Slightly mundane and inconsequential question - 1st day at school, summer or winter uniform?

[chaosisawayoflife]

Dd starts reception next week, and I don't know whether to send her in summer dress or winter uniform. She is very conscious of what she and others are wearing and although it sounds ridiculous it's the kind of thing that could upset her on her 1st day.

depends on the weather

or ring sch and ask (if they are on inservice beforehand)

I'd say winter uniform. If you buy summer uniform now, she'll be in it for a couple of weeks only, and will have grown out of it by next summer.

Can only speak for my ds school but first day nearly all will be in full winter uniform I think - due to first day photos also lots of reception parents don't buy summer uniform until the following spring IME.

how different are the uniforms? Ours are completely different (checked summer dress vs pinafore, shirt, tie etc..) In our case i would send her in winter uniform on her very first day, that's what the others will be wearing i imagine.
if it is hot then switch to summer later in the week.

Great, thanks everyone. I was thinking the winter uniform would look better for the compulsory 1st day photo on the doorstep!

Does it say on the website?

Ours is summer until Oct half term.

I just send DD in summer/winter according to the weather.

But full uniform on first day for the photos Awww

Summer here too.

In reception, everyone was in winter uniform. Subsequent years its summer uniform as they are still wearing the term befores stuff and are allowed to wear it till half term

As said previously, depends on the weather. Mine will almost certainly be going back in winter uniform but if we get a warm spell i've still got summer stuff to switch to if necessary.

in recpetion last year winter uniform.

This year it will be whatever the weather says.

DD went in winter uniform, looks much smarter for the first day. I think there was just one child who wore Summer dress until half-term. She did wear her Summer dress 1-2 weeks though.

It is supposed to be quite warm next week, I doubt I will get her to wear winter uniform. More likely to add sun hat and sunlotion.

How easy is it to get changed out of? Ours prefer them in summer uniform, as it's just a dress and socks rather than shirt/tie/pinafore/tights etc and therefore much easier for them to get used to PE changing and the TA doesn't spend hours doing up buttons

Boys are easier, as the shorts/trousers option isn't too different. Ours will be going back in shorts, as they don't tend to opt for trousers until their little legs are turning blue. They prefer shorts in wet weather so they don't have to sit in soggy trousers after playtime.

I did a ridiculous PFB drive-by on the first day of school to check what the other children were wearing (Reception started a day later than the others). In our case it was summer uniform predominating.

I am ridiculous. But obviously not alone . Can you check with other mums - I'm sure they'll be thinking the same thing.

Hi chaosisawayoflife:

I was also worried about the uniform thing (didn't have uniforms myself) so found it all a bit strange - but please don't sweat this one. If you feel the school might be strict on unifrom code, than try e-mailing the school for advice on this (there usually is a general enquiries contact e-mail), but my advice is simply let your DC chose what she wants to wear on her first day.

The whole uniform thing is very exciting at first and she should enjoy it. I think it's better to let her enjoy and wear out the bits of the uniform she likes before it becomes about wearing something to be 'fitting in' with the crowd (which sadly at some point it always does - thinking of my teenage niece who only wears black these days, sigh...).

Reception children are too little to be that judgemental about waht other children are wearing and the Reception class(es) are usually kept to themselves at first - so she is unlikely to be teased by other children. You'll most likely find that children will be wearing a variety of summer/ winter options.

For future reference, try to make a mental note of what she enjoys wearing and what is popular with older children to inform next year's uniform choices. There's no point buying the school fleece, for example, if she finds it too hot and would rather wear the lighter weight cardigan.

Finally - LABEL EVERYTHING! Just writing her name with an ink pen on the label will suffice - but it really helps get things back to you and makes it easier for the teachers too.

Summer until end of October

My DD is also starting reception next week. I bought 2 summer dresses in her current size just in case we have a late warm spell (in M&S 20% off sale), but she will be going on the first day in winter uniform come rain or shine.

If she didn't go to the school's nursery class, then winter uniform. No point in buying summer dresses for just a couple of weeks. However, if she has dresses from last term in nursery then let her wear one of those. It means you get a bit more of your money's worth.

DD wore winter uniform for starting the school's childcare in her pre-nursery year, but then had summer dresses for the end of that which she wore for starting nursery. She also wore summer dresses when starting reception last year, and will be in them for starting Y1 next week.

DS started reception in winter uniform, as he didn't do his nursery year at the school, but has been in summer uniform at the beginning of every year since. Suspect in a few more years he'll be the only one out of a hundred or so boys starting Y7 in shorts.