DD starts kindy this year

Tomorrow we are going to buy her school uniforms/shoes etc.

She'll need a summer sport uniform and her normal summer daily uniform.

I figure one sport uniform is enough (as its only once a week), but how many of her "normal" uniforms should i buy? Summer uniform is the school dress, jumper, hat.

How many do you have for your child?

DS is starting kindy too they do 3 normal uniform days and 2 sports days, so we bought

2x normal shirts and shorts
1x sports shirt and shorts
1x normal jumper
1x sports jumper

so there should always be one on and one in the wash (and i'm hoping to pick up 1-2 second hand sets as backups)

i've been meaning to ask this question for a few days now. thanks for beating me to it OP

Depends how often you wash and how grubby your kids get.

I never have more then two uniforms on the go at a time. We don't have a sports uniform. They get two wears out of a uniform then it goes in the wash and they switch to the other one.

Friends of mine don't wash during the week if they can avoid it and have 5 uniforms because they like a fresh one each day.

It's really down to personal choice.

lol - your welcome R2Cat2 - always here to help

Thanks livvie - i was thinking 2...maybe 3. Although at $100 for 1 dress and 1 jumper i might go 2 for now and see how that works out! lol

Badcat - thats a thought. I wash every day, so hopefully for the moment the 2 will be fine. Can always buy more later if its not!

We have 3 regular days and 2 sports days.

I bought 2 x sports and 3 x dress (got 1 second hand).

However, it is only because I work full time and cannot be sure I'll be able to make sure it is clean each day.

She has a younger sister to follow, so they will get worn again.

ah, see our whole lot only cost $200-ish (catholic, but the boys wear polos with the school emblem and shorts). i'd do 2, and if you can get a second hand one (or 2) so that if anything out of the ordinary happens there is a back up

DD1 starts school this year. She will have 3xschool uniform and 2xsports uniform days.

We bought:

2 x school dress
2 x bike shorts (to be worn under school dress)
1 x school jumper

2 x sports pollo tops
1 x skort
1 x track pants
1 x sports jumper

1 x hat

The jumpers and pants/skort are all dark brown so shouldn't get too dirty (I hope). HTH

As many as you can afford would be my recommendation.

Perhaps start with two full sets of the school uniform (a second hat is a must - but maybe that's because I have boys).

Is sport on Wednesdsay? At least that gives you a chance to catch up with the other uniforms.

If your school has a clothing pool I would be definitely checking that out to see if you can pick up another two uniforms to make life easier.

If the school jumper is expensive I would suggest buying a backup "sloppy joe" style jumper from target or k-mart in the right school colour to use when the child leaves theirs at school.

SM

I have two. At $55 a tunic, I thought it was enough.

I am planning to have 5 school polos, 5 pairs of shorts, socks etc and then 2 hats and 2 pairs of shoes to alternate.

When I am working I don't wash during the week.

Plus it makes me feel calm to have a weeks worth of clean dry clothes in DS wardrobe

Also... incase anyone wants to answer another question

What school shoes did you buy? Clarks? Or something different? - any recommendations?

Everyone I have spoken to have had nothing but problems with Clarks. At over $100 per pair they have fallen apart for everyone I know in less than 6 months. My Grosbys from Big W lasted longer than Clarks.

I have my boys in black leather slazengers ($40 from payless). They are completely black but a jogger style. Our school uniform says black leather shoes and noone has ever questioned their shoe style. This year they will be in years 1, 3 and 4 so they have been wearing them for years without problem. They do go through two pairs of black shoes a year though. But that is $80 so roughly what you'd pay for good school shoes anyway.

When my youngest started school I just couldn't bring myself to put him in heavy shoes.

SM

My son starts Prep this year (5 days a week). In Prep they wear the sports uniform every day, so I've bought two shirts and two pairs of shorts. I ended up being given an extra shirt, which will help. I've just got one winter uniform so far, but I'll buy another one before winter.

I only work two days a week, so I won't have a problem washing during the week. And the uniforms are quick-dry, so will easily dry overnight indoors if it happens to be raining.

I think how many uniforms you have depends on how much you work. If you do work, you'll reduce your stress by having more uniforms. If you don't work (or work part-time), I'd try and get away with just two of everything.

They grow out of stuff so quickly!

Does your school allow black leather sneakers? If so, I'd go that option. I think they're just better for kids' feet than the rigid leather, Clarks style school shoes.

And they're cheaper!

I have my boys in black leather slazengers ($40 from payless). They are completely black but a jogger style. Our school uniform says black leather shoes and noone has ever questioned their shoe style.

When my youngest started school I just couldn't bring myself to put him in heavy shoes.

Her school says "Not joggers" so i don't think i can get away with jogger style but i was also thinking about Clarks being heavy - especially as she is sooo little! lol.

