Share your school morning hacks with Arla Big Milk – chance to win £300 voucher!NOW CLOSED

[RebeccaEMumsnet]

Whether you’re celebrating or commiserating, it will soon be time to go back to school. For some, it will be the first time their DCs put on their (slightly too large) school uniforms and head off into primary school. To make the new routine a little easier for first-time school mums, Arla wants to know what clever tricks and hacks you use to make everything run a little smoother during your own school week.

Here’s what Arla has to say: 'Being a parent is often unpredictable and getting your little one the nutrients they need isn’t always easy. That’s why Arla Big Milk has been developed to specifically meet the needs of growing children from ages one to five*, enriched with essential nutrients to help support children’s growth and development as part of their balanced diet and healthy lifestyle. Arla Big Milk ‘helping your little ones become big ones’

If your DC is starting school this September, what do you plan to do to prepare them (and yourself!) for the change? Are you going to rehearse the school routine, or the school run? Do you have a plan to cope with your own emotions on their first day?

If you already been there and done it - once that scary first day was out of the way how did you keep the momentum going? Did you turn getting ready for school into a fun challenge, with strict time limits and music? Perhaps you’re a stickler for getting lunches, uniforms and bags prepared and set out the night before, ready for the day ahead? Do you end up resorting to good old bribery to get the kids out of the door on time?

Whatever your tip or hack is, Arla want to hear about it, so post a comment below. Everyone who posts will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will receive a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Insight T&Cs Apply

*The Department of Health recommends that children at the age of one move onto fresh whole cows’ milk and that their diets are supplemented with additional Vitamin, A, D and Iron

Do as much preparation the night before. Make the packed lunches, lay out the uniform and ask the kids what should be in the backpack. (Double check this by looking at the school newsletter as it is easy to be caught out by unusual events).

When I'm sorting the laundry, I roll up 'sausages' containing a school shirt, trousers, vest and pants all in the right size for each child.
Then in the mornings they just need to take a sausage from the shelf, and they've got all the clothes needed to get dressed, rather than chucking everything out of a chest of drawers in the hunt for missing items.

The strict rule is that clothes, bags and books plus lunches are got ready the night before and the children have to help as far as they are able, taking responsible for their things.

We don't leave the kitchen in the morning. School clothes and bag ready on the chair the night before.

Breakfast in jammies, then dressed and teeth done (I keep an extra toothbrush and paste in the kitchen for this).

If DC are properly ready they might get 10mins of TV before we leave (still in kitchen!). I lost the 'getting ready for school battle) when they were able to go back upstairs to get ready or play in the front room and vowed that it was so much easier to keep everything self-contained.

Find a breakfast they can make for themselves as early as possible and get the children to take responsibility for something new every term. Even if it's just putting their own socks on. Makes life much easier for you!

Do as much as possible the night before and get the kids a chart with the morning tasks on, so they can work through things like brushing teeth and finding shoes to help you.

Use a shoe holder (plastic one that hangs over the door) to pop in socks, pants and uniform for each day in to speed up getting dressed.

When mine was small I would take a giant piece of paper, or use the back of a roll of wallpaper, and make a huge month long calendar so we could count down the days until school starts together. Then we'd fill it in, we'd write 'School' on the Mondays to Fridays and if we were seeing Grandma on the Saturday i'd write that on for Saturday.

Every day at bedtime he'd cross through the day we'd just had and together we'd read what was coming up. It helped him to understand that he wasn't at school every day, because it's funny how they can think that they're going to go every day for ever and ever, and it helped us both to see what was coming up and when. I'd fill in things like 'World book day' and 'School Fete' and 'Photo Day' so that nothing came as a complete surprise.

As an extra, it was quite educational.

Points are either added or deducted from going on the ipad/xbox

-Plan to leave 10 minutes before you need to... that way you get a bit of leeway if you're late or if you're early you can chat to the mums.

-Get packed lunches ready the night before

-Leave enough time for breakfast... and have a few 'quick' breakfasts ready to go if you're late. (we have be known to eat toast on the school run!)

