Tips for staying organised with school stuff

[Di11y]

So dd starts reception in September.

I've already emptied a draw for her uniform so it's not mixed with everything.

And I'm planning on taking a photo of all school letters and dealing with straight away where possible, plus shared calendar.

But what else could I do yo make things easier?

[Di11y]

This is gold, thanks everyone!

So, big t shirt for breakfast (she’s at breakfast club 3 days so getting dressed first needs to be the routine), empty my pointless kallax full of carrier bags for school sh*t, buy envelopes and acquire loose change.

If only the return to work (after mat leave) would be this easy.

[BingerGeer]

Have handy in your kitchen (or wherever you eat breakfast):
Envelopes
Cheque book
Pen
Sharpie
Spare stick on name labels

Mine have school dinners, but I keep emergency packed lunch food (a couple of rolls, squeezy yoghurts) in the freezer in case of last minute trips. It’s not stuff I normally buy, so otherwise I would have to run to the shop before school.

Give kids responsibility for their own stuff and let them mess up occasionally - it’s good learning and they do get better at it.

Shared phone calendar with other parent / carers is a game changer, as long as you update it every week. I do mine every Saturday morning, based on the weekly newsletter and calendar that school send out every Friday.

[Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies]

Just to add, DC4 is due to start secondary on Tuesday, and I've continued this - only difference is the children all have their own school storage box in their bedrooms.

[AdelaideK]

Buy a load of envelopes. Schools are constantly wanting 50p for this and a £1 for that.

Check the school bag for letters, homework as soon as you get home.

Uniforms laid out the night before with undies, socks and shoes.

[Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies]

I had a storage box in the kitchen, and I used to chuck their book bag/all letters/any other school related junk into it. It meant I knew where everything was, even if the letter I wanted had somehow sunk to the bottom of the box below a layer of other rubbish.

[itsaboojum]

Most schools require children to take water along. Unfortunately water bottles leak, ruining everything in their bags. It’s invariably the parents who are left to clean up, and some schools add insult to injury by billing you for any school books.

Avoid this by sending an empty water bottle for dd to fill up at school, then empty at the end of the day. If you meet with opposition, you may need to remind them that they do have a clean water supply (which you’re paying for.)

[PureColdWind]

My children get dressed into uniforms first thing just to get that job over with. Then they each wear one of their dad's big t-shirts over the uniform while they eat breakfast and brush their teeth etc - its like a big bib so their clothes remain clean. They take it off after their teeth are brushed. The t-shirts often are covered in stains from breakfast but the uniforms are totally clean.

[donkeysandzebras]

One more than I remembered today. Have a Sharpie in the kitchen or by the front door and then, when something different has to go in, you can scribble their name on it.
We have 2 DC and always start the year with 4 or so sistema water bottles, loads of mix & match containers etc and I stick a label with the DC's surname on all of them and then it doesn't matter if one of them forgets to bring home their water or something as there is always spare.
If you have a DD, put a pair of socks in her PE bag for when they do PE in the winter.

[5000KallaxHoles]

Ikea Kallax boxes fit school book bags in brilliantly - we have a box by the door and once I've emptied reading folders each night, done reading books - they go back beside the front door to be picked up on the way out the following morning.

Carrier bag rolled up inside the book bag and elastic banded to stay rolled up for those days you get saddled with a 2 foot high junk model unicorn with a head that keeps falling off to take home.

I do 10 minutes sitting down every week when the weekly newsletter comes home (ours is very good with the weekly events but also a rolling "future dates" section) and put everything into a google calendar that is on all our family phones. Then when I menu plan for the week I transfer everything across onto a column there so it's all on the fridge and no one has any bloody excuses for leaving all the remembering stuff to me.

It's just keeping on top of things really - our school being very good with communication helps a lot.

[Ifeeltheneed]

Everything Bezm posted!

[ifIonlyknew]

don't panic that you need more uniform, see how it goes, we have always managed perfectly well with both our kids with just 2 skirts/pinafores/trousers, 2 shirts and 1 cardigan and tie. Shoes off the minute they come in, unpack bag the minute they come in and put it ready for the next day, lunches made night before if you are doing them, water bottle filled and in fridge night before. I agree breakfast and teeth before getting dressed, chance of them looking tidy when arriving at school. If she has long hair I would suggest brushing and plaiting it before bed as it will be nice and easy to brush in the morning! def agree get in routine before term starts in terms of early nights and getting up in the morning. I used to have a piece off paper stuck to the inside of the front door with blutack just saying vitals to check before leaving so lunch, glasses if needed,, coat or whatever. and if anything for a particular day then add that for that day. Just gives a last minute check list. also agree about checking before leaving playground if they have cardigan, coat, lunchbox and water bottle. makes life so much easier. The only times we have forgotten them have been days I haven't checked! never when I have checked have we had to go back in to get something but there have been a few occasions (although not many) when we have got home without a water bottle or cardigan. Show her as well where you have put her name tapes in things so she knows where to look on them after PE, will make life easier for her at school

[Di11y]

Thanks for the tips, doesn't sound like rocket science so hopefully I'll cope. I already have baskets for shoes but change and envelopes to hand is good. Need more uniform.

