What rucksack is your year 7/8/9 daughter wearing to school?

[CurlySnout]

Dd needs a new rucksack for secondary, either navy or black. She doesn't like the Kanken, I'm not sure about Superdry's flashy branding and the Herschel seem a bit grown up.

Can you recommend a practical yet not too uncool rucksack for her please?

Thanks everyone for your helpful posts, SD seems good for sporty rucksacks.

How about pencil cases? What types are suitable for year 7? Dd has had Smiggles for the last few years and I can't imagine that sparkles and sequins are quite right in year7

DD has this rucksack - school have a ban on logos or visible branding. I picked it up in TK Maxx last year for a bit less than this.

It takes a laptop, plus all her books, a brolly, waterbottle etc.

Highly recommend.

www.ebay.co.uk/p/2114737572?iid=373145453533

These have also been brilliant - she has one for every subject and can keep loose papers in them which avoids the sea of scrunched up worksheets at the bottom of the bag.

The different colour zips make it easy to grab the right subjects in the morning: ]]

I bought a bulk pack of pritstik, black gel pens, red gel pens plus a maths set and a decent calculator.

The main thing DD is keen on is a lightweight phone charge pack (she has a long commute).

www.amazon.co.uk/Plastic-Wallets-Ziplock-Document-Folders/dp/B07WPBPZTZ/?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

They all seem to have rucksacks at my DD school. But they do mostly walk/catch a bus, & there aren’t any lockers. It must vary from school to school.

At my dd1's school, they have to have the school logo back pack. So thankfully, we don't have to worry about which brand to buy 👌🏼

We have just bought DD y7 rucksack today. We've bought this. Big brother has a very similar one and is year 8. It is big enough to fit books, lunch and PE kit. But cheap enough that if all the girls have something other than a ruck sack she can get something else for her birthday in December.

Dd has a navy blue superdry back pack (year 8) which is really well made but not garish. She says some have “handbags” but only the “Tiktok girls” who are all orange and dd has no desire to fit in with. Having a bag like them would be “try hard” and make people think she wants to be in their group... it’s a minefield and differs between schools.

Dd's is Nike, I think. We got it from Deichmann and paid a bit extra for them to put it in a machine at the till to waterproof it. She has a half hour walk home, so it was worth doing.

I'd say at her school about half the girls have totes and half rucksacks.

Dd did want a tote before starting but has now seen what a pain they are to carry and is glad I talked her out of it.

@m0therofdragons, yikes! My pseudo goth Wednesday Adams Year 8 would be mortified to classed an orange wannabe TikTok girl for her tote. They all carry them at her all girls. It really does vary school but school then!

My y8 DD has a grey Eastpak backpack. But actually Amazon do an unbranded Amazon basics rucksack in loads of different colours that's very similar, still sturdy and comfy, and much cheaper. Younger DC uses that.

My yr8 has a Kanken laptop 13 which is slightly bigger than the kanken. It's not huge but fits lunchbox, water bottle, pencil case and all her books.
Pencil case is like this one; https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WCM4DKC/ref=cmswwrcppapiglccfabc0Z3BG0JA2STRV4PG7G74

Dd has hardly changed her rucksacks during secondary - only when they wear out. There are some who have the totes/handbags - especially those into K pop. Dd couldn’t care less

Although I suspect there are ruck sack brands she would actively avoid.

Mines in YR8 now and started YR7 with a tote bag (even though I warned her how impracticable is was) but it’s what all the cool girls have apparently. Anyway, she soon ditched it in favour of a Kanken as the tote bag was too heavy to carry with everything in.

Skate shops sell a good variety of rucksacks. Always had Vans for either boys or girls in this house. Seem to get at least 2-3 years out of each one.

VANS backpack bought for the start of YR7 & still going strong in YR9. Definitely big enough for all the books plus A4 folder, Chilly's water bottle, etc. Lots of pockets. Extremely practical/comfortable/strong wide padded straps. Not showing signs of wear & tear so very impressed. Definitely got our money's worth out of it so far!

@SJaneS49 dd doesn’t have any obvious goths in her year - not seen many round this way actually. Dd is a skater girl - jeans, sweater, beanie hat. We’re in the West Country. I think schools do massively vary.

Only the huge messy bun “posh chav” girls (not my description) have totes at our secondary. It really varies. Hype backpack for dd yr 7 and Nike ds yr9.

Smiggle pencil cases haven't been a feature of either of my DDs' lives at any point but they would definitely not want something so pink/purple/busy for secondary school. They each have a regular pencil case from somewhere like Paperchase or Sainsbury that contains the stuff they need for every single lesson and a second one with colouring pencils, scissors, geometry set, Pritt stick etc. They have a duplicate set of everything at home so their pencil cases can stay in their school bags and there's no chance of forgetting equipment because it was being used for homework.

@m0therofdragons, I’m 50 and have absolutely no idea of the correct teenage terminology these days, it would have been goth back in my day (which l was at 16), emo in DD1’s day (which she was) ..so whatever word now fits kids who wear black and listen to deeply miserable music and find it personally meaningful!

I've just been caught up in traffic next to a large secondary school. Everyone had backpacks (no handbags). Adidas appeared to be a popular brand with a sprinkling of Uner Armour, Nike and some that seemed to be unbranded.

One girl has purple shiny metallic sparkly and it stood out like a sore thumb.

DD is year 9 and used a black Nike rucksack for 2 years. This year she is using a Nike tote bag which is much bigger and much admired by friends and teachers.

This is DD's