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Primary education

Join our Primary Education forum to discuss starting school and helping your child get the most out of it.

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Original poster

UNIFORM question. How many of each item to buy??

36 replies

212VIP · 30/07/2013 09:19

DC1 is starting primary school in September.
About to start the uniform purchasing but just really thought I'd see how many of each item every one buys.

Was thinking:
5 shirts
5 trousers
3 jumpers
Big pile of grey socks

Is this right, or overkill??

Many thanks

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Original poster

212VIP · 30/07/2013 09:19

Oh and 1 pair of school shoes, or two?

OP posts:

num3onway · 30/07/2013 09:20

My two each have two jumpers, 5 polos and 3 trousers, 7 pack socks each

num3onway · 30/07/2013 09:20

I wouldn't buy more than one pair shoes incase feet grow!

Thesimplethings · 30/07/2013 09:21

My dc starts nursery in sept. I've ordered 4 sweaters, 4 polos and a waterproof coat. Still to get trousers and shoes. Probably three pairs of trousers and one pair of shoes.

hothereinnit · 30/07/2013 09:24

I have managed fine for the last 2 years with:

3 shirts
2 winter dresses/1 summer dress (summer dress takes much less time to dry)
1 jumper

I always seem to have a wash needs doing, so pop anything dirty on of an evening if necessary and its ready by the next morning.

hothereinnit · 30/07/2013 09:26

I have managed fine for the last 2 years with:

3 shirts
2 winter dresses/1 summer dress (summer dress takes much less time to dry)
1 jumper

I always seem to have a wash needs doing, so pop anything dirty on of an evening if necessary and its ready by the next morning.

RobotHamster · 30/07/2013 09:30

3 trousers, 3 jumpers and 6 poloshirts. Keep one for best for photos etc. Works fine.
He really does need a shirt for every day - it usually comes home covered in yoghurt.

noisytoys · 30/07/2013 10:02

5 polo shirts (or 6 because they come in packs of 3)
2 cardigans
2 pinafores
5 pairs of socks / tights
One pair of Mary Janes, one pair of winter boots

Hulababy · 30/07/2013 10:05

Dd always had:

2 winter skirts/pinafores (was pinafore in infants)
3 blouses
1 cardigan
Several pairs of tights/socks
1 PE kit, kept at school
1 pair of pumps/trainers
1 pair school shoes
1 school tie
1 school coat

I always sent a spare pair of pants/socks/tights and kept them in PE bag, for emergency

SoupDragon · 30/07/2013 10:06

5 tops
3 bottoms
3 jumpers
As many identical socks as you can muster.

Hulababy · 30/07/2013 10:06

We never had much issue with shirts/pinafores as DD's infant uniform included a little red apron for lunch time/cooking and her primary always had an art apron (lab coat when older) for art and craft stuff.

justanuthermanicmumsday · 30/07/2013 10:10

I think i buy too much based on your recommendations. i have 5 of everything except shoes pe kit and swim kit. 2 pairs of shoes so one can get an airing.

2 pairs pe kit
1 swimsuit

Explains why I'm drowning with washing

HorryIsUpduffed · 30/07/2013 10:13

My R boy needed a clean top layer every day - in winter the jumper, in summer the polo shirt.

His trousers were muddy/dusty/sticky nearly every day too. In shorts season he needed only two pairs a week.

Why do boys wear their food?

He had eight polo shirts and three jumpers. He will have similar in Y1.

He had two or three pairs of trousers, which was not enough. He will have more next term.

Eight squillion socks sounds about right

HorryIsUpduffed · 30/07/2013 10:15

Oh yes, also wellies to live at school. And don't get a coat that can't be machine washed. Needs to be at least showerproof and have a hood.

Ten million pairs of gloves on elastic through the coat arms. They need to be washable too.

AnythingNotEverything · 30/07/2013 10:17

It really depends how mucky your child tends to get, and whether you wash midweek.

We always had 5 shirts, 2 trousers and 2 jumpers. Jumpers were school issue and embroidered and I wash most days anyway, so trousers were often drying on the radiator overnight.

YY to multiple identical pairs of socks. Buy loads and you'll never worry about odd socks again.