[CripsSandwiches]

I think you'll be fine. I'm naturally disorganised and manage fine. I put a reminder on my calendar every day I need to remember anything (even things that happen every week e.g. PE kit).

[whattimeislove]

Google calendar - put in:

• all school holidays/inset days
• all regular things (musical instruments etc)
• class assembly dates
• countless pta requests during Christmas/summer fair prep
• everything else (including parties) as soon as dates are set

Set alerts for all activities.

[GreenTulips]

Join the PTA Facebook page
Join the Parents year group page (great for reminders)
Put a purse in her bag with £1 in change for cake sales etc so if you forget they aren't stuck
Calender for dress down days
Put stuff for the next day in the hall where you'll trip over it! Book bag shoes coat kit etc

Pay for meals and trips on time
Send letters for parents evening straight away etc

[BikeRunSki]

Have a pile of name stickers and a black sharpie at the ready for last minute labelling of everything and anything at short notice. There will be all sorts of things your child is asked to bring to school that you’ll never have thought of.

[lolalotta]

OP, I did reading each morning, whilst brushing putting up hair. I started it from day one, so it was just part of the routine and never had any battles about it, and meant it never got missed.

[Phalarope]

I am quite organised - any dates go straight onto calendar, letters into kitchen noticeboard, bag checked night before blah blah blah. HOWEVER if your school is anything like ours, they'll send some messages by letter, others by word of mouth, email or pinned up in window (where people who use breakfast/after school club won't see it). They managed to tell one year group about an early finish for Xmas and nobody else last year. So get on the WhatsApp group and assume that any info you get is probably only half the story.

[Hoppinggreen]

As soon as the weekly newsletter/email comes out write every date on your calendar along with anything required eg
“Raising money for disadvantaged otters day - wear purple”
Or similar!

[onemouseplace]

My two best tips are:

Check their book bag after school everyday for letters, and deal with them as soon as possible. I add to calendar, fill in any consent form and put it under my keys to take in the next morning and make any payments online asap and then stick the letter on the noticeboard,

Have a list up of what they need and where they need to be each day (homework, pe kit, swimming kit, afterschool club, snack etc). Then all brainpower is taken out of remembering what they need each morning.

[Bellabutterfly2016]

My best friend has 3 kids and has these plastic drawer units, 5 drawers in each unit (Mon-Fri) and she fills them every Sunday with clothes for the whole week, pants, vests, socks the whole lot and whatever else they need to take on a particular day, they live on her landing. When dd3 goes to school I'll do the same it's a brilliant idea.

[PaddysMarket]

I found buying 2 pairs of School shoes help, at least we don't have the "wheres the shoes" every morning. Also helpful too when the shoes come home wet and the weather isn't cold enough to put the heaters on.

[user789653241]

I am really disorganized. But I got through by making good school gate/mum friends and checking school website regularly.
It's nothing really to worry too much about. You will get used to it.

[Bezm]

Don't get them dressed until last. The number of children who turn up with breakfast/toothpaste down their jumpers is unbelievable!
Leave PE kit in school for the full half term. It will NOT need washing every week! Write their names in everything! Check reading bags daily for notes home. Don't put a note in the bag expecting your DC to remember to hand it in, give it to the teacher yourself.
Try to remember that the teacher has 29 other children to teach, so if your DC comes home with their skirt inside out, or shoes on the wrong feet, don't make a song and dance about it in the whatsapp group page!
If they have a packed lunch, don't send in too much food.
When you pick your DC up at home time, don't have your phone out, don't bring them sweets, do give them a great big hug and ask them if they've had a lovely day.
Remember, if their friend falls out with them one day, it's NOT bullying!
Don't be dragged into one upmanship with other parents on the playground, it isn't a competition what colour book band your child is on.
When you drop off in the morning, let your DC go in and sort themselves out hanging their coat up, putting book bag in the right place etc. Make a quick get away! If they see you lingering looking a bit upset, they will become upset. The majority of children by far who might cry at drop off will stop crying the moment you're gone.

[donkeysandzebras]

We have a little box in the kitchen with loose change in it, little envelopes, a pad and pen as well as a few paper clips. This is very handy when they suddenly announce they need 20p or suddenly produce a letter from a pocket that needs signing or you need to give something to the teacher (the DC go to before school club, I know the teacher looks in their reading book everyday in reception so the easiest way to get a message like "DD is going home with X today" was to attach it to her reading record).
Also, reply to party invitations the day they come home and note the crucial details (name, venue, time) on the calendar there & then. And stock up on some generic cards & presents now.