It’s back to school time!  As we approach the start of a new academic year, here are ten things that help us be more organised for school that you won’t find on the school supply list!

Back to school tip - hair straighteners being used to iron a name tape onto a school shirt1 Hair straighteners:

Not just for Mummy’s morning hair struggles! Having put the iron through our boy’s brand new PE shorts a few years ago whilst ironing on the name tapes, I wondered whether hair straighteners would be a better idea for the hastily-bought replacements.  And yes!  Ta-da!  (Why don’t they tell you this at school as soon as you sign the little ones up?) Use your straighteners on a medium setting to “iron on” the name tapes.  Much quicker, much easier… and no more melted PE kit on the iron. You can find more labelling and uniform tips at this post: “How to organise school uniform” 

2 Photos

Don’t forget that all-important back to school photo! Charge your phone (or camera) and build an extra 10 minutes into your morning routine on the first day, so that you can take a few photos without having to worry that you’ll be late.

3 Extra water bottle

School is fun, and far too exciting to remember to drink water regularly. Our boy is always thirsty at pick-up time, so a fresh bottle of ice-cold water and a snack in the car is always welcomed.

4 Luggage tags for bag

It’s easy to lose a bag in the scrum at pick-up time. Choose a colourful, durable luggage label together with your child, or get crafty and make your own.  A fun luggage label will help your little one’s bag stand out from the crowd, or return it if it gets lost

5 Shoe polish and trainer whitener

Shoes get dirty quickly, especially white sports shoes. Stock up with trainer whitener, shoe polish and brushes. Get your little ones involved and give them responsibility for cleaning their own shoes.

Back to school tip - school shoes, shoe cleaners and brushes laid out to clean shoes6 Artwork folder

Artwork is precious – but so is your car upholstery. Pop a plastic folder in your car to keep those masterpieces safe on the journey home.  I learned the hard way – glitter and crumbled-off poster paint don’t clean up easily.  And little people get very upset if their artistic flourishes of feathers / googly eyes / tin foil become detached from their works of art on the way home.

An artwork folder at home will help you to organise paintings and drawings once they have served their time on the fridge door. I take photos of my favourites, pop the absolute stars in a portfolio folder* and…. (ssshhhhh!) recycle the rest.

7 Lazy Susans kitchen organisers

Talking about artwork, now is the season of stationery. Lots of lovely new stationery! You can organise the pens, pencils and other bits and pieces easily at home, but using one of these fab “lazy Susan” turntable organisers*. A super-fun way to keep stationery and art supplies organised and tidy.

Organised coloured pens stored in jars on a turntable

8 Notebook

My boy and I spend a lot of time together in the car.  In fact, we have some of our most important conversations on the school run. I keep a weekly scrapbook, and I include snippets of our conversations and funny comments in our family memory-keeping.  However you preserve your memories of this school year, find a way to capture some of your conversations.  Jot them down, including the date, in a notebook or even on your phone once you have finished your journey.  I use the Project Life memory-keeping system* to keep our memories organised quickly and easily.

9 Calendar

My husband once worked out that the number of communications that our son’s first school sent home each term was more than the volume of data used to send man to the moon! So stand by, the flurry of letters home, emails, Whatsapp group pings are about to begin again… then add into all that the school website, the school Facebook page, parents’ contact details, year group blogs, weekly headteacher’s newsletter and parents association communications… and you can quickly reach information overload!

Find out how your class and school communicate, speak to other parents, and work out a way of capturing all the information that works for you and your family. Review your system for the new academic year before your children go back to school. We set up a simple family “Mission Control” to keep all of us organised and up to date, but you could use a shared family electronic calendar, or a good old wall chart. Just be sure to keep your chosen method updated – and check that the whole family knows where it is.

Back to school tip - a wall-mounted "mission control" of notice board, shelving and key hooks to keep the home orgnanised

10 Box of tissues in the car

I didn’t expect to continue being so emotional at back to school time! I’m so proud of our boy in his shiny new shoes and beloved old backpack. If I actually manage to get through “Back to School” day without shedding a tear, I can always use the tissues to clean the toothpaste off his cheek or wipe paint from his newly labelled uniform.  After all, children will be children, and even more so when they’re having fun with their new friends at school.

Do you have anything else to add to this list?  I’d love to hear how you keep your school routine more organised in the comments!

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