Everyone I have spoken to have had nothing but problems with Clarks. At over $100 per pair they have fallen apart for everyone I know in less than 6 months. My Grosbys from Big W lasted longer than Clarks.

Ok... well at $110 a pair i really would expect longer than 6 months!

Will have to shop around a bit! Thanks girls!

I would go for one new and one second hand school dress (as a spare) if you can get it. Depends a bit on colour and how dirty your child gets. My grotty son has to wear white (!) shirts to school so I have heaps of those. With dd's dark coloured summer dress I sometimes get away with having just one and washing it on sports day. With everything else, just get one but scour the second hand store for spares. With socks, get at least 5 pairs as those always seem to go missing. (Ditto hats!).

DD1 starts Kindy this year we have:

2 Summer dresses
1 Jumper
1 Hat
2 Pairs of Sports shorts, we only have 2 pairs because they were part of the Prep (Pre-Kindy year) Uniform last year.
1 Sports top

For shoes we bought 'Roc' shoes, I wanted them to be light and have a buckle not velcro, I found they looked the same as the Clarkes ones but $20-$30 cheaper.

We have 4 dresses, 1 sports uniform and a cheap pair of school coloured shorts and a white polo shirt to go in the bottom of her bag in case of accidents. Also, we have two school hats and 6 pairs of monkey bar undies and 3x8 packs of socks since DD2 chucked an extra one in the trolley and I didn't notice. No jumpers yet, but they're on order from the school.

We love the ascent school shoes from Athletes foot. She still has last year's pair and they're in pristine condition 12 months later, so we'll buy those again. DD has orthotics and her podiatrist checked out her ascents and said they're great.

My DS starts Kindy this year and will be going 2.5 days (mon afternoon, full days tues&thursday)

I had orginally ordered

2 x polo shirts
1x shorts
1x hat

but I dedided when I collected to pick up another polo shirt and pair of shorts. I was orginally going to get more shorts at big w but they turned out to be more expensive than the school (first and last time I will listen to my mum about school stuff) My Ds tends to get his tops more dirty than pants so I have a shirt for each day.

I plan on getting 2 x jumpers and 2 x pairs of pants for winter which we order in March.

Shoes are the only thing left that I have to buy

DS has for Prep:

5 x Polo shirts
5 x School shorts
2 x Sports shorts
5 x socks

Also getting him 2 x school logo polo shirts and 2 x button up shirts along with a sports shirt once we find out his 'house'. Will buy jackets, jumpers and pants as we need them as it is still mid summer. We both work full time so I feel happier having a full week's worth plus the required spare set in his bag. He will also have 2 x hats.

Shoes - He has a pair of black leather school shoes from Big W (cheap!) as our school does not allow jogger type school shoes along with a pair of good sports shoes.

I brought larger size shorts & shirts than what he wears now (size 6 as compared to size 4-5) to give him some growing room as he is already pretty tall but slim. Yes, I will be one of those mothers with kids in clothes made to last them through to Year 6!

Edit: ' put in the wrong place!

DD start off with the following-

3 formal shirts (1 new and 2 secondhand)
5 skorts (I buy them from Big W, they are exactly the same as what the school sells but a lot cheaper)
I sports shirt
8 pairs of socks (not enough, they keep getting lost and replace though the year)
Rain coat
Hat

They grow out of uniforms quickly and I buy the biggest size I can get away with to make the uniforms last longer. And uniform sizing is really strange- DD has been wearing a size 12 formal blouse and she is a 7-8 in normal sizes. And she was only in grade 1!

I buy 2 pairs of shoes at the start of the year. DD wears joggers and they must be all black so I get two pairs because they can be hard to find mid year when there are no school sales. I do not like hard shoes on young kids.... DD was only 4 when she started school and considering they are in them all day I think softer joggers are better at this young age. And when they are so active.

DD is hard on her shoes and we get about 2 terms out of them. I get Grosbys from Big W. Last year slazengers and they were good- lasted 3 terms. Brought them when Payless had 50% off second pair so good saving.

A spare hat is very handy. We always seem to have a missing hat and DD never tells me till we are just about to leave!

I started them with 2 uniforms each, then each year I buy one full new uniform for each of them and retire one shirt and one shorts that look the worse from each, so they still have 2 uniforms each, but I only buy 2 a year and not 4.

They also have a pair of sports shorts but their school wear the same shirt, so I don't bother buying an extra shirt. We do daily washes here.

As for socks, again they have 2 pairs each and I find I buy another 2 pairs each in July/August.

For shoes, I have always brought the black jogger lynx ($60 a pair), for both boys they have lasted the whole year and then they can use it for sports day also. They also ride their bikes to school everyday, so its a good shoe to ride in. The school thinks those type of shoes are great and have no issues with them.

