With Christmas and New Year (just) behind us, and still a few weeks of the school holidays to go, I (quietly because I don’t want to freak the kids out. hehe) start thinking about what I need to do and buy to be organised for the kids to go back to school. Not that I’m wishing the time to hurry but, you know how it goes, time flies when you’re having fun and all of a sudden school starts in a week and you have to run around like a chook with it’s head cut off!
At the beginning of the year, I always go through the kids’ uniforms to see what is still ok to be used and what needs to be replaced.
Only two of the Gray kids are at school now. Well, Annabelle *is* at preschool but obviously, she has no need for uniforms and school supplies…yet.
This year, Mads is in Year 10 which means having to buy the seniors’ uniform and all of her junior uniforms will be put away for Giorgia when she starts high school.
Uniforms can be expensive even when the kids go to public schools (please don’t send me hate mail about how much private school uniforms cost. I know that it costs a whole heap more) so I do tend to take a few short cuts.
Instead of buying shirts for Giorgia, who is in primary school, with logos on them, I buy just 1 or 2 with the school logo, and the rest are plain polo shirts in the exact same colour but purchased from Best and Less, Kmart or Big W. I noticed in the Back top School Kmart catalogue that the polo shirts in the school colours are $6.00 for a 3 pack. The logo-ed shirts are kept for school excursions, assemblies, school photos, etc.
We usually wait as long as we can before buying school shoes in case the feet have a growth spurt. The girls don’t like wearing black shoes so I buy them a couple pairs of joggers.
Stationery is ridiculously cheap at the start of the school year so I make sure I buy enough supplies to last throughout the year. This means that when one of the girls need a new notebook or glue stick or whatever, I’m not paying full price for them later in the year. You don’t even have to hit the shops if you do all your stationery shopping online with Office Works. AND they deliver at no cost if your order is over $55. (Not a sponsored post. I just like Office Works.)
I also make use of the stationery sales to pick up the supplies I need for my household binder and filing needs. {But that’s another blog post 
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Over to you: When do you start getting organised for the kids to go back to school? Where do you shop for back to school supplies? Do you have any tips in getting organised to go back to school?
Other Tina Gray {dot} Me links related to school:
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I started all my back to school shopping before the kids finished school, at Office Works. I didn't want to battle the crowd with 3 kids in tow. Usually I have ordered the school bookpacks but they are delivered 1 week before school starts not leaving enough time to cover 3 kids lots of school books….my enemy = contact
I've got a daughter starting school next year, and the cost of uniforms blew me away! I paid over $400 so far, and I still have a few things to get. We haven't been given a list of things that we need to bring stationary wise. So I'm thinking that might be something that we get on the first day (which will more than likely say it has to be in by the end of the week!). We got the info for uniforms at orientation, and they had to be ordered and PAID for the next day! Nothing like a bit of notice!!
We're going shoe shopping probably over the next few weeks. We'll have to get black school shoes and joggers. I might have to get some generic school stationary things – like pencils, glue etc in the anticipation that I'll get told to bring them.
The cost of school and day care items is going up fast as a rocket, so having to replace things that have been lost, misplaced or simply put down and forgotten is a real pain. The best way to save on replacement costs is to add name labels to everything that's taken to school or daycare. Labels are sort of like insurance for your belongings, and at only a few cents each it's money well spent.
To view the entire range of Labels & Wall Art for your kids and around the home, visit my website.
{admin removed link – click on Sharon's name to go to her site}
I buy the bookpacks from the schools. I seriously do not want to wander around trying to find out what a Pollywaffle (or something is) BTW it's a plastic folder. But I will buy extra glue, pencils etc. Girl Child always seems to need more through the year – the younger kids must eat them!
We have just bought Boy new shoes for school and have bought his shorts for High School. He has been growing heaps but I figure a few oversized shirts won't matter. For him the PE uniform is only available at school but the majority is just colour code.
My son is in grade two this year. His uniform I have been purchasing throughout the year as he has been growing out of things. I bought him a new school bag ( which has to be bought from the school) for this year as the last one he had, for two years and it was becoming tacky. He goes to a public school, but every year they have a box which costs approx $150 which has all the pencils, pens, rulers, glue etc in them that you have to buy. So we still need a new lunchbox and waterbottle – which I buy new for him every year…….might do that this week , get it over and done with. Gees time flies!
Firstly… I see nothing wrong with giving backpacks, lunchboxes, drink bottles, library bags, pencil cases or colouring supplies for xmess presents or in asking aunties/uncles/grandparents/etc to do the same lol
For most of the five (and a half) years we were at our last school I ran the second hand clothing pool. In the whole time we were there I only purchased one winter skirt, two hats and a few pairs of trousers new, the rest were either handed down from friends or came from the clothing pool. It saved me hundreds and hundreds of dollars in uniforms.
Shoes are something that my young fella wears through every 2/3 months, so at the beginning of the year when they are all so cheap I tend to buy him 4 pairs of joggers (some in his current size, at least one a size bigger) and 2 pairs of boots and put them aside till needed (and hope they last the year).
As for stationary, I buy double of everything, quadruple of gluesticks and put the second (or more) set of pencils/pens/whatever in a green storage box for later in the year as things run out. The major chains have pretty good prices at this time of year, but I also used to find that our local newsagent was pretty competitive with their specials and were the only place that stocked the size books we needed so would often buy there.
This year…. I have no idea what we'll need stationary wise with one starting TAFE, one still homeschooling and the other in their new school so I'm just going to grab (double) the basics and hope for the best lol
Officeworks have free delivery on some orders? Excellent. I'm looking forward to trying them out.
All ours is done too. I am off to Sydney on the 11th of Jan till the 22nd and little miss returns to school on the 24th so need to get it all done before we leave.
Our school provides a book pack you can buy every year which makes things much easier as I get it all out of the way and only need to buy a few things which are done
wishing our schools did a book pack. would make life so much easier!
Our school fees are due in November the year before and then all stationery supplies are ordered by the school and supplied by the school which makes life much easier.
I visited the school second hand shop before the end of year, all items were $1 each, I got a bunch of dresses and shirts for the girls. Heidi only wants to wear leggings with the shirts so I'm going to pick up some more leggings for her.
Shoes are my biggest drama, my 7yo is in size 3 -adults — and 5yo in size 2 – adults – and their feet just keep growing so fast. Will buy shoes closer to when school starts.
I just got my son's shoes this week and noticed in the office works brochure today that if you give them your booklist they'll do all the running around the shop for you and have it ready within 48 hours. I'm going in with my list tomorrow.