Ok ok I know, school is barely out for the summer and here is your one talking about school uniforms for September but hear me out – I know lots of you will be thinking about it over the next two months so I figure its good to have something that you can reference! So for a third year in a row I am working with Marks and Spencer on their Back to School campaign. I think it’s testament to a good collaboration when it fits seamlessly into our lives, the eldest has been wearing pretty much nothing but Marks and Spencer uniforms for the past two years. I’m consistently happy with the quality and the price point and all of her previous uniforms are neatly put away and ready for the next lady when her time comes.
I have to admit I’ve been a bit disorganised the last two years, well it’s all a learning curve anyway, but I’ve sort of blindly ordered the uniforms and not really thought it through to the end of the year. Then I find myself looking at the poor child and her trousers are too short and I have no backup. So this year I’ve put together a list for myself, and now for you, as a guide to what I think will keep you covered (for the most part, always have to factor in a growth spurt!) from one end of the school year to the next. Obviously this is more biased for girls and also depends on your school in terms of their rules, in my ladys school she can wear either her uniform or her tracksuit whenever she wants, bar on PE days then she has to wear her tracksuit. She does prefer her tracksuit so I’ve learned to stock up on those more so than the pinafores.
Another thing to note, probably more so with the smaller ones is that most days the top of her uniforms (so be it tshirt/jumper/pinafore will come home dirty – yogurts, crayons, markers all seem to be attracted to her tummy so in my experience I would nearly want a full uniform for each day, or if you’re good at staying on top of your washing then maybe not but for me during the winter I just don’t get to have a wash done and dry within a day or two. I would size up, so for my tall 6 year old going into first class next year, from my experience going up one size will last her most of the school year but she always tends to have a growth spurt (like most kids I think) in the Spring so by the end of the year I am looking to size up again in most things but then those will last for her a bit into the following year. I don’t find much shrinkage through the year in anything other than the cotton tshirts but they got the most wear and the most washing.
So here is what I have bought myself for the year ahead, I’ve done my shopping because the baby is due in August so I need to have at least one facet of my life organised in time! I would recommend stocking up now, there is 20% until July 3rd which is brilliant and otherwise stocking up early means your less likely to find yourself running around searching for a jumper or pair of tracksuit pants because they are all sold out! 
The school uniform checklist
One pack of three unisex tshirts
One pack of three short sleeve shirts
One pack of two long sleeve shirts
One pack of two pinafores (or if yours prefer trousers/skirts etc I’d say buy two)
One pack of two plain cotton jogging pants
One pack of two pure cotton jumpers
After that I get some vests for the winter time and obviously socks (my lady loves these ones and they are adorable with the hearts!) and I tend to go up several sizes with the tights because after a wash they do shrink. I’ve always gone with these ones, they are thick but we walk to school most days so I want her to be warm! 
And that’s it, you can see from the list that I really love the multipacks, I just find them the easiest way to buy in bulk and they are always brilliant value. I have all my uniforms sorted now for September and it’s so lovely to have one less thing to worry about. Although that reminds me I must drop her booklist in to the book shop next, then I really will be sorted!
This is an AD, I was given a voucher to purchase the school uniforms and paid to create this review.
