete if we did not want our child to participate .

DD is very excited about getting a lunch box a new bottle. She has millions of drinks bottles, but she wants a tinkerbell one .

Labels - yes, there is an order form for some company that do like 50 labels for a couple of quid or something, they just iron on, like the idea of that thank you

So I need:

5 polo shirts
5 vests - for when its a bit cold.
3 pinafores
2 pleated skirts
5 cardigans - these have to be with the school logo on afaik
5 pairs of white? grey? black? socks
shoes - canvas slip ons/ballet pumps or fancy clarks?
PE plimsols.
lunch box and water bottle
possibly a snack box and bottle (this doesn't make sense to me though, why would they need two drinks bottles, thats a lot for a 4 year old to remember
Book bag
Bag of some kind, possibly drawstring for PE
kit/plimsols.

What about coat? can that be any colour? she has several lovely ones, will they do (red, dark purple) or do they have to be grey/wine coloured to match her uniform?

Does she need that many polo shirts etc?

I suppose if you only do the washing once a week you might, but I bung a wash on every night (I have 3 in almost identical school uniform).

The full list for my DD who is in Reception is:

3 polo shirts
3 pinafore dresses
3 jumpers/cardis
5 pairs navy socks
Black leather school shoes
Wellies
Waterproof trousers
PE kit (shorts, t-shirt, trainers for outside, plimsolls for inside) in a drawstring bag
Bookbag
Water Bottle
Snack Box
Slippers to wear in the classroom
Swimming kit (towel, cossie, goggles, armbands) in a drawstring bag
Waterproof coat (colour doesn't matter but it does need to be waterproof for outside play)

Your DD won't need two water bottles as long as she is allowed to open her lunchbox and take the bottle into class, plus remembers to take it with her from the classroom to the dining hall at lunchtime. They tend to keep their water bottles with them in class.

My DD has:

5 polo shirts
3 Pinafore dresses
2 school cardigans (expensive!) and 1 spare similar coloured one, but not school branded, for emergencies IYSWIM.
2 pairs PE shorts
2 PE t-shirts.
PE Daps (M&S do gorgeous black ones with flowers on for £3)
Socks/tights (don't get white tights - knees get trashed in playground!).
School shoes (we got black ones with a pink flower on from clarks last yr)

She is in her second year at school and this was fine last year. She wore a summer dress (we bought 2) from the beginning of the summer term, but wore pinafore when she started last september.

Regarding the pe bag, we didn't buy the school one as already had one with tractors on it. DS loves this and it's really easy to spot in the school cloakroom when its lying trodden on the floor

We have the school book bag, I now wish I'd bought one in a different colour / put some stickers on it so we can easily tell which is his. He now won't add stickers to it as it will make it untidy apparently.

undercovamutha: my DD has those pumps too :)

Shoes - They need to be able to run in them, so ballet shoes aren't great. DD had Mary Jane style leather ones (Petasil not Clarks, but only as she has skinny feet and Clarks are a rubbish fit).
We have to have a pair of wellies in school all the time, so we have a pair for home and a pair for school (+ welly bag). Pumps , we also have the M*S flower ones, but they are a bit wide (I'm guessing they are an F fitting), but she complains ordinary pumps make her feet too hot .

slippers? really? omfg, she doesn't even have slippers at home!

ok, so not ballet pumps, what are daps? are they the same as plimsoles? am i showing my age? pumps - from M&S, will they still stock them, I am going shopping tomorrow with DD I have decided. I shall get everything and run my list by you knowledgeable ladies, then can take anything back

so, one water bottle, (she knows how to open bags with zips, has practiced on my hand bags, i found this out much to my dismay seeing her spreading my chanel lipgloss over her bears ) and snack box? is that the lunch box, but with a snack in as well? or is the fruit they now offer, is that the snack? or a seperate snack box.

There was no PE kit choice, for either clothes or bag on the uniform list, so presume we just get whatever we fancy? Much of the PE will be done outside, so will probably have to get a tracksuit or something, but will sort out the PE stuff nearer the time. I will buy her some basic stuff and check it out with the teacher/other wise parents.

