Reception school uniform, how many items?

[Croissantsfordinner]

Was browsing the school website as DC starts reception in September. How many of each should I purchase? Do they also need a little backpack in addition to the school book bag, usually?

It depends on so many things.

We have 6 full sets because DD is a messy one and we both work, I want a set for every day plus a spare set in her bag. Our spare set gets used most weeks but not all children are like that and some families have more time in the week than we do.

But I appreciate the cost of 6 sets is prohibitive for some.

DD takes the small backpack and hasn’t used her book bag but that’s because she needs the spare clothes. In our case it’s not just for toilet accidents, she will get soaking wet socks or covered in sand/paint/mud frequently (which I don’t mind at all, I like the messy play aspects).

DD also has a PE bag but all schools do PE differently-ours still change for it as teeny tiny class sizes. Bigger schools seem to wear all day.

Edited to add - DD is also at wraparound 07:45- until 17.30 and we don’t bother changing after school. So that’s different to 9-15:30 and changing after school too IYSWIM.

We have 4 full sets ( one is a spare in her bag but it’s never been used) , we usually wash them midweek. She uses her book bag everyday as they have to take a reading book home etc. she also has a pe kit but only needs to take it in once a week.

she does take her bag but all it holds is fruit and her spare clothes!

5-6 polos (depending on what size pack they come in), 4 skirts and 3 cardis for DD. Clean polo every day and then change skirt & cardi every couple of days depending on how filthy it is. She wore pe kit in reception on pe days.

She's always taken a back pack, her snack goes in it along with hat/gloves/suncream and she pops her cardigan in when she takes it off.

My boys have as a minimum

5x polo shirts
4x jumpers
4x trousers
2x shorts

I do at least one wash mid week but this also allows for breakfast spillages etc.

It depends on a few things, the school and their rules, how messy your DC is, whether you want pretty options or just the basics, but for my DD I bought:

5 x white polo shirts
4 x grey pinafores
10 x tights (grey/school colour)
5 x white socks with school colour trim
3 x school-branded cardigans
Black school shoes

And for PE:

School colour shorts
School-branded PE t-shirt
Black jogging bottoms
School-branded PE fleece
Black socks
Black trainers

I also bought hair accessories and bows in the school colour, not necessary really but it makes her look smart. Well, at least it does when she leaves in the morning, less so when she comes home.

This term, she's in summer dresses so I've bought 2 of those and will probably need 2 more.

One day a week, she has forest school and wears own clothes to school.

In school they have a school book bag, a PE bag (school-branded) and a forest school bag with their wellies and waterproofs. Parents are specifically asked not to send in backpacks etc. as there's no room in the cloakroom.

Has school given any advice? For PE day here (once a week) they have to go into school in their kit, so I bought one set of PE and 4 sets of normal uniform.

I like to do a wash of all the school uniform on Friday night so it’s dried and ready by Monday morning.

For bags, depends on school policy. If you’re getting free school dinners and water cups are provided in the classroom, you might only need a book bag. Generally toys etc not allowed here so there’s nothing else to carry.

I have a full set of 5 - polo shirt, jumper and shorts/trousers. Then 2 fleeces for the winter. Then 2 sets of PE kits (we have PE twice a week some weeks).
DS gets filthy in the autumn and spring so all new every day, we can't reuse anything.

Book bag for us with fine until the end of year 1 when we switched to just a backpack. It was easier as gloves, hats scarves or sunhats, suncream started to not fit in the book bag.

I have 2 sets of uniform and 1 set of PE kit as mine go into school in their PE kit on PE days (twice a week) so I just do a midweek wash for everything.

Do you need to buy it all from the uniform shop? I'd buy one proper school jumper, for photos, and the rest from supermarkets. Your school will probably also do a second hand sale at some point this term.

My DCs always need a full change every day so I'd get five sets, and some spares for changing bag.

