School clothing - help!

[midget]

Having small(ish) feet is often a nuisance. "I'm sorry, it's always the size 4 that sells out first". "Then why not order more 4s in the first place?" Stunned silence!!!

[dinahcat]

I am not sure but I think the smallest girl in the year gives the bouquet to the Lord Mayor's wife -a possible candidate?

[Fjgrogan]

It used to be the youngest girl, who is not necessarily the smallest - my daughter Kirri was both and whereas normally the bouquet went to the mayoress, it happened that year that the Lord Mayor was a lady.

[stargazer]

I am not sure but I think the smallest girl in the year gives the bouquet to the Lord Mayor's wife -a possible candidate?

How exciting! I think I'll stop feeding her now... Thanks again to lonelymom, that's really helpful. What about white polo shirts? Is two enough (they're quite expensive)?

[englishangel]

on the previous page lonelymom said that one is fine.

[Great Plum]

DMs really do last longer than any other shoe I know... You walk miles at CH and mine would outlast my often growing feet... (I'm a size 12 now!)

[lonelymom]

How exciting! I think I'll stop feeding her now... Thanks again to lonelymom, that's really helpful. What about white polo shirts? Is two enough (they're quite expensive)?

Bit more difficult to judge with white polo shirts. It's definitely not worth buying more than two of the crested shirts (as you point out, they are expensive!) but it is worth having some plain polo shirts, the ones you can buy in BHS, M&S etc. The crested ones have to be worn when representing the school in matches, but the plain ones can be worn for normal pe/games sessions. Both of my daughters have two crested shirts and three plain whites.

[anniexf]

M & S have a 3 for 2 offer on school uniform items at the moment, including a selection of white polo shirts :

http://www.marksandspencer.com/Polo-Shi ... left-nav-2

[YadaYada]

3 white polo shirts are needed according to my son but only one crested is fine. We bought both indoor and outdoor trainers as per the uniform list but he has never worn the indoor ones and I won't be replacing them. His block shirt was enormous on him when he started, and expensive, but on the plus size I don't have to replace it so often!
One piece of advice that I was glad I took was don't scrimp on the shoes as they do walk (and march!) miles. If there is any life left in them by the time they need a new pair you can also resell them on Ebay.
Make sure that the school bag you get is really strong....look at where the handle/strap meets the bag......they carry a lot of heavy books and this is the weak area in bags.
Hope that helps some

[lonelymom]

Stargazer, if you look further down the 'Parents - Past, Present & Future' section you will see a topic called something like 'Helpful Tips for New Parents' which is worth having a look at. There's some very useful info in there

[stargazer]

Thank you again to everybody who contributed to this topic - it's been a real help. I never knew you could use ordinary white polo shirts! I completely forgot about school bags, so a big thank you to YadaYada for reminding me! Do book bags need to be totally black or can they have a bit of pattern or another colour? My DD quite likes rucksacks, are they OK? The summer holidays are coming up, and I'm starting to panic a bit. Hopefully I can get everything before school ends! Lonelymom, you have been a great help and I am going to the topic you just reccommended. I'll read as much as I can as it is a long topic!

[lonelymom]

Any bag will do, any shape, colour or design. Both of mine have bags but don't actually use them as they prefer to carry their books.

[Great Plum]

In my whole time at CH, (92-99), I only knew one boy who used a bag for his books... most people carried them... I don't know if that's still the same.

[lonelymom]

I think it is, Great Plum. I think all the new ones start out carrying a bag for maybe a couple of weeks, then gradually stop. Of course, some continue to use them, but I would say very few do. My daughter told me that she only has to take books for two lessons/subjects at the most (sometimes she has double lessons), then she can go back to house at break and get her books for the next lessons. The bags that they started with soon became swimming bags or dirty laundry bags.

[Fjgrogan]

Bear in mnd that carrying a pile of books in your arms is better for the developing spine than a back on one shoulder, where all the weight is to one side; alternatively use a rucksack. I speak from bitter experience - although I don't suppose that carrying a baby on one hip helped either!