Back to School Essentials and Handy Checklist |

We are already nearing the end of the summer holidays - ‘thank goodness’ I hear you cry! Before the usual scramble of trying on previous years’ uniform and dusting off the slightly worse for wear school bags, we thought we would ask some of our Childcare & Education team what their favourite back-to-school items would be, for some inspiration to liven up the dreaded back to school shop. We’ve also provided you with handy checklists, to ensure you don’t forget key items.

This one seems like a very appropriate recommendation given the weather we have been experiencing throughout the majority of August- we may be investing in one of these sooner rather than later… It’s a replica of Maternity Nurse Consultant Kaisha’s beloved Red and White Polka dot Umbrella from her childhood! Why not splurge on these super-cute Polka dot monogram dome Umbrellas for each of your little darlings to stop those morning sibling quarrels!

Ever the stationery fanatic, Collette recalls her pencil-case favourite being ‘the pen with 5 colours’. When you felt like swapping from blue to red writing mid-sentence - no problem!

Things have progressed slightly since we were at school and this year is set to bring us the Cronzy pen, which can (believe it or not) write or draw in 16 million colours - are there even that many?! This genius little gadget can scan everyday objects and recreate that objects’ exact colour within seconds - cool huh! Currently in the prototype stage, this unique device is estimated to be on sale in November 2017 and will set you back a whopping £299. Ever wondered what to buy the kid who has everything? We guarantee no one else in the school class will have one of these…yet!

Everyone knows that a new school year means a new school bag! I’m sure that we’ve all made the mistake of suggesting that last year’s bag will ‘do for another year’- were you met with a frosty stare from your children? Pack your little pre-school trend-setters off this September wearing this adorable Unicorn backpack or perhaps for the ‘tweenagers’ a more grown-up Hunter backpack for your mini-me’s.

Does anyone else remember decorating their plain black school pumps to give you that bit of ‘playground edge’ against the other kids (and allow you to actually find your pumps in the cloakroom in the first place!)? Hobbycraft do some fantastic metallic fabric paint pens that we are dying to try out! Arts and crafts afternoon at the office anyone?

Now to those important checklists, to help we’ve broken them down into school ages and you can print and tick off each item. Don’t forget, everything needs to be labelled, including shoes:

Nursery and Infants Checklist:

Small back-pack
Gym bag for PE kit
1 lunch bag or lunch box
2 freezer packs for lunch boxes
Plastic drink container with flip top to stop spills before they happen
Packaged hand wipes (slip them into lunch boxes for wiping dirty hands before snack time)
Pocket tissue packs
Packaged snacks (healthy choices include nuts (if allowed) and dried fruit)
Hooded waterproof jacket
Change of clothes for spills or accidents - include extra underwear

Juniors Checklist: