When did your child go from the book bag to a backpack?

[myusernameisnotmyusername]

Hi my dd moves up to year 1 in September and I'm wondering what year kids stop using their book bag and go towards a backpack type bag? Thanks.

tuppence that’s just your area. Where I am lots of the primaries use them.

DS1 had a backpack in reception. Much easier to put book bag in along with all the other miscellaneous tat they have to carry that doesn't fit in a book bag!

Saves lost hats, jumpers, water bottles etc because he would just put everything in his rucksack when he removed it.

Also makes it easier for DS1 to carry his own stuff (true motives coming out now!)

Interesting responses. I do manage to fit DD's water bottle and sun cream into the book bag although breakfast and after school club supply sun cream so unless it's a total scorcher it's not an issue. The only thing is if anything leaked the book would get wet. She also manages to fit items of clothing in there. PE kit is in a separate bag that gets brought home once a half term or tends to be once a week when she does after school dance club.

Mine have clip on pockets that go onto their book bags to put their water bottles in (stops the bottle leaking all over the reading book scenario). In reality a backpack would be better - but the cloakroom space is so limited I'm trying to hold off doing that as long as possible and I tend to just leave a spare carrier bag folded in their book bags in case there's a load of stuff comes home one night or a comically oversized junk model

Pretty much all of year 2 has a snuggle bag. Year 1 is half and half and reception kids have school-branded book bags

DS - Easter of Y1 when his book bag broke.
DD - Christmas of Y1 because she really wanted a Smiggle rucksack for Christmas. She now uses her book bag as a music bag.

Smiggle not snuggle

Year 5 roughly. Until then the school needed book bags only due to storage space.

Depends on the school. DD got hers in year 1 because that's what the uniform list said and they had pencil cases, lots of books etc that the school insisted they had. In my school its actually a rule no backpacks until year 3 because our cloakroom is about the size of a stamp and it was getting silly when all they actually need is a water bottle and a reading book.

The clip on pockets for water bottles are a great idea, a couple of my class have them, not only do they stop leaking but mum/dad can see if they have their water bottle as they come out the door and they take up practically no extra space once the bottle is taken out.

Interesting that no-one else has mentioned their DC cycling to school. Is this not a thing? Most kids walk to DD’s school but a fair few cycle.

Ds cycles now he is in secondary but I can only think of one family who cycled at their primary. The busy town centre location/roads probably wasn’t conducive. Also nowhere secure to leave bikes.

My two struggled to learn how to cycle until they were about 9/10.

In infants we were told no pencil cases & there were water coolers in the classrooms.

Partway through year 2 as it kept everything (homework/books/lunch box/kit for after school sports club/general crap a 7 year old totes around) together in one place!

School don’t allow backpacks for those in Reception to Y2 due to space in classroom issues. Bookbags are mandatory.

After that, a book bag isn’t really big enough for all stuff so they get backpacks.

DS gets the school bus, so no cycling to school here either. The school doesn't have a bike shed in any case.

No bike storage? That’s a shame. DD is at an inner city (London) school, but on a residential street and we cycle along residential streets to get there, along with quite a number of other kids. And there’s no shed, just racks to chain your bike to, in an area outside the school that’s locked.

Also, these schools with tiny cloakrooms - at DD’s school coats and bags are kept within or just outside each classroom, there isn’t a cloakroom. Which makes sense if they’re having to get stuff out of their bags during the day, surely?

Interesting to hear about the set up in other schools!

My eldest stopped in year 1. I don't know about my youngest yet, he is 4 end of August and goes reception so will probably use it for a bit as he is so small and doesn't like back packs