School supplies?

[jennyofthenorth]

So Im from the states, looking to move to London but:
Do schools in the uk make parents buy school supplies? Here in the states your given a huge list of things you need to buy for your child (pencils, crayons, glue, scissors, headphones, paper towel...) Just currios if this is the same or different?

Depends on the age of the child, at primary school not usually, definitely not until they're towards the end. At high school yes, except paper towel. Headphones/earphones has mostly come in since covid to prevent them having to share in music class

No.

Legally schools have to provide things, in practice parents often provide things like water bottles.

At secondary (age 11 upwards) children are usually expected to have at least

1 pen, 1 pencil and usually a ruler.

It can vary (I was a supply teacher, I think you call them 'substitutes') and some school require children to have a reading book. Most high school students will have their own pencil case with supplies and their own scientific calculator.

Schools certainly don't give you the lists you see in the US. Oh and there is no VAT / sales tax on books, I think that's different to the USA.

A couple of school lists - yes we call erasers rubbers and no one sniggers because we don't call condoms that.

www.kingsburyhigh.org.uk/equipmentlist

www.cheam.sutton.sch.uk/276/essential-equipment#

www.hawardenhigh.org.uk/equipment-list-for-pupils/

Some primary (5 - 11) lists

stmarysdenton.com/parent-info/uniform-appearance-equipment/

courtwood.org.uk/equipment-list/

You will save a fortune on equipment, but you will have to buy a school uniform so maybe not a nett saving.

So what do you call a condom? Just currious

Condoms are condoms, sheath, rubber jonny, french letter (that's a bit dated as is jonny) cock sock, probably a few more.

I saw a thing on You Tube, an American working in the UK and spilled something on his desk so called out to his office workers, "Hey does anyone have an sanitary towels?"

He meant the blue paper towels that come on a roll, but what he asked for was, well what women in the UK put in their pants when they have their period.

Napkins are things we use at the table.

Paper towel? Why?

Secondary school kids at the school where I teach are expected to have a scientific calculator and pencil case of equipment. As a minimum - pen, pencil, ruler, protractor. Most also have additional items such as rubber, coloured pencils, highlighters, pencil sharpener etc. but if they don't have these they can borrow from a friend or from the teacher (assuming the teacher has one which is a not a given, they go missing!)

I just call it a condom. Some people use "Johnny".

Not at our primary school, we only have to provide a water bottle, book bag (the document kind with little carry handle, no backpacks allowed) and PE kit.

but if they don't have these they can borrow from a friend or from the teacher (assuming the teacher has one which is a not a given, they go missing!)

I actually had pens with, "stolen from Ms sashh" on them, I stopped loosing pens after that.

Though not required in primary, many schools have request list or wish lists on e.g., Amazon for supplies, and are very grateful if you donate via them - things like boxes of tissues, glue sticks, hand soap, colouring pencils, photocopy paper and all kinds of other things that cost a lot for schools to supply. It's not likely the cheapest way for them to buy stuff that they can get via bulk purchase orders, but equally, if parents will fund 30 glue sticks or a box or two of paper, that saves them a lot of money.

Some schools allow children to bring in their own pencil case with supplies in upper primary - often not allowed in lower primary though as too much potential for things getting lost/mixed up. Even upper primary has that problem. It's not so much about having your own useful things, but have the fanciest Smiggle pencil case or decorative pencils or smelly rubbers or whatever, so I can see why some schools opt out of dealing with it.

I lived abroad and used to love getting the long lists of school supplies and shopping for them, comparing prices, collecting it all ready to go, brand new - it was the most exciting bit of school for me.

cause alot of school districts wont provide these for the classroom, which means if little sally spills her water bottle (which lets be real, will happen) theres nothing to clean it up with

losing not loosing - at least I didn't teach English

At our local state primary we provided:

school uniform Including bag for PE kit
water bottle
small backpack

starting in Junior school (year 3) we also provided:
a pencil case
pencil to write with
sharpener
eraser
ruler
colouring pencils

The school provided the rest.

Infant school my kids went to requested a small towel or flannel with the child's name on and a hanging loop that stayed by the class toilets all week for handdrying and then was sent home on a weekend for washing. Kept the paper towel use down a bit... until Covid hit and everything went back to disposable and fuck the planet.

Pens and pencils etc really depend on the school - ours actively deter it as they're limited on space; we provide for one child after discussion with the school as her motor skills mean she benefits more from specific equipment, but have to keep it to the bare minimum in the interests of storage space.