I have 5 sets of uniforms (in different combinations) so they wear a fresh shirt or dress everyday. Skorts/shorts they usually wear twice before putting it in the wash.


We've always worn Clarks as they last the whole year and withstand a lot of abuse. We did have one pair last year that fell apart after only a few weeks and the shop organised a replacement straight away at no cost and lasted well for the rest of the year. The kids have always outgrown their Clarks shoes before they fell apart.

For running shoes we get either Clarks or Ascent and both brands have lasted well. I also bought DD1 an extra pair of formal shoes from Roc to wear to her piano recitals and competitions this year. I didn't want an expensive pair as she wouldn't be wearing them all the time so we'll see how they wear.

These shoes have a big European following BATA SHOES You also find them in KMart but they usually sell the budget versions. Their online store sell the premium versions. I'm keen to try their shoes one day as they're much cheaper than Clarks and have full grain leather uppers and lining.

It depends on how often you want to wash and what colour the uniform is.

I started with 2 dresses each because they have a white background. But then added an extra one each 2nd hand for only $3 each. My girls all liked the dresses the best. Then the other summer uniform option is coulettes/skort and a polo shirt (which is also the preferred uniform for sport/pe days for Kindergarten to Year 2). I bought 1 each of those but added an extra shirt when DD2 & DD3 needed to wear it 2 days in a row. The coulettes were ok wearing 2 days in a row as they are a dark colour.

I reccomend 2 hats. One to wear and one spare so there are no tears if they forget it.

With the school shoes I found DD1's feet just can't handle anything other than Clarks. I will never buy her any other brand school shoe but we did try a number of different brands over the years. One year in particular her feet were in such a mess that she could barely walk after only 1 day. DD2 & DD3 seem to have no problems with any brand. I bought Kmart $6 shoes for them last year which worked out ok. They just got a bit scuffed by the end of the 1st Term. So, I found with the cheaper one's it's better to have a few pairs as it's very hard to find school shoes in Term 4. I got the same one's for DD3 this year for $10 (the velcro mary-jane style) and DD2 wanted one's that look similar to the one's with buckles only they are velcro as well. (same price) I had trouble finding their sizes though and ended up buying 2 each in their current style and 1 each in the next size up which might fit them towards the end of the year.

We do cheap sneakers from wherever. DD1 can only wear her sneakers during sport/pe and has to wear her school shoes at other times. Then DD2 & DD3 have needed their's once or twice a week depending on class schedules for pe/sport. But I think it's just once a week for Year 3 and above.

DD (7yo) is a "run around type of kid" at school and loves the ecco school shoes. They are light and have a bit of a sporty sole, rather than the rather clunky Clarkes ones. They aren't cheap but go the distance.

http://www.ecco.com/en-XI/Kids/Girls-Collection



DD (9yo) has the standard Clarkes (she is a walk around and chat type of kid)

First child at school this year for us so it was all very new to us too.

For DS1 I went with three shirts and three shorts for regular school days, one jacket and two sports polo tops...largely because DS2 will be going the year after DS1 so they'll be hand-me-downs reasonably soon.

Also went with two hats because I know he'll lose them.

I bought five pairs of socks because the washing machine will eat them, as usual!

Have gone with Clarks for both school shoes and sports shoes as the latter were 100% white which the school required.

My kids have had Clarks for most of their school years, although DS prefers the Ascent ones now that he is in secondary school. DD1 had Ascent ones for one year and preferred the Clarks, likewise DD2 had ROC's for one year (as they didnt have any Clarks in her size in the style she wanted) and also went back to the Clarks the year after.

They have lasted a year every time, the only time we had an issue was once when one of the buckles came off DD1's after a few days of use. I should have taken them back and got a replacement but instead I just got the buckles sewn back on at a shoe repair place (which cost a bomb, but she needed them back to wear the next day).

We were going to try the Ecco ones one year but they only suit kids with really narrow feet. I've been happy with the Clarks though so am happy to pay the extra for something they wear 4 days per week (sneakers for PE day) on avereage 40 weeks per year.

Regarding the uniforms our kids have a formal uniform 4 days per week and sports uniform the other (primary school anyway).

I managed with two dresses each for the girls and two shirts/shorts for DS, then another second hand one for each for emergencies. Mostly I could get two days wear out of each and just wash on the weekends. They all dried pretty well so even if I needed to wash midweek it would be ready for the next day anyway. In winter DS just needed trousers to replace the shorts and again two pairs and a 2nd hand spare was fine. The girls needed an expensive tunic so only had one of those each (easy to spot clean midweek if they got glue or yoghurt on it) and three or four long sleeved shirts to go under (cuffs seem to get grubby as it is a light colour). We also have quite expensive wool jumpers to go with the formal uniform so they have one each and I have a spare that was DS's that the girls can have if they leave theirs at school or it really needs midweek washing. My girls are now in years 6 and 4 so it worked fine all these years with the amount they have.

