How long is reasonable to expect a pair of school shoes to last?

[Cazzr]

I suspect DS is particularly hard on his school shoes but we seem to be averaging a pair a term at the moment (so he's just killed his second pair this year).

He's worn his black ben 10 trainers since Tuesday as they fell apart after getting wet at school on Monday. When I say they fell apart, it seems to be the insole with the metal bar in, under the upper inner sole if you get my meaning..?

This happened with the first pair too. To be honest they were starting to look tatty anyway on the upper part, probably from scrabbling about on the floor outside playing (he's in Year R), so would probably have thought about replacing them over Easter anyway.

Neither pair have been particularly expensive, first were 16 quid from Barratts, 2nd were about the same I think from tesco...
Is it just because we are not spending 30 odd quid on them?
I see no point spending much more this time as he'd probably grow out of them over summer anyway but come August/September should we spend more or is he going to trash them anyway?

I'll add, he's only been full time since January so the tesco ones lasted longer than the barratts ones in my eyes...

Cazz, I spend about £35 on DS's StartRites.

Oki, I think we will give more expensive shoes a go for next year, not sure there's any point now as he'll probably outgrow them over the summer.

I actually expected him to grow a lot quicker shoe wise than he has this year.
I remember buying his first pair of shoes from clarks (think I spent about 35 quid then!!) and he grew out of them in such a short time it put me off buying them, but I guess his growth has slowed down a bit now...

At that age, a decent brand (Clarks/Startrite/Hush Puppies) should generally be outgrown before they're outworn. As an ex-shoe-fitter, you need to be getting them re-measured roughly every 4 months, but you won't necessarily find that he's grown in that time.
In my experience, very cheap brands do tend to fall apart much more quickly, but then so do some quite expensive brands (Lelli Kelly and Buckle My Shoe spring to mind), so price isn't always the best indicator of quality!
As far as price goes, expect to pay between £28-£36ish pounds for a pair of Clarks, and a little more for Startrite or Hush Puppies.

We've had a lot of wear out of John Lewis own brand shoes as well.

I think I spent 36 on startrite shoes and about one quid on some traditional wax shoe polish. I'll be doing the same next year.

pinkgirlythoughts see this is maybe what we were thinking... If he does grow every 4 months and therefore need new shoes, we might as well have stayed with the cheaper ones.....

I think it goes to say tho that with the cheap shoes DS is no more hard on wearing them than any other kids (with cheaper shoes) so if we did plump for more expensive ones, him growing out of them should be the only concern...

We usually buy Clarks school shoes and they usually last 2-3 terms and then the child grows out of them. DD1 just grew out of some at half term and we bought cheap Brantano replacement for just the rest of the winter, and they have broken in 4 weeks. I'm quite surprised, I hadn't really believed it was worth paying for the sensible Clarks shoes, we just kept going there out of habit and cos dds have wide feet.

We rarely polish. or brush. hard to imagine it would really preserve them, wouldn't it wear them out? Like over-washing and tumble drying clothes?

DS1 goes through a pair a term, maybe even two sometimes He is very havy footed and wears the soles down quite quickly.

I used to buy Clarkes for him, but they never lasted. I have found Skecher school trainers last the longest, I buy them off Ebay for half the price they are in the shops.

I got DD a pair of shoes from Asda in Sept and they are still fine? I am amazed

DS is a different story

I think if you are going to clean them then you are better off using the traditional polishes rather than the liquid stuff. I have read/heard somewhere that the liquid stuff dries out the leather and tends make the surface crack. I use it too and it certainly doesn't last as long as the traditional stuff - I only use it as it is so quick to paint it on on the way out of the door!

The wax stuff penetrates the leather and offers more protection by keeping the leather soft and keeping the water out.

I think, although I can't remember exactly, that I paid £30 for DS2's Clarks shoes last year. I don't know for sure as I bought DS1's shoes and a pair of trainers for somebody so it was a big bill!!

DS has worn through his second pair of shoes this year since September. DD1 is on her second pair after managing last year to have just one pair all last school year.

I think both times DS has had hush puppies - 35 pound so it is getting very expensive. It is not just the scruffiness - he has actually worn through the soles at the heel - I have an odd ware pattern there which he seems to have inherited - and at the toes. He does do a lot of walking - we are non driving family in a rural location so have no choice.

