12.5kg school backpack no lockers

[PalmLady]

My son's Y7 back pack with only the absolute necessary items weighs 12.5kg. There are no lockers for them to use. This seems excessive to me? My son only weighs 35kg himself.

My suitcase for a week didn’t weigh that and I’m not exactly a light packer!

Im not doubting you but how heavy is a per kit or food ingredients?

No, they're just blank books to write in but they must have different ones for each subject. No text books yet. The journal is like a planner.

We have Satchel one. I don't really know why they need a journal every day. 🤔

Right. So they have to take every exercise book home every night? That's ridiculous.

Yes.
I'm actually glad people are doubting the weight because it shows how extreme it must be. 😂 I'd be interested in the weights of other school bags if anyone else can be bothered to test them.

Has he got a metal or plastic water bottle? What sort of trainers does he have? Are they a particularly heavy type?

DS yr 7 bag is 6kg and that’s with me being militant about only taking books for the subjects he has that day AND pe/games/sports kit always in a separate wheely bag that gets left in the sports pavilion. I can totally see how you got to 12kg with just one bag.

Plastic 200ml, I ditched the metal one in the first week to try and lighten his load. The trainers are clunky, they're Nike school trainers and I reckon they're almost a kilo on their own. He says he doesn't want different ones because they're comfortable.

Why are so many posters convinced this isn't possible?

I went to a 'very good school' until we moved house and the weight of my bag was insane. I later went to a comp who had the foresight to give you a text book to take home and have some in the classroom.

Tbf the supposedly very good school did have lockers but they were so out of the way - there weren't ideal. You also still needed to take everything home and back to do your homework.

This was the same for my son when he started year 7. My son needed to carry a chrome book every day as well as sports kit/football boots for games lessons, food tech items, books, folders, water bottle and he had constant back pain because of the weight. When he was 15 we started to notice his spine had a slight curve and he was diagnosed with mild scoliosis. Who know if the weight of the bag had anything to do with it, but when mentioning it to the school they didn’t seem to care about the weight of the school bags.

My Y7 is the same and also needs kit 3x a week. I can't separate out the PE kit because he cycles so it all needs to go in the one backpack. Not sure how he'll manage when he also has to start taking his instrument! Our schoolbags used to be worse though as we also had textbooks which my DS doesn't carry, we didn't have lockers either so I do have sympathy and understanding

Looking at some of the other issues tat have come up with schools recently there so seem to be a number of 'Health & Safety' and 'Duty of Care' issues that dont seem to be addressed by schools or acted on by regulators

Secondary school

Just over 7kg here. Five lessons tomorrow, plus after school music group. Five exercise books (fat with glued in worksheets), 4 textbooks (for three subjects), English lit text and a4 “fill in” workbook. Pencil case and calculator. Musical instrument (thankfully a flute) and music folder. Reading/library book. Small pouch with emergency sanpro/spare hair bands/anti histamines etc. Will add packed lunch tomorrow. She doesn’t take a drink as the toilets are grim af. No pe tomorrow, but that weighs as they don’t know if they are inside or outside in advance so need two pairs of footwear (studs for mud/grass or clean trainers for inside/astro). We have pe kit in separate kit bag, but it still needs to be carried around all day. This is a not fancy local comp.

That does NOT surprise me. I've been meaning to weight DS bag too. Will make an effort to now... Will report back

Same at daughter's school... cooking every week so far. I'm really pleased as I was worried there wouldn't be much cooking.

I'm really surprised no lockers at my child's school! Lugging round PE kit, trainers, lunch box, books and a wet coat if it's been raining!

We’ve had this issue too, weighed at the end of summer term when DD was in year 8 as DD was complaining about backpack making shoulders and back ache. 13 kgs.
That includes Chromebook (from year 7 onwards), subject book for all 5 periods, reading book, pencil case, calculator, plus a couple of sundries such as a snack, water bottle, sanitary towels etc. I thought the idea of Chromebooks was to eliminate the full need for books. DD also carries a separate lunch bag.
The school does have lockers available at a cost of £20 a year but they are largely for P.E. Kit as they are not allowed to pop to the locker between lessons. Worse when it’s blooming Food Tech as they get all that to bring to and from school too. DD has a walk to train station, train journey then walk to school (10 mins). Outstanding school, but with a whole load of back issues just waiting to happen. Don’t get me started on the fact that they are using screens for the best part of the day!

Yes - Home Economics as it is called here in NI is taught all year round. It includes much more than cooking, hence why they don’t cook every week. I had no idea Food Tech was only taught for a term in other schools/other areas of the UK. (Although I knew the GCSE options were different as when CCEA introduced their Food & Nutrition GCSE a number of years ago, there were schools in England who wanted to be able to teach the spec and have their students sit the exam but couldn’t as CCEA is only available to schools within NI)

As I said in my post - exercise books/jotters easily fit within the popper wallets linked, as do school produced booklets and even many text books. (Tricolor fits in perfectly)

I have 4 DC and they have all used lever arch files with these popper wallets in them to save space and weight in their bags.

12.5kg is what my bag weighed for a week in the Canary Islands. So no, he's not only taking the essentials.

Goodness - is he on SAS training camp?

Im going to weigh DD's bag later, I don't know how heavy it is but it's heavier than I would want.to carry!
No.lockers, not even an exercise book per subject (some are kept at school) but the ones she does keep yes she has those subjects everyday. Apart from spanish, so one book she could leave out one day.
She carries most.of her stationery in her blazer pocket as well 😆

Trainers 1kg? The weight of a bag of sugar?