School Uniform help!

[Justgettingbye]

Brief background DD1 is due to start reception in September, we've had uniform lists through and website of 3 suppliers. DD has gone preschool but they wore their own clothes. So my questions are:

How many of each item did you buy?

Did you buy plain polo shirts/pe tops from say Asda, or did you get the logo ones from school supplier (on my list it just says red polo top)

Same as above regarding trousers/skirts

Where do you get drawstring pe bags from?

Thanks! I'm new to this game

Always go for supermarket polo shirts. She will come home covered in allsorts. White board pen was my nemesis

Drawstring PE bags I got from amazon with ds name on it !

Ask the school about whether they will wear PE kit all day on PE days as if so, you won't need so much 'normal' uniform.

But for mine, I've bought 2 x skirt / trousers, 2 x jumpers / cardigans and 3 x polo shirts. They've had clean polos everyday (I wash on Tuesday evening) and jumpers / skirts / trousers generally last 2 days.

Plain supermarket polos unless school specifies logoed ones. Supermarket skirts / trousers. Only bought logo jumpers from school.

5 or 6 shirts, 2 of everything else (one on, one in the wash).
I bought the logo PE top but everything else from supermarket.
PE bag, find someone with a sewing machine, they take 10 minutes to make. Or you can buy them in sports direct.

Mine always had 5 shirts (just wash them once a week) and 3 jumpers/skirts/trousers as they’ll either do 2 days or just wash those mid week if they mucky them.

3 cardigans, skirts & pinafores, 5/6 shirts depending on if they’re in a 2 pack... but the supermarket ones plus 2 logo ones for in the summer when she won’t have her cardigan on. Unless she will wear summer dress? I always get 2 of those.
Do they have to have certain socks? Worth checking.

I have bought polo tops and trousers from ASDA and I'm just buying the jumper with the school logo from the uniform supplier. I've walked past the school at finishing time a few times and noticed that most of the kids have the official school jumper with the logo so I'll get him that if it's what most of them have. I checked with the school and they said ASDA/Tesco is fine.

PE kit I got from Tesco. I also got drawstring PE bags from Tesco (in the school bag section).

I got 10 trousers and 10 polo shirts because DS cannot keep himself clean and I'm expecting him to come home covered in mud and his school dinner everyday! I don't have a tumble drier so drying can be slow if it's wet outside.

I'm going to get four jumpers with the school logo and also some plain ones from ASDA as I've seen some kids wearing those too.

Depends on how often you are able to do laundry!

They often come home filthy in the first few years... lunch on skirt/trousers, pen on top, mud, grass, paint...

My minimum is three of everything. Unless you have a handy PE day on Wednesdays, then you can get away with two.

I only ever get one logoed jumper/cardigan. For photo day, school trips etc.

I found in reception I needed clean uniform for every day - and one spare set in a bag on her peg for accidents.

I got 2 skirts, 2 pinafores, one pair of trousers, 4 cardigans, 4 shirts, 5 socks.

By the end of reception, she wasn't such a mucky pup, and we managed with fewer of everything - 1 skirt, 1 jumper, 1 pair trousers, 4 shirts.

Drawstring PE bag I bought from the website I got name labels from, so it came personalised.

Top tip.. get plain socks, grey not white if allowed not ones with different patterns, bows etc on top. Easier to pair up. And get ten pairs unless its just my children who manage to lose socks...

End of reception here. Our school has switched back to changing for PE so 5 sets. DS gets absolutely filthy and I don't want to wash uniform midweek so we have 5 of everything (well, 6 polos and trousers as they come in multipacks).

Thanks everyone!

No sock colour is specified but I like the idea of non white!
Washing machine is on daily due to having a baby and a messy DH
She will probably wear a summer dress so that can be a supermarket job
After reading this will probably get a couple of logo jumpers/cardigans and possibly a logo pe top and the rest from supermarket.
Asda £2.50 pack of polo tops vs £6.50 for one from school shop
Like the idea of an Amazon drawstring bag with name on

I buy everything plain for supermarkets or M&S except one cardigan or jumper which I get with the logo, mainly so I have one for school photo day. I have 4 full sets of uniform so I don’t have to worry about washing too much during the week, there’s always something clean. Mixture of a couple of skirts, a couple of pinafores, a couple of pairs or trousers for DD and a combination of socks or tights.
Drawstring bags are cheap in supermarkets, shoe shops or Amazon.

Two or three shorts or trousers (they dry easily overnight, so two may be fine), five logo tops second hand, three jackets or jumpers second hand. Our school supplier clothing was excellent quality so better to buy that second hand than cheap supermarket generic.

I'd add to what everyone has said that there are individual school "norms" and it might be worth talking to parents of existing children/lurking round school to work out what they are.

For example, your question about logoed polo shirts - there are some schools where virtually everyone wears them, some schools where virtually no one does and some where it's very half and half. Your child will probably want to be the same as everyone else (funds allowing). Equally MN posters always seem to suggest that you should have multiple complete sets of uniform but there was virtually no one at DC's infants school that had more than one jumper - it was simply sponge cleaned between times and chucked in the wash (they dry quickly) if needed.