Swimming has not been mentioned, don't think they do that til Yr1?

domesticsluttery thing is, I am returning to work this week, and will be working every morning from 8-1pm. The getting DD dressed and ready and to school with everything she needs will be down to DH. In order to deal with this, and him sort out DS (8months) and me get myself sorted, we will be getting all school clothes ready, on hangers in her little cupboard on Sunday night, along with my own stuff. I am sure this will last a couple of weeks at most before we decend into chaos, but the coinciding of my return to work after second baby and her starting school means new routines for it all. If I organise it precisely, I will feel calmer , so 5 pairs of everything, especially as she is a messy child.

oh and there is a water machine outside the class room. Does that make a difference to this whole drink/snack business?

I think I am getting there. I now need to add to the list

waterproof coat.

in fact, I am just going to steal your list domesticsluttery if thats ok, and remove the slippers and the swimming kit from it , and adjust the shoes to reflect the lovely sounding M&S ones, which I will also copy you lovely MNers and buy tomorrow.

Lunch box here has a carton of juice in it.
Water bottle goes into class for use throughout the day - apart from lunchtime.

Top tip - attach 1 or 2 keyrings to book bag so that it is easy to spot in the book bag box at the end of the day.

Just remembered LOL

When DD started Recpetion the list said blue shorts for PE. (I didn't go to the induction talk) I duly put blue shorts in her PE bag. It wasn't till Sports Day that I realised they meant navy blue! DD Had turquoise blue ones

I have gone through her paperwork a million times now and there is definitely no list, other than the logo uniform list which i asked for .

It will be fine now though, as long as I have the uniform for her to turn up to school in and that week, a lunch box and drinks bottle, everything else I can sort out on the day right? M&S won't have run out of PE kits would they? ! Surely would be able to get them from somewhere at least.

As long as I get the pinnies for her while she lets me put her in them!

M&S won't have run out of uniform. They keep a basic range in all year round anyway. Pumps are in all year round, the M&S flower ones also come in white - fab for wearing at home and they go in the washing machine. Daps, I think are a regional thing? I've only ever heard it on MN, they are pumps/plimsolls anyway.

Water dispensers are for the kids to fill their own water bottles. But Rec/yr1 here get supplied with drinks (and morning milk) and don't need a drinks bottle. But it will vary I guess, we live on the Isle of Man, so have to pay for school milk/fruit, I think it's free in the UK?

Our school has a logoed uniform coat, it's this one...

www.resultclothing.com/product.php?prod=R160j-y

or can buy it on Ebay without a logo.

Otherwise - Millets? I'd advise waterproof, our school is v. keen to get the children out in all weathers.

The thing is every school is different, you need to check out what your DD's school's requirements are.

Ours need wellies and waterproofs as we are in Wales and the Foundation Phase Curriculum (3-7) is very focussed on outside learning. If you are not in Wales you might not need so much. The slippers are so that you don't tramp mud into the classroom as they sit on the floor rather than at tables most of the time. They have a water cooler too, but it is for refilling their own bottles (they don't give out cups). I wasn't doubting your DD's ability to open her bag etc, it was the remembering to fetch the water bottle in the midst of the stampede to wash hands and get to the dinner hall that I thought might be a problem!

Plimsolls are daps here too, but I translate for MN so that everyone knows what I'm talking about!

Plimsolls were 'sannies' - short for 'sandshoes', where I grew up near Glasgow. Never heard of plimsolls until I was much older.

Anyone else remember sannies??

domestic oh no did not think you were doubting, I have been thinking about those things myself, like making sure she has shoes without buckles, that she can open her water bottle easily etc.

I am off out in a mo to buy it all apart from the obvious stuff like waterproof coat until i know if I need to buy school one or not, I think there was a school one, but think it is more that we can have it, rather than need to. She has a warm coat to take with her, which is sort of waterproof in the first day or so. Outdoor is big on the agenda at this school too.

I had a look on their website at the photos of what the kids were all wearing in reception year...has helped as it seems really casual, as long as it is dark grey bottoms, white top and school cardi jumper, the rest seems flexible. I know I saw lots of different bags and coats when we went there so know that is flexible.

