What to Pack on the First Day of School

It can be super-daunting to have your little one starting school. There’s so many unknowns… where their classroom is, who your child will be in a class with, whether they’ll be happy or sad on their first day – and so many more!

One common worry that parents have is what to pack in their child’s bag on the first day of school. We have compiled your essential guide which details what you need to pack… and more importantly what you DON’T need!

Now the first rule when packing your child’s back is to only pack the essentials and to keep it as light as possible. We recommend packing mini sized items such as a pocket pack of tissues, roll-on sunscreen and a couple of bandaids. We all know how HUGE those school bags look on the cute little Preps, but if you fill them up, they’ll be way to heavy for your child to carry. And let’s not forget, now that they’re at school, they need to be able to carry their bag around!

Another important thing to remember to include is a spare pair of socks and undies. Starting school can be an anxious time for many children and the change in routine can lead to many accidents. If you know that your child regularly has accidents, talk to their teacher and give them a spare change of clothes to keep in the classroom. Most schools will have lots of spares anyway!

If your child needs any medication, send it along in their school bag, clearly labeled, on the first day. The teacher will usually then collect all of the medications and place them into a locked medications box. You will also generally be required to fill out a medication form before the teacher will be able to administer your child’s medication.

Make sure you pack lots of snacks for during the day. You’ll be amazed at how much energy your child uses at school…which means that a LOT of food is going to be gobbled up. Most schools also have ‘fruit time’ throughout the day, so be sure to send along some fresh fruit too.

A refillable water bottle is possibly the most important thing to include in your child’s school bag. Encourage them to fill their drink bottle up at the bubble taps a couple of times throughout the day.

If your child has long hair, make sure you send along a couple of spare hair ties. This is to prevent them from catching nits… although unfortunately, it can still happen, even with the best of intentions!

As we all know, schools are a breeding ground for germs! Pop a mini sized bottle of hand sanitiser into your child’s school bag and encourage them to use it before eating and after going to the toilet.

Of course, all schools are now sun smart and there is generally always some form of a ‘no hat, no play’ policy in place. Pop a school hat and even a pair of sunglasses into their school bag for those hot summer days.

On the first day of school your child will probably have a huge amount of books and pens, pencils, textas etc that they need to take to class. In the early years of primary school, most teachers will collect all of the books and stationery from the students on the first day of school and place them into a communal class set. Before labeling anything over the holidays, check to see if your child’s teacher is going to label all of the books for you… you don’t want to be wasting your time if they are!

The best thing to do is to send all of the exercise books and stationary along in a separate bag on the first day. This makes it HEAPS easier for the teacher and also takes a huge load off your child’s backpack.

Also pop any other items that the teacher will collect such as art smocks and library bags into the separate bag. This way the only items in their school bag are essential ones that they will need each day throughout the year.

So the main rules when packing your child’s bag… keep it light, only pack the essentials and remember to pack anything that won’t be used each day into a separate bag for the teacher to collect and sort out!

Do you have a little one starting school this year?

Read the complete Mums Lounge Back to School Guide here