How much of each item will I need to buy for uniform?

[FunkyGlassSlipper]

DD1 is going in reception in Sep. School have sent me this list:

? School sweatshirt or cardigan
? Pale blue school polo shirt
? Grey trousers, pinafore dress or skirt
? Blue gingham or striped dress for girls in summer
? Shoes ? sturdy shoes or sandals are routine wear; trainers and
open-toed sandals are not an acceptable part of school uniform.
They will also need a PE bag containing:
? School PE shirt
? White PE shorts
? Plimsolls ? elasticated front/Velcro fastening
? Painting apron (preferably an adult shirt/blouse/T-Shirt)

School sweatshirts, cardigans, polo-shirts, PE T-shirts, caps, book
bags and PE bags are available from the school office.

So, how many sweatshirts, polo shirts etc is a reasonable amount to get? I dont want too few but I dont want too many either?

For ds I got:

4 shirts
3 trousers
3 jumpers/3 shorts for summer

1 of everything else inc PE kit

I got DS1 2 jumpers but he always took it off as soon as he got to school so it was hardly worn - I could have got away with one with him.

2 pairs of trousers
4 shirts

one PE kit - they leave it at school and only bring it home each holiday.

The thing I find is that they spil yogurt a lot at lunchtime and sometimes (for reasons which I have not be able to fathom) they use black marker pens a lot so don't buy expensive polo shirts!

ds1 has 3 jumpers (one for wearing, one for washing one for spare)
3 polo shirts
2 pairs of trousers
and school shoes

for PE he has 2 polo shirts (only because they cam,e as a pack) 2 shorts (again because they came in a pack) and pumps

i also had to send in tracksuit bottoms and a jumper and trainers for outdoor PE

he also has a book bag and a school coat (would have needed a new winter coat and this one was cheaper!!)

2 pairs trousers/2 skirts
4 shirts/polo shirts
2 jumpers/sweatshirts
1 PE kit

I only wash 1 day a week (Saturday) so if you wash more often then you could get away with fewer shirts.

Thanks, this gives me a good idea. And what do you think needs to be branded with the schools logo? Everything? Or can I get cheap polo shirts etc from Asda?

My dd(7) has accumulated quite a lot but it's currently one grey pinafore dress, one pair black trousers, one pair grey trousers, 3-4 polo shirts, varying ages, 2 blue summer dresses (as they came in pack of 2!), umpteen pairs of white socks, random black or white tights for winter. Black shoes worn summer or winter. One cardigan and one jumper. They don't have school coats, you choose your own.

Tracksuit bottoms/shorts/red pe shirt/plimsolls.

I buy most of her stuff from Woolworths or Bhs but you might want to buy one branded shirt to wear in warmer weather without the jumper etc.

Btw her uniform is washed every night (I find it easier to keep it on track that way) but you may not want to do this . The PE stuff will probably live in the school for half a term before its sent home for washing.

depends on the child ime. dd1 is a clean thing - she had
2 polo shirts
1 pinafore
1 sweatshirt

1 pe kit

dd2, on the other hand, could get mucky in a laundry, she has the same bought new, plus a cardi, plus all dd1's accumulated hand-me-downs ie a total of about
4 polo shirts
3 pinafores
2 skirts
1 trousers
3 sweatshirts
1 cardi

we rarely have a crisis but it's not unheard of...

We start the school year 5 each of trousers, polo shirts and sweatshirts - because ds1 hardly ever manages to come home with any of it clean enough to wear again. And that's assuming he actually comes home with it at all as he must be single hadedly responsible for filling the lost property bin at school - although mysteriously none of the things he loses ever turn up there!

I usually have to replace the jumpers half way through the year when we get down to the last one, and also buy new logod poloshirts once its warm enough to not bother with the sweatshirts as the cheap plain ones he has for the winter are usually either grey or lost by then.

As an aside why do all the items of clothing in the school lost property seem to have the tags removed, so you can't identify them as yours if you've put names on the tag?

I do 1 on , 1 off 1 in the wash! for the day to day stuff, and one set of the PE kit

Oh and when labelling the clothes put the name label where its easy for your child to see quickly like the waistband or collar.

Then get a laundry marker and write it on any side seam labels inside the garment too.

3 sweatshirts
3 polo shirts
3 trousers/skirts
2 striped dresses
1 PE kit

i ended up having to buy more jumpers as it was the jumpers that were getting the wear, rather than the shirts in the winter.
in the summer, dd refuses to wear anything but her summer dress. so the grey pinafors are a waste of money this time of year. as were teh trousers, which she refused to wear.

We have:

2 sweatshirts
6 polo shirts
2 pairs of trousers
2 pairs of shorts
1 fleece.
This allows for a change of trousers/sweatshirt midweek and a fresh polo shirt every day.

If you don't like ironing (as I don't) don't buy the John Lewis polo shirts. They get very crumpled and the creases don't fall out. The M&S ones (the better quality of the two types they sell) don't need ironing at all.

It can be quite warm in Spetember. I suggest buying one summer uniform dress for her in case we get a heatwave

And if there is a DD2 who will wear hand me downs consider buying more expensive plain stuff. The cheap polo shirts look really tired after a term year.

We have for DS1 3 pairs of trousers, 3 pairs of shorts, 3 polo tops and 2 sweatshirts. Started off with just the one sweatshirt but it kept getting paint/ lunch on it and didn't dry overnight.

Mine have:

4-5 polo shirts (summer only)
4-5 white proper shirts (winter)
2 ties (winter)
2 jumpers
2 pairs of trousers (winter)
2 pairs of shorts (summer)

agree with RubyR
I work on the basis of not having to wash any specific clothes during the week, so if I forget to do the school stuff we still get through.

load up on stuff when cheap. If it is 1-2 sizes too big it doesn't matter anyway, except for trousers.

get cheap everything except logo'd sweatshirt/jumper.

DD currently has 5 summer dresses (3 asda, 1 ebay, 1 john lewis); 6 polo shirts; 3 trousers; 1 jumper 1 cardigan. I will get her a pinafore over the summer, as she has outgrown the one she had.

Ok, So I've decided order the following from the school:
2 x branded sweatshirts
1 x branded cardigan
2 x polo shirts
1 x PE shirt
1 x Book Bag

Then go to Asda/Woolies and get:
4 x polo shirts
2 x summer dresses
2 x skirts
2 x pinafores
1 x PE shorts
1 pair pumps.

Does this seem about right? I'm hoping it will last the year? Is that naive? And do I need proper school shirts as well as polo shirts?

Uniform etiquette seems to have changed greatly since I was at school. Sigh.

sounds ideal.
will your DD wear trousers on an ultra-cold day? you could swap 1 trousers for 1 pinafore.

I don't know ANYONE who wears proper shirts in the infants.