How to Get Back to School Ready!

It’s July and your kids may not have even broken up for the summer yet but it’s not too early to get back to school ready for a seamless September!

In fact, July is the perfect time to get organised, whilst you are still in work / school mode before the long summer days of late July and August hit when all you want to do is light a BBQ and get the paddling pool out for outdoor fun! Plus, if you need to get new uniform, it’s always wise to buy early as I find that the sizes you want are usually in scarce supply at the end of the summer!

I have pulled together a ‘Back to School’ checklist for busy mums, so you can ensure that you have everything under control, and I have also shown you a few of my favourite items that I can’t manage without!

My main lifesaver is a good diary to track both my own appointments and reminders and the kids too. The Mum’s Office School Year Diary is excellent as it has dedicated space for me plus up to four children and runs from 1 August 2015 to 31 August 2016 so you get 13 months of planning space! As I have two children, I use the other ‘spare’ columns for my meal planning and my appointments, leaving the large main space allowed for ‘Mum’ free to include all my daily tasks.

Small children will need to put their name in each item of school clothing so that it doesn’t get mixed up on PE Day! You can use a laundry marker to write their names onto the tags, but Stuck On You sells incredible labels that can be customised with colour and a logo to go into your child’s clothes and shoes. They also sell personalised lunchboxes and stationery and this year I have got a personalised towel for each of my children that they can use on holiday but also at school for swimming lessons! Keep reading to the end of this post for a giveaway you could enter to win a £20 gift voucher to spend on the Stuck on You website.

Teenagers are always asking parents for money and an easy way to ensure that they spend it on food is to give them a gift card for Greggs! Since my eldest has started High School, she doesn’t want to eat breakfast at home, preferring to get something from the school canteen with the rest of her friends. Of course, younger kids eat at home as they don’t have such a ‘grown up’ option, but my daughter also loves to visit Greggs for their meal deals and bacon rolls. Kitting her out with a gift card like the one pictured, enables her to have her ‘social’ breakfast with her mates, whilst not having to carry money with her. The school has a no cash policy so this is a safe way to give her the freedom she wants and I can just top it up when necessary.

Back to school checklist:
So here is a list of things you’ll need to consider to be prepared for when the children go back to school.

School uniform. Check all uniform including underwear and PE kit now to see if you need to replace or get the next size up. If you spot a deal on uniforms and have the space to store it, you may find it worthwhile to buy the next two sizes up so you have plenty of ‘stock’ for when they have a growth spurt mid-year and the stores are no longer full of school clothing!

Bags and equipment. Check your bags for wear and tear. Kids bags don’t tend to last as long as our adult ones as they scuff them around on their journey to school. Younger kids won’t need any equipment but your tweens and teens may have a list of things they have to get such as stationery, ringbinders and art supplies. This stuff can be expensive so know now what you need so you can spread out the cost buy buying one thing a week. If your child has a packed lunch then a nice way to start the new school year is with a new lunchbox!

Extra curricular activities. Will your child be participating in after school clubs next term? How about music lessons? If so ask what equipment they might need now so you can take advantage of deals in the shops such as ‘two for one’ or sales over the summer. All schools provide swimming lessons in either Key Stage One or Key Stage Two. At my son’s school, this will happen in Year 5, so I’ve got him some swim shorts and a towel with his name on, so it doesn’t get mixed up with everyone else! See the photo above for the luxurious personalised towels from online retailer Stuck On You.

Shoes. This is something you can leave until the week or two before school starts, in case their feet grow! Get your child’s feet measured and pick up some school shoes in their new size. School shoes are readily available from shoe shops with a skeleton range at supermarkets all year round, so unlike uniforms which sell out, it’s not necessary to buy these too early.

Mum’s admin! A new school year often means new sets of friends to keep track of, new teachers, a new lot of INSET days to write down and if your child has moved up a Key Stage, possibly new school start and end times too so it’s important to stay organised. I like the Mum’s Office diary shown above to keep myself in control, but any calendar or diary will help you. Consider your admin needs for the new school year and prepare now. If you need to organise childcare or wraparound care with the new school year then get your facts and information on that now and book your place.

Finally, have your camera charged and ready for the first day of the new school term. It’s nice to take your child’s photo at the start of the school year before shoes get scuffed and bags get tatty! It’s amazing to compare how much they’ve grown since last year!

Stuck On You Voucher Giveaway: ***NOTE THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED***
Stuck On You have agreed to give one lucky JuggleMum reader a £20 voucher to spend on their website! To be in with a chance of winning, all you need to do is visit the Stuck On You website and have a look around, then leave a comment on this blog post telling me what your favourite Stuck On You product is! One comment will be drawn at random from all the comments left by 12pm on Friday 24th July 2015 and you will be emailed a voucher that you can use online! When you are commenting on this blog, you have to enter your name and email address, so please use an email address that you check regularly as this is where your voucher will be sent! The winner’s name will be announced here on 24th July. Good luck!

***UPDATE: The lucky winner is Claire Davies – thank you to all who commented***