Anna Smith backpack as secondary school bag?

[lljkk]

DD likes this.
Anyone's DD got one and would parents recommend? I am concerned that it's lots of little pockets but a small main pocket lousy for big notebooks or other stuff. How waterproof or durable are they?

thanks!

It looks a bit small for all the books she will need to carry around in secondary. They may have to carry say 3 exercise or textbooks at a time along with their pencil case, planner, phone, purse, toiletries etc.

You can get bags that style but a little larger which would be better.

It looks a good compromise between trendy and practical considering it is a rucksack. I'm afraid now your DD is secondary you are unlikely to persuade her into anything more back-friendly.

Books would be unusual in my experience (DS also in y8).
Primark & Topshop are selling decent old-fashioned style backpacks, I think teens will bring them back into fashion, actually (but DD may not be there with me yet).

Dd got an Anna Smith holdall today (cant manage a rucksack as she has heavy instruments to carry that she carries in a gig bag ruck stack style) Hers is made of oil cloth. It looks pretty good for £15. Fairly sturdy, probably quite waterproof and will hold millions of stuff. The rucksacks were very cute but didnt look waterproof at all and probably wouldn't hold a Year 7s amount of stuff, especially if they have packed lunch.

That's a helpful point about the lunchbox, DD wants a huge lunchbox with lots of slots like her friend & I don't want such a pointless contraption (she eats a max 3 small things for lunch!), so I can point out it won't fit in the AS bag with what else she needs.
DD swears blind she's seen her friend's Anna Smith bag & it's same size as the bag she has now (falling apart, and I know would have been big enough for DS when he was in y7).

I am wildly against any sort of shoulder bag (unless something complicated like the instrument to carry, too).

Dd's timetable came in post yesterday, quite surprising. A lot of days she has only 3 subjects (so, eg, maths-science-tutor-science-lunch-double history), so that cuts down a lot on how much she'll be carrying, too. PE kit will live at school, although swim kit may have to be lugged back & forth 1-2 days a week.

Swim kit could go in a bag that she wears messenger bag style. Shouldn't be too heavy.

I'd go for that bag if she really likes it. To get them to wear a rucksack happily is rather a bonus. Waterproofness could be dealt with, with a compact umbrella.

I think how much they carry depends on the school. Dd has some good old fashioned (but heavy) text books and needs a dictionary and giant folder for French. Some of the schools around here like their kids to have tablets (of the electonic variety) to lug around too.

A big argument against a giant bag apart from the ergonomics is that things get crushed and lost in there. A smaller bag means that books have to be stacked more neatly to fit in. I'm almost talking myself in to getting dd to swap her bag for something less gigantic.