I have lots of socks, they seem to go missing fairly regularly in the wash and one sports uniform each. Their hats stay at school during the year so they only have one, they live in their tubs except when they go out to recess, lunch or sport. Their sneakers are Lynx, but I've been less impressed the last year, so I will try something else next year if I find they dont stand up as well this year. Our school requires sneakers to be mostly white (small amount of colour is ok) but this years Lynx colours were pretty ordinary, especially in the laceups (most seemed to be velcro which the kids didnt want now they are in the older grades). Had to chase around three different stores to get the ones DD2 needed, they didnt have the stock levels in either, and this was a week ago so you would think they would still have plenty of stock left.

I have bought DS1 a set of shorts and shirts for each day as he is a grub and I work.

I wash most days but don't want to be stressed, especially as they can't go in the dryer. We are in an apartment with no clothesline until at least June.

Shoes we got Clarks. He has small but wide feet and nothing else came small enough or wide enough! The shoe store told me there was a batch of dodgy Clark's last year. Apparently there was a problem with the stitching. People who took them back got given replacements and problem is fixed now. She assured they would last the year if he doesn't grow out of them.

We have 5 uniforms in various combo's. For shoes we went with Linx multi fit as I'm sure DD is just about to have a growth spurt and they should last her size wise for the whole year.

Just purchased new uniforms to add to what DS already has.

He now has - 3 new shirts / 3 new shorts / 5 new pairs of socks / new school shoes / new hat.


He already had uniforms/hats from last year that just fit him but are a bit ratty so they can be used for back ups or days when they are doing stuff that is really messy. They do their sport in their normal school uniform ( unless playing against other schools - they start that this year in year 3 ) but next year they have a sport uniform too.



DS is in Year 3 this year ( Qld ) and when he starts Year 4, they have a different uniform, so will have to purchase a whole new lot then.

Id have at least 3 normal and one sport, or 4 in total. Much easier to have 5 though, iron at the start of the week, bing bang boo.

If have a shedload of socks, I can bet at the end of the year youll have 7 socks left, sock monster always gets them.

DD is a TOTAL grot and gets clothes dirty in about 5 minutes. She has four dresses (2 I picked up second hand and 2 new) and sports shorts and polo.

DS is a pretty clean kid, but I always put him in a clean uniform, because their polo shirt is white. So he has 5 and 3 pairs of navy shorts.

Both have 2 hats - DS lost FIVE hats in his first year of school. And they both have about 10 pairs of plain white socks. They always disappear throughout the year. Both wear sneakers for school as they are very active, running around at lunch and recess and it's a hell of a lot easier to run in sneakers than clunky school shoes.

Well we found all the primary school stuff we had between the 2 girls and DD7 has 4 polo shirts, 2 pairs of 3/4 length tights, 2 pairs skorts, 1 dress, 1 zip jacket & 3 jumpers she can wear this year.

The high school is giving DD12yrs a summer uniform, winter uniform & sport uniform. So all we have to buy both of them for now is black school shoes and sports shoes.

Since DD was little I have always got her clarks sandals (casual, not school shoes, as she is only starting school now). They seemed to be fine, however just this last year I have had two pairs of dud clarks shoes - summer sandals, and winter closed in shoes. The thing that attached the buckle fell off really quickly on the winter shoes, and the summer sandals had flower attached to them. One flower fell off the first time she wore them, and after a few weeks every single flower had fallen off.

I have bought her Clark's school shoes since they had a sale at Myer, and I am interested to see how they perform. I like the Ecco shoes for myself, so if the Clarks don't last I will get her some Ecco. At least the Clark's ones were 50% off so I didn't pay $100 for them.

I've just skimmed the thread and agree with PPs that it depends a lot on how much you wash and what else you have going on in your life. I bought more uniforms once I started back at work because I just couldn't keep up!

And sorry if it's been mentioned already, but it's also a good idea to have a spare uniform in the bottom of their bag in case of accidents (2nd hand can be good here) - at least at the beginning of the year while they are getting used to everything. I have seen parents send normal casual clothes and it is pretty obvious to all what has happened, which may make it harder for the child. Teachers are usually pretty discreet about it - but your child will stand out in colourful clothes and the other kids will ask why they are wearing them.

Good luck, it's an exciting time.

DS starts Kindy 4 days a week on Tues.

He has - 5 polo shirts
2 pairs of shorts
1 pair of tracksuit pants
1 windcheater
1 pair of school shoes
1 pair of runners


After spending $27 on a polo shirt - I was livid when I saw Big W had packs of 3 for $6.

I am going to be much more careful where we shop from now on.