How Many Pairs of Shoes etc for Reception

[glowfrog]

Hello all

So DD1 is starting school in September- yay! - and I am just wondering how many of clothes items she might need to get through the week.

Does she need 2 pairs of shoes and some kind of outfit for each day, eg 3 dresses and 2 skirts to make up 5 days?

Only one pair of school shoes is needed. Then I would have one outfit for each day if you can afford it as they get messy in reception. PE kit with plimsols too.

You might want to get on it though (with the school uniform) as it sells out quickly!

1 pair of school shoes
1 pair of plimsolls for pe
1 pair of wellies for forest school (if they do it)
1 pair of trainers for outdoor pe/mile run.

At least, that's what DS needed last year.

If you can afford it I would definitely get a week's worth of uniform, at least for reception. Some children are clean and manage on 2 or 3 sets but far more are incredibly mucky and need a fresh set every morning.

One pair of shoes was always fine for mine. Is she wearing uniform? 3 skirts and 5 shirts and 3 jumpers I'd say. Unless she is really messy!

My DCs school clothes in reception were;
One pair school shoes
One pair plimsolls for PE
Wellies (lived at school)
Two bottoms (skirt/trousers)
Five polo shirts
Two tops (jumper/cardigan)
Five pairs of socks
PE kit (T-shirt and shorts)
G
Warm, Waterproof coat.

School uniform makes it easy, but I'd be tempted to keep it simple and look at the supermarket school ranges even if there is no specific uniform policy as the clothes are cheap and washable.

The uniform at DS1's school said black school shoes, black plimsolls for PE, and trainers and wellies for outside playtime. We bought 1 pair of each, to be replaced when outgrown / too worn out for school.

Re. amount of clothes - it depends how much washing you're happy to do. You could get away with one set of uniform if you were prepared to wash and dry them every night (worst case of them getting mucky every day), but we got 3 polo shirts, 2 pairs of trousers, and 1 sweatshirt so we didn't have to wash and dry uniform every night.

For DS I had one pair of shoes and 6 or 7 complete outfits, as I changed them at the end of each day to allow for any accidents, paint, felt pen etc. I've never expected a uniform to last more than one day at school.

The extra one or two allows you to get behind a bit with the washing or if it takes longer to dry over the winter and still have enough in the drawer. Buy jumpers and shirts a size bigger if you can, then they may last into Yr 1 as well.

One pair of shoes, one pair of plimsolls and we had enough last year for a clean outfit every day. And mostly needed it, especially I the summer term when they were just in dresses and no cardigan to protect the top half during lunch.

Thank you all!!

My son is going into the first year. I kid you not.... He destroyed a pair of shoes each of the 3 terms! Spent £45 on clarks in September. Had to buy him new ones in December. Then again after Easter.... This year he will be in shoe zones

1 pair of school shoes (Clarks lasted 1 term start rite lasted over a year)
Plimsolls or trainers for PE (mine needed plimsolls in infants & trainers in juniors
Sometimes wellies were asked for.

Then 3-5 shirts
2 jumpers
2-3 trousers/pinafore/skirts
(Depending how often you wash)

We did 3 of everything clothes, but sometimes washed midweek. Would probably go for 5 if you're fussy or busy or both. One pair of shoes, that's expensive enough! And wellies and plimsolls our school ask for.

Three sets here, and ds was so tidy that I only washed weekly and only because I felt I should rather than needing to. Which means dd can now wear those same clothes, and she is a wear-once child most of the time. "Did you have yoghurt and bolognese for lunch and do painting today?" Yes mummy! How did you guess?!

One set school shoes, lasted about a year, one pair plimsolls, lasted 3 years. Dd has non-school shoes too and both kids have sandals and wellies.

Re shoes, Start-rite is much better than Clarks, the quality in Clarks is truly rubbish now ime.

Consider m&s, next and supermarkets too as much cheaper but not much, if at all, worse quality.

Also it may not be long before she really needs boots as girls school shoes are generally so flimsy:-(.

Check with school re shoes. DC's school didn't do "proper" PE for ages, so 1 pair of school shoes was all the footwear required. Even when they did do proper footwear they wore trainers rather than plimsolls. Some of the footwear listed here would either not be needed or not allowed at DC's school.

Just make sure everything's named (including shoes) and that DD knows how to dress and undress herself and do up her own shoes. As a reception teacher these skills delight me and I give a mental to parents who clearly name clothing and other possessions (although I did have a TA who could identify the owner of an unnamed jumpers by their smell)

I have bought:
1 pair of shoes (expecting she may grow out of them though)
3 x school logo polo shirt
2 x non logo polo shirts, they prefer the logo, but don't completely insist.
3 x school logo sweat shirts but wondering if this will be enough, been told they get messy.
3 x school jogging pants
14 pairs socks
Sensible school coat
Spare clothes bag
Book bag
Wellies for forest school
School provides waterproof coat & trousers
No separate pe kit or pumps needed until year 1
I'm sure I'll have got something wrong though, it will be a learning curve.

My ds's school's uniform policy is not very strict. It says black shoes, but a lot of children wears different coloured ones. Especially in KS1, my ds decided it's easier to wear trainers to school so he doesn't need to change for PE, and easy to run around in play time.
In Ks2, most of children wears black school shoes, but there are still some who wears coloured trainers to school.And a lot of girls wear decorative boots during winter.

So buying a school shoes for reception was complete waste of money for us.

You are lucky Irvine. My daughter's new school are very specific about shoes! Black plain shoes or trainers, no logos or embellishments and must have be Velcro fastening.

We have one pair of shoes, one pair of wellies. No trainers needed until year 1 as they don't really do P.E. until then and wear joggers and sweatshirts for uniform in Reception as they are running around and getting filthy all day.
Other uniform
7 polos (2 stay in school as spare)
7 joggers (2 in school)
3 logo jumpers
Lots and lots of socks and pants!

Avoid deichmann shoes unless you want to be back there every 6 weeks (!) they are cheaper for a reason....
We use one pair of Clarks or startrite or equivalent and a cheapy pair of trainers for PE ( no point in expensive brands if they are worn twice a week for an hour!)

Thanks everyone, v useful advice all around.

I am a labels addict and can't wait to put her name on everything. we are still working on getting dressed by ourselves, however.

My Dd is a total muck magnet and needs clean uniform everyday even going into yr 2 - the mud kitchen doesn't help. If they wear white socks get used to buying lots of vanish for soaking and I usually have a spare pack of socks in reserve for when I give up and bin them. If there is the option of dark socks eg grey/navy etc with winter uniform embrace it. They don't look as cute but it's worth it. I now have twin boys starting and have 10 + of everything. But second hand is good ! My daughter destroys 3 pairs of shoes a year which is expensive as she has tricky feet to fit and cant wear cheap ones but is not ladylike and trashes them well before they are outgrown. I wish she could wear trainers !

I've bought dd:

3 x pinafores
2 x gingham dresses (if autumn term is warm they can wear them).
7 x polo shirts
2 x logo sweatshirts
3 x non logo cardigan
2 x PE t shirts
2 x PE shorts
1 x black shoes
1 x plimsolls (trainers not allowed)
3 x tights
6 x socks
Logo book bag, PE bag and 2 x school water bottles

Just her winter coat to get!

I bought enough so I don't have to wash mid week.