Eglute · 30/07/2013 10:23

3 trousers
5 polos
2 jumpers
7 pairs of socks

unlucky83 · 30/07/2013 10:53

I do washing once a week - so 6 polos, 6 trousers and 6 jumpers (girl) and two summer dresses -agree with keeping one polo for 'best' and not getting too stressed by marks on the others (with DD1 I was constantly struggling to get rid of stains -DD2 I'm much less fussy...also IME they get pen and glue on them on school as well )
I don't make her get changed after school - so it gets lunch and dinner dribbles...
Did have skirts and pinafores for DD1 but she ended up just wearing trousers...so DD2 has handed down ones but also doesn't want to wear them
Pinafores - reduce stains on white polos (WHY WHITE for 4 yos???) but unless they can take them on and off themselves their teacher needs to help them get ready for gym (true for tights too) - DD2 hated not being independent.
As they get older they need slightly less (DD1 started secondary last year - had a favourite pair of school trousers and just wore them for a week!!)
Uniform is so cheap these days (unless you have to get from a special shop) that you may as well -and not get stressed about having to get a pair of trousers dry for the next day...(do try and get 2 days wear out but doesn't always work)
Never used to get dresses -weather in Uk so bad they only get to wear them a few times a year - but then realised that's one thing rather than two to wash.
Socks - I get patterned ones that are school colours (Red & Navy) or plain black - white socks for children may as well be disposable!
I sew a small coloured dots on the band of new plain socks (only takes 5 mins if that) - so I can match them up easily and know who they belong too without checking out the size - and if they are the next size up etc. (DD2 has just gone from pink dots to green thought I'd got rid of all the pink ones but one turned up the other day) Latest ones I bought for DD2 had the size marked in band - a really good idea but I still dotted them -thought if I got others that were similar I would then have to actually read the size.

Fuzzymum1 · 30/07/2013 11:47

I have three polos, three jumpers and three torusers. He has a full set clean each day and I was monday and tuesdays on a wednesday and then he wears them on thursday and friday before I was the whole lot at the weekend.

Phoebe47 · 30/07/2013 21:04

DD2 (Reception age) has two pinafores three white polo shirts, two school sweatshirts and loads of white socks. She wears tights in the winter and these have to be grey (she has three pairs). DD1 is in juniors has the same except she wears skirts. DS - top infants - has two sweatshirts and three pairs of trousers plus three polo shirts and loads of grey socks. It's his trousers that get messy. Three school dresses for the girls in summer and three pairs of shorts for DS. I wash midweek and again at the weekend.

AaDB · 30/07/2013 21:45

Sounds about right. My ds always had a growth spurt around Easter. I don't spend a lot on uniform because it all had to be replaced. As PE and games kits are kept in school, I always forget to change the plimsolls for a budget size.

I always buy new vests, undies and socks.

MrButtercat · 31/07/2013 08:08

9 year old twin boys have 5 polos each,4 trousers and 4 school logo sweatshirts.Smaller twin inherits the bigger twin's clothes.

8 year old dd has 4 pinafores,1skirt and 1 pair of trousers.4 short sleeve blouses,2 long and 4 cardigans.She likes variety(thankfully the culottes were a one hit wonder).

I can't stand school clothes stress so would rather buy a lot to avoid running out.All are mucky kids and I size up from M&S so it lasts all year.They have 1 pair of Startrites a year,again bought to last size wise.

Whathaveiforgottentoday · 31/07/2013 09:38

My dd always needed more jumpers as she used to wipe her nose on them in the winter! I had 4 of each but as I work I'm not so organised witnwashing. Others cope with 2 dresses, blouses, jumpers. Only 1 pair of shoes and pe kit. Our PE kits only come home every 6 weeks so no point having spares.

PolterGoose · 31/07/2013 09:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

jamtoast12 · 31/07/2013 16:13

Dds both have

4 polo tops
2 pinafores
1 skirt
2 cardys
4 pairs tights and 5 pairs of knee socks

I wash most days so this is sometime more than I need too! I can often get a couple of days out of the cardys and dresses.

BornToFolk · 31/07/2013 16:30

Sounds right to me. DS only had two jumpers through Reception which was fine but three would have been better!

The amount of clothes needed was definitely seasonable. He needed clean trousers every day during winter as he got them covered (and I mean, literally covered) in mud playing football. He only needed 2 or maybe 3 polo shirts a week though as they were under his jumper. But in spring/summer term he needed a clean polo shirt every day but his shorts stayed cleaner so he only needed 2 pairs.

A lot of it depends on how much washing you do/want to do. I preferred to have lots of polo shirts so I only had to do one white wash a week, but fewer jumpers was fine as I usually do a mid-week dark wash.

Definitely only one pair of school shoes, plus wellies for playing outside.

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