What will my 4YO need for reception?

[mandbaby]

My 4yr8m son starts reception class in September.

I'm just trying to think what he will need, apart from the "obvious".

Uniform, shoes, name labels for all his clothing.

But what else? He will be having school dinners (as will most 4/5/6 year olds now that they're free), so will he still need a lunchbox? Do you send your little ones with a drink? What do you send it in? A flask or just a water bottle?

I think his school provide fruit mid-morning, so will this be all the snack he needs? Do you send anything else?

Surely he wont need a pencil case at this stage? I can't believe they'd be asked to write anything and if they did, surely they'd be provided with pens/pencils/crayons/.

Our school don't expect children to have their own pencil cases until year 3, and even then there are class ones available if needed.
Ours provide a mid-morning snack and don't expect them to have one in the afternoon.
We have water bottles that are left/filled in school, otherwise I'd send one in.
He'll probably need a book bag to take reading books/drawings etc home in. Our school provide a plastic one, or we can buy school specific ones for about £3.

They provide water/milk/fruit

no need for pencil case.

They'll need a little book bag for their reading book and the million and one bits of crap they bring home every day.

He won't need a pencil case or extra snacks, school will provide all that.

He'll need a book bag and a water bottle. Bag for PE kit. A waterproof coat. Wellies, they always seem to need wellies at short notice.

That's about it, he might sometimes need a lunch box and a rucksack for school trips, but just get one when that comes up.

Thanks everyone. Sounds like I'm pretty much on the way to being sorted.

I've ordered a book bag on his uniform order form, so sorted there.

Water bottle: should I buy one or do you just buy throw away bottles of mineral water? Trying to keep cost at a minimum here with DC3 on its way! (Got to say, he's not a big water drinker and prefers very diluted sugar free juice)

I will get the lunchbox when the need arrives (school trips, etc).

We already have a few little rucksacks for him to take his PE kit in.

Get a refillable water bottle for him to take in. You'll soon suss out whether they can refill it at school or you need to fill it at home and send in each day.

Our school normally asks for no lunchboxes on trips!
Check if there are requirements for PE bags (DC's old school insisted on draw string bags - rucksacks would not have fitted on the pegs!)

He'll need suncream and sunhat if it is hot in September.
Some schools require inside shoes.

I just buy throw away bottles of mineral water, some of the class have bought a re-usable bottle, the sistema bottles are popular.

Some schools have water bottles you can buy with the school logo on.

I agree with redsky you need a drawstring bag for the pe kit really, doesn't need to be expensive.

Ready for next summer, or if it's particulary hot in september, you'll need some all day suncream, I buy the boots soltan once 8 hour one.

DD has

Bookbag - bought from school
PE bag - bought from school
Waterbottle - the school originally insisted on a clear one to see that only water is brought in. They actually did tests every now and then. It seems now they change policies though.

She gets a piece of fruit each morning plus milk. The milk still has to be paid, I think I pay £0.16/day but DD loves milk so I don't mind.

Don't forget hats and 8hr-suncream, even in September you can have warm days.

Our school forbids any other bags or personal items, they just get lost or clog up the very narrow corridors. Juniors are different though, we have to buy own bags and pencil case.

For school trips - the school insists on throw-away bags. So all children bring a plastic bag and food in disposable bags, no backpack and lunchboxes.

Oh, invest in a second pair of wellies and proper waterproofs. DD more than one forgot her wellies when it was raining in the morning so it was handy having another pair at home.

It's also useful to have a packet of tiny envelopes to send money/cheques into school in.
I use a reusuable water bottle - way cheaper than buying mineral water.

I'd strongly recommend getting (or making) named tags for his bags. Make sure you pick something with a bright colour, an easily recognisable picture and your DS's name. If the tags on all his bags match, then so much the better.

It makes it easier for them to find their bookbag/PE bag etc. in among all the identical bags in the classroom. And yes, they can read their names, but a picture helps when there are similar names in the same class (and in my DS's case, similar meant "starts with the same letter").

This sort of thing.

I second the little envelopes for money, etc.

Our school provides a water bottle. She has milk and fruit from school for snack.

In September DD will be going into y1, and will be hot dinners daily. She will be taking in her bookbag with her school cap and reading book in daily, and then she will have her pe kit in school in her drawstring pe bag (logoed). We also have a change of underwear in her pe bag, just in case!

Yes yes to the rucksack for school trips.

It is such a pain when they don't have one and have to carry stuff in their hands or on a shoulder that keeps slipping off. Secure on back means hands free to hold partner/adult/bannister etc.

Check with the school before buying stuff especially for trips . Some school ask that the children take nothing which has to be carried. Even bags and packaging for lunches must be disposable so it can all be binned after lunch.

Do you have a home visit? They usually tell you on that what they need. Our school never used to use PE kits in YR, but they do now. Still, they only use them for 2 half terms a year, so they tell you when it's your 'turn' and you can bring it. Not on the first day!

Yes, to water bottles. Not disposable ones for every day, just one you can re-use. Start using it in the summer to get him used to it (on picnics etc.) Get him used to water over the summer, it's a good time as he's thirsty. Water is brain food so it's good for them to drink as much as possible through the day. If he doesn't like water, he won't drink it. They likely won't allow any other drink, so it's best to train him to like water.

Maybe a pair of shorts if we have a warm September.

TeenAndTween: This very much depends on the school. Our Infant school actually forbids any bags on trips.

I would check what the school's policy ius.

While I agree with you, having two children on each of my hands and a small carrier bag with their lunch was awful to carry, having to check for bags as well as coats would cause disaster for 4-5 year olds.

We have rucksacks for lunch on trips. But they don't do a day trip till spring term anyway. Thankfully. There's no way I would be carrying 4 lunches with drinks. They carry their own. Much easier to check for 3 rucksacks on backs than carry 4 lunches (inc your own). Most museums have a place to put them for the day.

A lot of it depends on the school

DD has to have:

-Wellies kept in school
-Sun cream to be kept in school
-baseball cap for PE (they have another hat as part of their uniform)
-A painting apron/old shirt (although judging by her dress she rarely actually bothers to use it)
-Water bottle
-A snack (has to be fruit, veg, cheese or yoghurt)
-Spare underwear in the PE bag (just in case)
-A purse with her name on and a stack of change for the thousands of cake sales/fairs for mothers day/fathers day/christmas/because the PTA are bored

for school trips we have to have a rucksack and lunchbox, jogging bottoms and a kag-in-a-bag (if its not cold enough for proper coats)

she also has to have a Lunch apron, playground fleece and pencil case (but her school is the only one I've ever heard of that asks for those)

When DS was in reception at a different school he had to have:

-Book bag
-Water bottle

Trips he had a a packed lunch in a carrier bag so they could dump it the second lunch was finished and some money in an envelope with his name and the amount on the front which the teacher/TA in charge of his group held on to

I teach p1 (reception) and I love it when parents send in a box of tissues and some glue sticks !!! We go through glue like snow off a ditch!!!

Just ask the school for a list, they will have one. Every school is different.

This is an impossible question to answer, every school has different requirements so ask the school.

school should give you a list at some sort of settling in/information day and some stuff might have to be school logo stuff but probably uniform, PE kit and bag, book bag, good warm coat, wellies, he will need a hat and gloves (named) over the winter and in the summer normally expected to have a sunhat and suncream to keep at school, clear/see through water bottle for in the classroom.