I will buy some more wellies to leave at school, that is a good idea.

how did you get on? for PE kit i went to asda. 2 white t shirts for £1.50 and black shorts for £2. the logo stuff from school had to be ordered by end of last term. the rest i got from m&s.

the snac/bottle thing... packed lunch plus lunch drink yes. but then they have another bottle that sits on their desk all day (sigg junior water bootle £3.99 from Homesense). so if having school dinners you still need water bottle. the snack thing.. they get a free piece of fruit or veg (national governmenet thing like 'free' milk) and at dd's school they have that at afternoon break. at morning break they have their own from home snack. snacktastic or what??! the teacher collects them all in a basket to be handed out later. i noticed when we looked round that some kids had those inflatable snack holders you can get in lakeland, others were just in a plastic sandwich bag or cling film. dd will have sandwich/paper bag.

it is a bloody minefield isn't it?! for shoes dd has outdoor shoes, indoor plimsolls (the flower ones from m&s) AND PE plimsolls (plain velcro plimsolls).

PHEWWWW! hope you got sorted anyway..

oooh, nearly forgot..

PE bags. our school do specify drawstring as they take up less space. in the cloakroom (they stay hung up all week, brought home on a friday). i got dd one from ebay in school colour with her name on. was only £4. told her friends' mums and they've all gone and got them too. bargain.

ok, so I have so far:

All from M&S:

Those lovely black plimsole type shoes with the flowers on (so they are indoor shoes, can she wear them to school as well?)
3 pinafores - £5 each
2 pleated skirts - £3.50 each, i like them as they have adjustable waists on and even the age 3 is loose on her as her waist is tiny.
pack 5 long white socks
pack 2 grey tights (knitted, not opaque)
3 pack vests
new knickers!

already have 2 x cardigans with logo on, need one more, no rush from them at school, they said we can order more, just won't be ready for first day.

Need to get:
Polo shirts - they are cheap in asda atm, cheaper than M&S.
PE plimsoles - only had them in white at M&S.
Lunch box/water bottle (although she has some at home she can use, but promised her a new one to match her lunch box sucker). They are quite expensive aren't they? I didn't buy them as they were £8 in M&S shock] without a bottle!
Drawstring bag for PE kit, but probably not urgent for the first day.

Then after checking what she needs for her PE kit, the rest of her PE kit !

Waterproof coat
Wellies

I found the PE plimsoles that worked best were the ones that vecroed over iyswim.

Also I got DS's (just finshed reception) polo shirts from M&S last yr and was not hugely impressed

This year they have decided all children have to wear shirts so am panicking about DS (August born) managing all the buttons

Tip I would give is to show her everything new quite a few times as my DS forgot what his new jacket/wellies looked like come home time as he was concentrating on remmebering what his peg picture was

Also cece's tip which she gave me this time last yr on keyring on bookbag has worked a treat

I've found M&S polo shirts shrink (in fact I find a lot of the M&S cotton stuff shrinks),we go for Asda ones -cheap,wear well and they have girls fitted styles,instead of the unisex ones. Although I have a couple of M&S ones because they had pretty butterflies on them .

Ditto-keyring for book bag.

Pavlov - Do you mean,can DD wear the M&S plimsoll type shoes instead of school shoes. I'd say no, DD does have some of the white ones that she wears outside at home. But they aren't really substantial enough for the all day rough and tumble of school and will be soaked through at playtime. But for PE they are fine.

I had some Asda polo shirts for DD when she was in nursery school and found them terrible, they went baggy in the wash and they didn't stay white. I've got her M&S ones now, have always bought either M&S or Next for the boys and have never had any trouble.

The worst school uniform I have ever bought though was Matalan, I bought some grey shorts for DS1 from there one summer and they were bobbly within a fortnight. Definite false economy!

I wouldn't think that the plimsolls would do as school shoes, they wouldn't give her feet enough support and as Ixia said they wouldn't be waterproof. The school may well not allow them anyway for wear outside PE, they come under the same category as trainers in my DC's school.

I found the M&S polo shirts wore much better than the logo ones I got from school, I think because they had Stainguard on them. Certainly the logo ones are for chuckers - I might get one or two for the summer term next year.

With the key rings, in our school the teachers reunite the kids with their book bags before the end of class but in Year One the kids have to do it (I think) so I might do that.

I have (reluctantly) bought the DC a logo polo shirt each. They cost £7 each! and probably won't wash as well as the M&S ones which cost £4 for a pack of three and were on 3 for 2 so worked out as £1 each.

DS1 has to have at least one logo polo though as he sings in the school choir.