AD | Back to School Essentials & Tips for the New School Year

It’s halfway through the school summer holidays here in Northern Ireland, which means the countdown to a new school term is ticking. So not only do we start frantically shopping for back to school essentials to make sure we have everything ticked off our lists. But we start mentally preparing our children for a whole new school term. My three school children are all hopping into her school years, with new classrooms, timetables, and teachers. My eldest daughter is going into upper sixth {A-levels are an experience for a teenager!}, it’s Year 10 for my youngest son, and Annabelle, the baby of the family, is going into Primary 6. It’s all very emotional stuff, which you’ll understand if you’re a parent.

This time of the year can be overwhelming in terms of cost, the number of things you need and so much more. So I am here to make that process a little easier for you hopefully. So grab yourself a cuppa and we can delve right into back to school essentials and tips for the new school year.

Back to School Essentials!

Getting the kids sorted for going back to school can be a costly excursion, right? And I know for my daughter, I need good durable school uniform items that are going to last her the year. This is never always the case with them growing like weeds at random times of the year, however, we do what we can, right?

School Shoes & Uniform bits

The first item on my back to school must-buy list is school shoes. I always go for school shoes first! Do you do the same or am I doing this whole thing backward? Either way, it’s my way and I doubt that will change this late in the game. I always aim for comfort and durability when it comes to any shoes for my children. And with a football-on-her-lunch-playing-daughter, these matt black leather Kickers should do her grand.

What style of shoes does your child go for?

If you are curious about what size your child’s feet are currently, you can size these at home. If you have a printer, you can download and print this foot measuring chart. And if you do not have a printer, here is the measuring your child’s feet at-home method to try.

After the shoes are secured and everything fits {phew!}, I aim to get in the rest of the uniform bits i.e. shirts, jumpers, cardigans, trousers, socks, skirts, etc. And when buying school uniforms, I always aim to size up because I want my kids, which I know you do too!

Stationery Heaven!

Once all of the uniform is in, it’s now time to get in the other school essentials i.e. school bags, and stationery galore! This is probably our favorite part of the back to school buying process. Because who doesn’t love being organized with folders, dividers, poly pockets, highlighters, and more!

School bags

Annabelle went with a Dinosaur Hype School Backpack this year and I am here for it! Whereas Jacob went with a plain Adidas choice and Ellie needed an XL Hype Backpack because that girl carries every folder going with her on a daily basis.

Comfort is key, for each child when buying a school backpack. So look out for waterproof materials, a pocket for their water bottle, padded straps, and pockets galore. Those are my tips when buying any school backpack.

Tips for the New School Year

I will just come out and say it, I am a “summer school Mum”. I always have been and although I know my kids scowl at me every day when I hand them their worksheets, I always say “You’ll thank me for this one day” and tell them I love them. Because I know school work isn’t fun. But this is my own personal way of helping to keep their minds fresh and hoping that they won’t be so overwhelmed when they go back to school. Because Jacob going into Year 10, which is GCSE choice year! His schoolwork will escalate i.e. presentational work, assignments, deadlines, etc. All of which he needs more work on. Is it a boy thing? I am not 100% sure.

For Annabelle, she is going to Primary 6, which means a solid move away from KS1 into KS2 work, due to the Northern Ireland curriculum. So, I focus on KS2 worksheets for her over the summer months. Which on a daily basis includes a worksheet for literacy and one for numeracy. Just so the instant introduction to KS2 isn’t so scary for her, you know? I like my kids to go back to school with a hint of what to expect and to be a little prepared for what’s to come.

List of helpful free printables & websites for Preschoolers & Primary school-aged children

For years, I have used Corbett Maths for Jacob, it has a great resource of free numeracy printables for primary & high school-aged children. Providing videos, 5-a-day worksheets, practice papers for GCSEs, and more. Corbett Maths is a free resource to use and print from as well, which is great. For Annabelle, I have used Twinkl as a worksheet resource for her, mainly because it has a Northern Ireland School Curriculum section, which I think is amazing. And it covers everything she does in school from numeracy, literacy, The World Around Us, Religious Education, etc. Twinkl is not a free resource, but costs between £5.99 – £9.99 depending on the membership bundle you choose.

Free Printables

Over the years I have created an abundance of free printables to help develop children’s fine motor skills such as scissor activities, handwriting, and more. From Number Recognition worksheets for early Primary school children. Which are great to help preschoolers jumping over into Primary 1, to recognize their numbers and how they look as numerals and they can colour them in once completed. Double the fun!

Another preschool to primary one worksheet to help finely tune those hand muscles for handwriting is these free line tracing worksheets. These are great worksheets to help little ones with their linework all the while strengthening those hand muscles to help with their penmanship skills.

This free Handwriting worksheet is another great printable, aiming at teaching early primary school children how to keep their handwriting at a certain size.

My Annabelle was always so guilty of really BIG lettering, and this “Sky, Grass & Ground” style sheet really helped her downsize her handwriting style.

So getting your child not only ready, uniform wise is being handled, but you are able to mentally prepare them for the new school year! Whether they are heading into Reception, Primary One, Year 8 or even heading to college! We have you covered. Oh, and for one last free printable, I have a firm favourite for early Primary school kids! With my Free Printable Lunch Box Notes {and I have Halloween ones, too! You can find those Halloween Lunch Box Notes here}.

They just help to make the kids smile mid-way through their day, you know? A little nod to let them know that you’re thinking of them. My Annabelle was always so excited to see what lunch box note she got in her lunch box each day. So it’s a hit with the little kids, for sure.

And there you go! My back to school essentials and tips for preparing your child for the new school term. I do hope you found this post helpful and if you have any tips that you think I should add, please do let me know in the comments below.

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