When I think about back to school, I always think about getting new school uniforms. In a year, shirts don’t fit properly, feet have grown and there is definitely wear and tear to pretty much everything.
One thing I seem to forget about in the rush of school uniforms is all the other stuff that they need. Daniella and Chloe were playing a game earlier and she was using her school bag (I think they were planning a pretend trip on a bus or something). I noticed that the zip wasn’t working properly and that she’d need a new one of them too.
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So I went deeper and started to have a proper look through what she’d been using the year before. Some of it was OK, but other things were very well used, or even missing.
Last year, I remember heading into town the weekend before she was meant to be back and having to buy the last things they had on the shelf, just to get her through the first few days. It wasn’t ideal as the shop had sold out of a lot of items so we couldn’t get what we wanted.
This year, I’ve planned well in advance to allow me to find some of the best buys and have created a back to school checklist.
- Backpack – £8.25
- Spiderman Lunch Kit – £8.49
- One Direction Lunch Kit – £6.99
- Pencil case – £2.69
- HB Pencil (12) – £1.13
- Berol Handwriting Pen – £3.49
- Glue – 87p
- Scissors – £1.02
- Colouring pencils – £1.87
- Ring binder – £1.97
- Rubber – 83p
- Ruler – 70p
- Pencil Sharpener – £1.08
- Calculator – £2.30
- Name tags – £2.45
- Hand Sanitiser – 89p
- Protractor set – £1.99
- Dictionary – £3
*Prices correct at time of publishing and Amazon may change them.
With my back to school checklist I’ll be sure that I don’t forget anything this time. Feel free to print and share and good luck with your back to school shopping!
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Peter Stark says
Great list you’ve got it all covered Ricky! I always find these bits take care of themselves though it’s the uniform that causes our nightmares!