2 jumpers/ cardigans/ pairs of trousers or skirts to start. A few more polo tops. I don't like to get loads because after Christmas I find that some things need replacing and you can just get more then. Mine didn't need a backpack until they were in junior school ( split infants and junior sites) when they needed swimming kits and could take their own stationary.

My son is in a school nursery and we have the following:

5x branded sweatshirts
2x non-branded sweatshirts (1 for change of clothes bag)
6x polo shirts (1 for the change of clothes bag)
2x PE tops (PE twice per week and have to go to school in PE kits)
6x trousers
4x joggers (PE and change of clothes)

we will do the same for reception and know I need a reading bag.

my son is messy, either comes back covered in yoghurt or mud so the sweatshirts don’t last more than one day.

would definitely recommend a change of clothes bag due to early years being more messy plus there’s a chance there could be an toilet accident whilst they get used to their new surroundings

There is a huge range of answers on here already (personally at DC's school it was odd to own more than 2 jumpers and trousers/skirt/dresses and lots of people only had 1).

I would say the comparison point is what you do about clothes now. Do you put your child in a completely clean set of clothes every day? If you do, then consider how often you want to wash and buy accordingly. If you expect a jumper and a skirt to last a few days, then you will need fewer of them.

Cost is obviously also a factor. My observation is that people have fewer sets of clothes at schools where uniform is expensive.

Re bag - I would take guidance from the school. They are likely to have limited space to store things and won't want extra bags that aren't necessary.

Don't buy too many jumpers/cardigans/anything they can take off all at once, it just speeds up how quickly you'll lose them (even with names on, etc. I swear DS must eat his).

I spaced it out (following advice from mum friends) and bought 2-3 jumpers at the start of the year (one to wash, one to wear, one to be lost somewhere or other), and then bought another 1-2 in February (when it had become one definitely lost, one probably lost...) to bring up back up to about 3 in rotation. You definitely need one to wash and one to wear unless they never wear their jumper, or they are very neat - DS nearly always ended up with paint/food on his.

When DD was in reception I only had 2 cardigans and 2 skirts plus 5 t shirts and I was washing a lot in the week. As time has gone on I’ve found that 3 of each usually means we can get through a week. It’s expensive though so see if school sell pre loved uniform and that can always be your spare

Totally varies by child. DS needs a clean jumper every day because he's such a messy eater. DD could usually get away with one a week.

At my children's school backpacks were not allowed until juniors (Year 3) as there was no where to store them. They had pump bags that were kept in school with their PE kits and sent hone every half term to wash.

I’ve always just brought 2 jumpers, 2 skirts/trousers then a pack of 5 polo shirts. One set of pe kit but I’m a stay at home mum with several kids so washing everyday anyway

Our PTA run a hugely popular second hand stall. Is cost or sustainability are important to you, or you have kids like mine who seem to get covered in mud, food or black whiteboard pen every day you might want to consider buying some items Preloved.
Some machine embroidery businesses will also embroidery the school logo on supermarket items.
I found the official jumpers lasted really well and we had a total of 3 or 4 years wear across 2 boys....but they did have a few pen marks.

My children are fairly disgusting, one a day for everything!

Why not just buy the minimum for now and add to it as you go? You might also find there's a second-hand stall once they've started. I'm still grumpy about the apron which was apparently "essential kit" at my DD's secondary school and I don't think she ever wore once...

I always advise (if finances allow) having some things in the next size up. DS1 grew an inch in his first term in Reception. Could I find grey school trousers anywhere in December? (I did eventually but at twice the price I’d paid in the summer at a supermarket).

A clean top for everyday, 3 jumpers and four pairs of pants. That usually works for us.

I'd advise buying with growing room!

Don't buy anything yet... schools are supposed to be limiting logoed uniform requirements. So the expectations may change.

O used to buy 2 logo jumpers/cardigans and everything else from M&S or supermarket. Then two ties when they reached that stage.