Sort everything out the night before. Empty the schoolbag as soon as they come in - that way there won't be any smelly lunchboxes or forgotten newsletters. Then later in the evening, make sure everything is ready in it: homework books, stationery, any slips, money or letters that need to be handed in.
I don't go as far as making sandwiches the night before, but I may consider it!

Teach small children to prepare their own (easy) breakfast so you aren't waiting on them hand and foot while simultaneaously trying to find a pen to sign their reading record, locate the missing shoe that was definitely sitting on the shoe rack the night before and practice the seven times table for the forgotten test.

Prepare everything the night before.

Set reminder alerts on your phone when a letter comes home needing something to be done or taken into school at a later date

In the winter, pop uniform on the radiator - provides a bit of incentive to get dressed quickly on cold mornings :)

Definitely no TV unless there's time left over - learnt that one the hard way...

We make sure everything is prepared the night before, uniforms ready, lunches made, showers taken, etc. I like my bed so need extra sleep in the mornings. I am not a morning person, so the more time I get in bed in the mornings the better for everyone!

I have always prepared packed lunches the night before wherever possible as i find it easier to make them healthier if i'm not rushing, I also lay out school uniforms, underwear and socks too on the end of my childrens beds so theres no last minute panic of sweatshirts or socks missing. I line their school bags up on the kitchen side for them to pack their homework,, notes, pencil cases etc into themselves (under supervision and usually a gentle reminder) so they get used to organsing themselves before senior school.

The one biggest hack I have found during the last four years of school life is to not have any screens on in the morning. The radio is great for motivating and there are no distractions to prevent getting ready

Everything ready the night before. Even breakfast laid out. Has to be as easy as possible as none of us are morning people

Always write everything on the calendar (Book Day/school trips/non-uniform day/one-off things they need to take in etc) then make a habit of checking the week ahead every Sunday. Also check every evening and get everything together for the next day.

In the mornings I found it easier for the children to have breakfast, wash their faces and brush their teeth before putting their uniforms on to avoid the milk and toothpaste down the last school sweatshirt problem.

I also made them change out of uniform as soon as they got home. I found that in the long run you end up doing less washing and certainly less panicked washing, drying and ironing of uniform due to running out clean things in the middle of the week.

We do everything at a set time in the morning:

I get up, dressed and washed
DD gets up and dressed
DS gets up
I make breakfast, DD eats while DS gets dressed
DS eats while DD's in the bathroom
DS gets washed
DS has Last Wee
DD has Last Wee
Coats
Out the door

Set out everything the night before, do homework the night before, make overnight oats ready to eat in the morning.

Keep everything organised and in the right place, we like to have school things by the door at the end of the evening and all school uniform for the wee sorted at the weekend. We have a big family organiser chart in the kitchen which helps keep track of what people need on different days. And we keep snacks like croissants and bananas on hand for days when everything is a bit too rushed and we need to eat breakfast on the move!

Sign up for text alerts.
Photograph school letters etc and store in Google keep.
Get nitty gritty comb and ovex in medicine cupboard.
Just made a bit repellent spray.
Label everything. Do a check at end of day as easier to look for then than days down the line.
Children not allowed downstairs til dressed.
No TV in mornings.

1. pack everything the night before (at the first opportunity in the evening)
2. empty school bags every night
3. photgraph all school letters/communications - you have a back up and it makes you look good when the other emums ask if anybody has a copy!
4. label EVERYTHING
5. have at least 3 jumpers/cardigans - one in the wash, one left at school, one to wear
6. have a list on the fridge of school friendly/permissible snacks to prevent the 'what shall I pack for you to eat tomorrow' - just pick one off the list
7. brive the children with extra pocket money to have all requisite instruments/sports kit/show and share items ready according to the list you have attached to the kitchen door/fridge for everybody to see

Alternatively, leave for work early and expect DH to sort it all each monring!

Make pack lunches night before, get all clothes ready, everything labelled and make sure all events are on the planner!