The summer holidays always feel long right up until they suddenly don't. This is Part 1 of a 3-part back-to-school series — a straightforward checklist covering what actually needs sorting before term starts, without the overwhelm.
Uniform & PE kit
Check everything still fits before the first week, not on the morning of it — growth spurts happen quietly over a summer. Label absolutely everything: jumpers, PE kit, water bottles, lunch boxes. Iron-on name labels or a permanent marker inside the collar both work; the important thing is that it's done before the first day, not after the first lost jumper.
Bag, lunch box & stationery essentials
For Early Learners and Key Stage 1, you don't need much — but a few things are worth getting right:
- A backpack sized for a small child — oversized bags are hard for little ones to manage on their own. Browse options at Amazon UK or Argos.
- An insulated lunch box if they're taking a packed lunch — keeps things fresh and is easier for small hands to open than you'd think matters, until it doesn't work.
- A simple pencil case — for Key Stage 1, pencils, an eraser and a ruler cover most of what's asked for; save the elaborate stationery sets for when they're older and it's their own choice.
- A named water bottle — most schools expect one in the bag every day, not just on PE days.
We'll go into more detail on what's actually worth spending on in Part 3 of this series.
Getting the routine back
Bedtimes and wake-up times tend to drift over the holidays, and pulling them back gradually over the last week or two of summer makes the first day far less brutal than doing it cold on a Sunday night. A simple visual routine chart helps — our Planners & Charts category has free printable routine and reward charts you can start using now, before term begins.
Easing back into learning mode
If it's been a screen-heavy summer, a gentle reintroduction to sitting down and concentrating helps more than diving straight back in on day one. We cover this properly in Part 2 of this series, and our earlier post on beating the summer learning slip has more free activity ideas.
Everything linked to LearnLeaf's own worksheets above is 100% free with no sign-up required. If you'd like new activities sent to you automatically, you can subscribe for free.