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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

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Original poster

DD1 7 off to secondary in Sep, school bags

70 replies

MegGriffin · 03/06/2011 15:24

She is my first to go and I was wondering whether to get a back pack, large handbag or messenger bag. She want's a back pack for comfort but does not want to look 'uncool'. What do your DDs use please?

OP posts:

bruffin · 03/06/2011 21:40

Ds has a coverse messenger bag and DD has a my chemical romance messenger bag both from eBay.
Surfdome is a brilliant website for bags.

ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 03/06/2011 22:59

Yes to Converse bags; also Doc Martin bags but you don't see them so often. OR big brown satchel bags for the older girls, who are 'working the Alexa look' it seems.

AgonyBeetle · 03/06/2011 23:03

Ds (Y7) has just swopped his knackered old backpack for this Dr Who messenger bag

startail · 03/06/2011 23:38

Totally uncool Y8 DD has a backpack. She says "large handbags are cool, but they last two weeks before the straps break". expensive rucksacks, half the size of hers, worn very loose are cool.
"However, then I'd have to carry my flute and I'd leave it on the bus!"

She also refuses to wear makeup*, her only concessions to cool are tights and a relatively short skirt. When I suspect she'd happily stick socks on.

*I've moaned about this before, what is it with make up for school, you get teased for not wearing it, but it's stricktly against the rules. One of the local private girls schools allows light make up which strikes me as a much better idea. Of course the girls would push it, but DD would have the option of wearing a bit rather than being a total square.

GetOrf · 03/06/2011 23:55

Be prepared to buy a new bag every August. I bought DD a £40 rucksack (can't remember the make) in year 7 because she promised she would use it forwver. A year later it was deemed deeply uncool.

She has had Animal bags, crappy messenger things from Superdry, a Paramore record bag and a period of Jack Wills carrier bags

She is going into year 11 in september and christ knows what she wants this year. A Mulberry Alexa? Something made of ermine?

Remember also she will need a completely different class of bag for PE kit. I took my PE kit in a gateways carrier bag in my day

You also have the joy of traipsing to every shoeshop in the town looking for shoes which meet dd's byzantine sartorial criteria

Tip: do not spend a fortune on stationery. She will lose it all by October. Just get her a few tesco pens.

GetOrf · 03/06/2011 23:57

DD never wears makeup. Half a can of MY ELNETT HAIRSPRAY to create the flock of seagulls fringe though.

chocolatespiders · 03/06/2011 23:58

Roxy do good rucksacks which my dd started with.... she has now moved on to River Island large handbags

busymummy3 · 04/06/2011 00:12

Girls= Northern Soul messenger bag + Hollister carrier bag for pe kit
Boys = Gola/ Adidas messenger bag + any old bagfor PE !!! DS currently uses an England backpack but has been known to use Morrisons/Sainsburys if needed(ie cannot be bothered to look for England backpack come Monday morning!!!)

ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 04/06/2011 09:44

Pmsl at Flock Of Seagulls. Have you seen The Wedding Singer?

I think it's a v good idea to just buy something cheap and plain to start with and then see how she feels a few months down the line. Schools and areas and children vary so much! My dds wouldn't dream of using a bag from Hollister or Paul's Boutique, for example - and others would see what my dds use as awful.

Who knows what the fickle youth of your area will decide is the next big thing in school bags! :)

Kensingtonia · 04/06/2011 09:55

DD2 wanted a trendy rucksack type bag so that is what I bought. On the first day I heard a conversation outside the school gate in which one mum was authoritatively informing another that "rucksacks are for boys and shoulder bags for girls" which is pretty much the fashion at her school. She currently uses a Paperchase bowling bag type which I think it really impractical but is the height of fashion at her school.
DD1 used a rucksack for a couple of years and now buys horribly expensive Accessorize bags, the straps of which break in a few weeks as she overloads them and seems to bring her whole book collection to and fro. DD1 is starting to have problems with her shoulder but refuses to blame it on her choice of bag.
The moral of the story, buy a cheapish bag to begin with as it is certain your DD will want to change to fit in with school fashion in a matter of weeks!

LondonMother · 04/06/2011 10:04

"Actually, more and more schools seem to be doing away with text books, so there is less to carry now than there used to be."

I know I am hopelessly out of date but how can you cover the secondary curriculum properly with just worksheets and Wikipedia?

We had textbooks, desks with lids, cloakrooms with lockers and (as far as I can recall) no problem with theft.