I do use both liquid and traditional polishes and they are shined a lot. Was thinking of trying this website.

www.shoesforkids.co.uk

Though might just go and look in some cheaper shoe chains first.

Hmm. Against my better judgement I splashed out £54 (!!!!!!) on some brogues for DD (12) from Russell and Bromley. I'm a Clarks sort of mum usually, but DD won't even enter the shop nowadays. Have had my fill of crap cheap ballet pumps which bruise her feet and make her claw-toed. Bought them in the October half term and by Feb they were completely wrecked - sole emerging from back of heel, black patent chipped off, holes in soles. This was from simply walking to, from and around school She was hardly likely to be kicking a ball in them.
Wondered if I had a case for trecking 20 miles back to the shop? Not sure I have the receipt anyway.

DS is Year 6 so not too much crawling around on hands and knees type scuffing and no foot growth since last summer - so I expected his shoes to last. In Sept i bought a £28 from Next. I usually buy Start rite but there was nothing for his size. By Christmas they were worn through. The inner sole was thread bare, the sole was really badly worn away and there was no amount of polishing that could revive the state of the toe! Bought identical pair in the next sale as half price and they too have lasted 3 months. So third term will mean a third pair of shoes!!! I have never had to do that previously and his feet haven't grown all year!!

I think if i had paid that little bit more, I would certainly have got more wear out of them. I don't think expensive shoes always last longer but you can usually tell which ones will by the feel of the leather and the thickness of the sole.

My Grandma used to say ........Buy cheap, buy twice!

DD1 in Reception has had the same pair of Startrite shoes since September, and they look great.

That was my DD1 in reception last year evolucy7. This year it is very different story with shoes- no idea why.

Ds in reception. I bought Clarkes last Sept, the leather strap snapped on them so I took them back (2 weeks ago) and they replaced them with absolutely no fuss. In fact, ds chose a new pair that were cheaper than the broken ones so I was given a 4 pound voucher

DD's school shes have never worn out. She always grows out of them first (growns put of them between 6-9months on average so far). She is 9y.

DD wears Clarks and we're happy with comfort and long term economy. She usually has two pairs a year - one bought at the end of August and one bought in January.

We polish them every morning and she only wears them during school - switching as soon as she gets home.

boy got 16 months out of his last pair, I expect 12months plus from the current ones. They are boring black shoes from a boot maker custom made to fit his funny shape feet, leather uppers and insole, vibram sole. they will probably be resoled once during the year. cost around 60 quid including mid year re-sole/ reshape if needed.
They polish up nicely and don't seem to show the scuffing like clarks do.

I know I was heavy on shoes as a kid. Some just are more than others. Mum wasn't too pleased when I took up sport and would be through trainers at £50 in 4 weeks. My record for a pair of Adidas torsion was 7 days :)

So my warning is go for a sport like football or something played on grass :)

Some kids are just heavier on shoes than others unfortunately. My kids have always had one pair of school shoes a year, generally Clarks or similar, but I'm lucky in that their feet don't seem to grow particularly quickly and even the boys never scuffed them through. Mind you a pair of Clarks here in Oz are $120 (around 75 pounds) so they would damn well want to last the year!

DD had a pair a year in Yrs R and 1, and Yr 2 looks like it's going the same way - I think she's gone up a size a year, but the growing room plus six week summer holidays have meant she's not needed the new pair until September. She came close to trashing her Yr R ones, by scraping the soles along the playground surface, they were on the verge of wearing through. This year the biggest problem is that she has those Clarks ones with the toy, and the insole has rucked up where it comes up to get at the blinking thing. Plus the leather is cracking and peeling by each big toe, but she swears she's not doing anything untoward to them.

She's generally pretty easy on shoes though, one pair of trainers must've lasted a year and a half.

I would buy shoes from Clarks, Startrite or Geox. On sale they would cost approx. £20.00 or even less but they would last you the whole year. Pop into your nearest John Lewis or Charles Clincard to try different shoes then buy on sale. Not everything what is on sale in John Lewis will reflect the prices on their website.

My primary school age DS gets through a pair a term.

I get clarks (more wide fitters here!) and between being trashed and growing feet, we get through about a pair a term...and we polish!