Back to School with Debenhams School Uniform

The small boy, who these days is not so small, starts Year 2 in just under a fortnight (where has the time gone etc etc). He needs new school uniform, but the thought of spending hours of our precious summer together trawling through various shops buying various bits of uniform and kit fills me with horror. Better to buy it all, or almost all in the same place at the same time. Last week we popped to Debenhams and did just that.

If I was fancy I’d talk about our Debenhams School Uniform “haul”, but I’m old-fashioned for that. Instead we just went shopping and bought a big bag of school uniform. Hopefully enough to see him through until his next growth spurt. Debenhams School Uniforms are currently 20% off in store and online, something we took full advantage of.

This will be his fourth “school year” (School Nursery, Reception, Year 1 etc) so this is not our first time at the school uniform rodeo. We know what he likes and what he doesn’t like.

We bought a new warm padded school coat (£18), 6 pristine white polo shirts (£5.60 for a pack of two), 2 pairs of slim fit trousers (£8.80), 2 pairs of flat fronted trousers (£9) and 10 new pairs of grey socks (£4 per pack of 5 pairs). All we need are a couple of jumpers with the school logo on and we are ready for the start of the year. Our shopping trip cost us just under £63, that’s including the 20% off!

I was really pleased to find some nice slim fit trousers. I always think the flat fronted ones make him look like a junior accountant, so we bought some slim fit to try out. Like most children, he is very hard on the knees of his trousers. If he’s not falling over and grazing his knees, he’s crawling along being a ninja superhero or something.

Back to School with Debenhams School Uniform

He’s six and whilst he’s grasped the rudimentaries of getting himself dressed. If he’s rushing he can still get frustrated with fiddly buttons on trousers, especially if he’s getting himself changed for PE or nipping to the loo. We like to adjust the waistband on his trousers so they’re loose enough to just pull them up in a rush if he needs to, but not loose enough to fall down, obviously. Both the flat front and slim fit styles we chose have adjustable waistbands. Phew.

He is also very hard on the white polo shirts he has to wear for school. I’m enjoying them now in their pristine white state before term starts. His polo shirts get washed to death. We like to buy enough so he has a clean one each day and a couple of spares waiting to be brought into circulation once he starts destroying them.

We have tended to buy cheap supermarket polo shirts which often shrink in the wash a bit. I’m hopeful these will stand up to regular washing a bit better than their supermarket counterparts. They do feel like they’re a cut above in terms of quality and doesn’t he look smart (and clean)!

Back to School with Debenhams School Uniform

As for his new coat, it’s light to carry and nicely padded for the winter months. With an easy zip up the front and zipped pockets so his treasures won’t fall out. He’s thrilled with it and at £18 we have no complaints either.

We have high hopes that our “haul” of Debenhams school uniform will last the year; or until he grows out of it. I am impressed with the price and quality. Everything seems well designed with sturdy stitching and made from good quality material. Even the socks are thicker, stretchier and more comfortable than the cheap supermarket ones I’ve made him wear.

If I have one regret, it’s not buying more polo shirts, another couple of packets couldn’t hurt, could it?

Visit their website to have a look at their range.

Back to School with Debenhams School Uniform

Note: This post is in collaboration with Debenhams as part of their Back to School Campaign. All images and opinions are our own.

Milestones: His first day of school

Today was one of those milestone days in my son’s life. Today he trotted off to join his Reception class and start his school days properly. Last year he was lucky enough to get a place in the school nursery, but there was no guarantee of an actual school place, so he’s already been going to the school part time for a year now. He knows some of the ropes, most of the staff and has been settled and happy there, which is all a parent could ask for.

Despite the fact he was already fairly established within the school, there were a few “first day of school” anxieties, mainly from me and his dad. He was just looking forward to seeing all of his friends again and being with his new teacher who he’d met a few times last term.

We’d had a busy summer and we’d spent lots of quality time together and cemented a new kind of friendship between us. I’ve seen him through other people’s eyes and realised what a kind, funny and well-mannered little lad he is. It’s so easy to get bogged down in petty squabbles about where he’d thrown his underpants and forget about all the really good things about him.

This morning arrived too soon. Collectively the three of us tumbled down the stairs towards the front door, perpetually running slightly late, frantically pulling on shoes and coats. Checking and double checking the contents of our bags. Cartwheeling out of the door and galloping off to the school gates. Late, always late.

But today we paused, because it was our son’s first day at school. First proper day at school. We took the obligatory photo of him in his new, clean uniform stood in front of the house, we didn’t expect him to smile, we didn’t really expect him to pose. But what we got tells us everything we needed to know about his feelings about his first day at school. I think he’s happy, don’t you?

first day of school

And if you’re wondering how he got on, he emerged at home time with a huge smile on his face and can’t wait to go back tomorrow. Long may that continue!

Small boy goes to big school

Today we dressed the boy up in all of his uniform finery and walked him to big school. We recognised and chatted to a few parents in the playground, took him in, showed him where everything was, watched him settle in and we said goodbye.

He’s a good lad. An independent soul. I asked him if he wanted me to stay and he did, but only for a few minutes while he familiarised himself with his surroundings. He played with the train set, he tried on a few things from the dressing up box, then finally settled down at the computer with two boys he already knew. He ignored me for a bit, so I decided it was time to go. It wasn’t difficult. No one cried, he didn’t cling to my leg, he just got on with it.

“Bye Benj!” I called, he gave me a cursory wave goodbye and went back to banging the keyboard with his fist. So I left and went to the coffee shop round the corner, my phone in my hand just in case. I met my friend there, a woman in the same boat as me. I drank coffee, my phone didn’t ring, I still had hours before I picked him up again, so I went home. I didn’t really know what to do with myself, so I just hung around the house looking at the clock.

The hour came for me to pick him up. I queued up outside his classroom, my face pressed against the glass as I watched him picking his nose and sitting quietly with the rest of the class. He caught me looking and flashed me one of his 1000 watt smiles, then went back to exploring his facial orifices with his fingers and listening to his teacher.

He was first to escape, seemed pleased to see me, gave my legs a quick hug and we went outside. I asked about his morning, apparently he’d played with the trains. I think experienced CIA operatives would struggle to get any additional details out of him. We went to our local toy shop and added to his train collection (you’re sensing a train theme here aren’t you?), then off to meet his Nan for lunch and tell her about his morning. Nope she didn’t get any more out of him than I did, but she said about a million times how grown up he looked, then got all misty eyed.

And tomorrow we’ll do it all again. The small boy goes to big school now. And so it begins.

PS – this picture was taken on his first morning, it’s the best we could do, he had a roll around on the floor tantrum just after this was taken, he’s rarely a reluctant model, but it made me smile, a lot. I put the picture on Facebook alongside the smiling pictures of the children of my friends, someone commented that it was their favourite first day of school picture ever. It made me chuckle.