God I feel old.

bruffin · 04/06/2011 10:44

I went to secondary school in the 70s and I had my purse and jewellery stolen more than once

My DCs have a lots of texts books.
Agree with Kensingtonia in yr 7 my DD decided to take every book to school every day just so she didn't forget one. Her bag weighed a ton and first one didn't last a week.

Greenshadow · 04/06/2011 15:11

It's such a pity that the trend is away from sensible/good-for-your-back rucksacks.
When I was at school, no one would have considered using a rucksack, but instead carried all those heavy books round on one side of their body - with quite possibly repercussions for their backs. I know I always carried my bag on the left hand side.

Then fashion and common sense actually agreed for once and everyone, male or female, used rucksacks.

From what I have read on here, it sounds like I could have a battle on my hands if I want to keep DS3 using his rucksack (only bought during half term, so he won't be getting a say in the matter...). Lets hope our little backwater doesn't start following trends too soon.

JoanofArgos · 04/06/2011 15:13

when dd was in year 7, quite a few kids had rucksacks - mainly now it's the gola type bags, or a certain contingent take handbaggy bags.... dd has just bought a vintage satchel she's really pleased with, and quite a lot have satchels also.

BUT if you go with a rucksack, the straps have to be at their longest, so it bumps the back of your knees. Otherwise you're a Boff.

TheMostBeautifulPoster · 04/06/2011 15:16

ime they have cross body retro footie ones
cath kidston shoppers
or animal flowery back packs

ragged · 04/06/2011 15:19

mini hijack -- do they have to bring PE kit in each day that they need it, or only once a week/once a term? I seem to recall that British schools have no dedicated-all-year lockers for each child (insanity, imho, but trying to get to grips with it).

JoanofArgos · 04/06/2011 15:30

Oh yeah, lots of Cath K too....
No, mine doesn't take kit every day (and when she does, the carrier bag is VERY important ).
They do have lockers but most seem not to bother with one after year 7.

bellavita · 04/06/2011 15:34

I only have boys - one will be in Yr10 in Sept and the other going into Yr7. They both have the Gola/Dunlop bags. Backpacks are a no no - especially with the girls I see walking to the bus stop. They all have either posh carrier bags or large handbags that they carry in the cruck of their arm.

At the secondary school where I work, a small percentage of girls have Roxy or Animal backpacks, some have the JD sports bags, the rest have handbags.

bellavita · 04/06/2011 15:36

ragged, DS1 has pe twice a week - Wed and Fri. He just leaves it to fester in his locker and brings it home now and again for me to wash. We had to pay £5 in Yr7 but the locker is his until he leaves.

ColonelBrandonsBiggestGroupie · 04/06/2011 15:36

My dds have lockers. DD1 tends to only take PE kit when needed (although she's just finished Yr 11 so will never need it again!). DD2 tends to leave it in her locker to rot for a few weeks and then bring it home for washing the day before she needs it again!

PE bags are generally entirely unsuitable Topshop, Urban Outfitters or Schu paper carrier bags or a book bag of some sort eg Accessorise or Paperchase.

Original poster

MegGriffin · 04/06/2011 16:14

OMG about pe bags! I just assumed it would be the drawstring style ones they use at primary!

The school want £35 for a locker but will be kept for the whole time she is there. They also kindly gave us a standing order to fill in for £20 for the school fund . They can whistle for that, i'm going to be bankrupt by the time i've got all the stuff she will need.

OP posts:

cat64 · 04/06/2011 17:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Jonnyfan · 04/06/2011 20:28

It's all Accessorize bags bags here, or Jack Wills.

Clary · 04/06/2011 21:39

rofl @ getorf and the ermine bag

I work in a secondary school (fairly cool kids!) and the boys all have those tiny Nike Just Do It rucksacks which is probably why they never have their books - no room in the bag see? - while the girls mostly have enormous handbags in shiny fake leather and lots of gold chains.

Older boys often have an adidas bag like this green one

Someone had a gold one the other day which even I was moved to admire.

bigTillyMint · 04/06/2011 21:48

DD (Y7) wants a Cath Kidston messenger bag as "all her friends have them"
Only £68 a pop

She currently has a Roxy rucksack - she stuffs her PE / sports clubs kits (in a linen shopping bag) and Paperchase PL bag into it with all her exercise books and bulging pencilcase. She does have a locker, but never seems to have enough time to use it

JD sports bags are popular for PE.

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