@kowari fair point regarding quality guess it's a game of trial and error

@UserAtRandom yes absolutely. I remember from school the children that had the 'different' uniform eg non matching colour plain polo top. Strange what you remember!

Will have a lurk I've watching induction videos etc and it seems as though everyone has a logo jumper/cardigan and polo tops are mixed

Slight jump on topic but my DD is going to a non uniform school. I’m currently buying some cheap stuff that’ll just be for school as we have done for nursery for the last 3 years.. all good but I’m confused by what layers I need! I’ve heard horror stories about kids being freezing & sat in coats & gloves.. is it really that bad? How have you kept your kids warm?! I’ve got a pack of 8 long sleeved T-shirt’s, few leggings, couple skirts, couple pinafores (non uniform versions that DD already has).. also will get vests. Are jumpers/cardigans on top enough? Or do I need a layer like a fleece or something?!

I live in Yorkshire. It is blooming cold here in Autumn/Winter 😅

@Bobholll Yes, it has been chilly this last year due to having windows open for ventilation (Covid).
We found some thermal vests (t-shirt style) from M&S to be very warm under their school polo shirts.
As you're not restricted to uniform colours, Mountain Warehouse do some great thermal (but colourful) long sleeved thermal base layer tops and leggings.
But I'd hold off for now until you need them later in the year. It might not be necessary.

Pinafores keep shirts tidier. Knee socks are easier than tights. Get at least three jumpers/cardigans: one on, one off and one in the wash. When buying uniform, consider leaving a spare set at school for accidents. Label everything with proper embroidered name tags. Put one at the back of neck/waist, and one in the hem to dissuade “borrowers”. Practice dressing and undressing quickly. Also, shoes with buckles are much superior to hook and loop tape.

It depends on school requirements. If they don’t ask for specific logos on items then definitely do supermarkets for everything you can. I always preferred Sainsbury’s pinafores, skirts and trousers, I found them better quality and lasted the longest. Same with shirts, mine had shirt and tie requirements not polo shirts so can’t help in that. Definitely dark socks if you can. I only ever buy the exact same ones then I’m not loosing it trying to find matching ones when the sock elfs been about. PE kits were specific logo tshirts and tracksuits so had to be from the uniform shop, same with jumpers and cardigans.

PE bags you can get at supermarkets too. But I would definitely check you need one first. We were told to leave one in school with PE pumps in but they were never ever used. After 2 kids I gave away brand new PE pumps that hadn’t been touched in 4 years, the same PE bag was hanging on the same hook while 2 of my DDs went through ks1.

Mine also had 2 days a week in PE kits so didn’t wear their full uniform every day.

Also check if it is summer dress as most schools don’t wear summer dresses in September unless it’s the actual main uniform.

As for quantity, get the bare minimum you need until you have your own routine with how you can manage washing etc..l went ott with my first, most stuff wasn’t worn. Also once your dd is in the school check if they have 2nd hand uniforms. We changed schools at the beginning of this year and I gave 2 massive bags of uniform to the school, some never worn. Pre covid they would sell it cheap a couple of times a year. Even after covid it was still available. Mine needed new tracksuits last sept but because they were leaving at Christmas I wasn’t paying for new logo’d tracksuits so just got some old ones from the school. Nothing wrong with them, the previous owners had just grown out of them.

When going for shoes leave it as late as you can because their bloody feet will suddenly stars the to grow. It took me a couple of years but I found investing in decent shoes was definitely the way to go. The last couple of years I bought kickers and Nike air max (plain black) for mine. The Nikes were worn everyday even for PE ( I told the school my dd needed them for ankle support, which was true) there was no issues as they looked like school shoes anyway, they lasted 18 months and still had plenty of wear when she finally grew out of them. Same with the kickers, it was growing out of them which was the issue, but again lasted a whole school year. Until I started buying these my DDs would go through 2/3 pairs of school shoes a year.

@Bobholll

Slight jump on topic but my DD is going to a non uniform school. I’m currently buying some cheap stuff that’ll just be for school as we have done for nursery for the last 3 years.. all good but I’m confused by what layers I need! I’ve heard horror stories about kids being freezing & sat in coats & gloves.. is it really that bad? How have you kept your kids warm?! I’ve got a pack of 8 long sleeved T-shirt’s, few leggings, couple skirts, couple pinafores (non uniform versions that DD already has).. also will get vests. Are jumpers/cardigans on top enough? Or do I need a layer like a fleece or something?!

I live in Yorkshire. It is blooming cold here in Autumn/Winter 😅

In winter I put football skins on my DDs under their PE kits and they took warm hoodies in as extra layers to put on top of what ever they were wearing. They seemed to do the job. They also had hats/scarfs etc in their bags just in case. For my 3yo I do thermals under tshirts, a zip hoodie she can put on herself and a coat. If she’s wearing a dress I still put a thermal on and leggings to keep her legs warm. Multiple layers is definitely better.

As a side note, make sure what ever coat you get can accommodate your dd being layered up. One of mine came out of school looking like the Michelin man one day and couldn’t move her arms she had so many layers on. I ended up buying her a bigger coat that she could wear over her thick hoodie and other layers.

Enough for one set everyday of the week at least! They get inexplicably filthy in reception! :P