BIG SCHOOL GUIDESBy Bright Star Kids The Starting School Checklist: What Your Child Actually Needs for Big SchoolWhat to buy, how many of each, and the Term 1 hacks our Bright Star Kids mums have learnt the hard way. |
What is in here
|
 | Nobody sits you down and explains the difference. In December someone at daycare still tells you when the nappies run out. By February they are carrying their own bag, finding their own hook, and the only news you get is a note that has been through the wash. The mums on our team have made most of the mistakes going. Two uniforms instead of five. Nothing labelled. A lunch box the child could not open until it came home full. So this is the list we wish someone had handed us. |
FIRST, THE BIT NOBODY EXPLAINS
What Changes Between Daycare and Big School
Lunch AT DAYCARE Staff open the containers and remind them to eat AT BIG SCHOOL They open everything themselves, in about 15 minutes, then go and play | Water AT DAYCARE Someone hands them their bottle through the day AT BIG SCHOOL The bottle stays in the bag unless they remember it |
Spare clothes AT DAYCARE A full change of clothes lives in their locker AT BIG SCHOOL Whatever is in the bag that morning is all they have | Their bag AT DAYCARE Goes on a hook with their photo above it AT BIG SCHOOL Goes on a rack with thirty bags that look the same |
How you hear about the day AT DAYCARE A daily report, photos, and a chat at pickup AT BIG SCHOOL A note in a pocket, and whatever they tell you in the car | When something goes missing AT DAYCARE Staff know whose it is and it comes back AT BIG SCHOOL It goes to lost property, and only the named things find their way home |
THE LIST
The Starting School Checklist
Tick as you go. Nothing here is sponsored by a school newsletter, it is just what we wish we had known.
Want this list on paper?
Save the checklist in your phone or print it out so you can keep it in your bag. And when you have ten minutes to spare near the shops, you'll have the list handy and know what's still missing.
QUANTITIES
How Many of Each Do You Actually Need
THE HACKS
Term 1 Hacks For New Parents
| 
|
PLAN IT OUT
The Countdown, December to Week Three
| 6 |
Order name labels and the stamp as soon as the booklist lands. Book the uniform fitting. Ring the uniform shop about holiday hours. |
| 4 |
Buy the bag, the lunch gear and the bottle. Start the lunch box practice. |
| 2 |
Label everything in one sitting. Walk past the school, find the gate they will use and where the toilets are. |
| 1 |
Pack the bag together. Do a dry run of the morning, same wake up, same breakfast, same shoes. Bedtime 15 minutes earlier each night, and book the haircut now rather than during the first week. |
| ★ |
Bag by the door, uniform out, lunch made. An early night for you too, not just them. |
| +3 |
Keep the afternoons empty, no activities and no playdates. Same goodbye every time: one hug, say who is collecting them, walk away. Swap how was your day for who did you sit with. |
ANSWERS
Starting School Questions, Answered
What do I need to buy before my child starts big school?
Four to five polo shirts, three shorts or skorts, two hats, two jumpers, seven pairs of socks, school shoes, a backpack, a lunch box, a drink bottle, a pencil case and name labels for all of it. Wait for the school's booklist before buying any stationery, most schools supply more than you expect.
How many school uniforms do I need for the first year?
Four to five tops and three bottoms is the sweet spot for Term 1. Two of everything is not enough once you factor in hot weather, paint and the fact that washing does not always get done.
Do I really need to label everything?
Yes. Unnamed items go to lost property and most schools clear it at the end of every term. One label kit covers a full uniform set plus the bag, bottle, lunch box and stationery.
What is the best way to label school uniforms?
Labels on the care tag for uniform items, a bag tag on the outside of the bag, and a name stamp if you are labelling for more than one child or handing clothes down. Label the jumper twice, once on the care tag and once inside the hem.
What should be in a big school bag?
Lunch box, drink bottle, hat, jumper, reader folder, library bag on library day, spare undies, and a snack they can open themselves. Everything in it should have their name on it.
How is big school different from daycare?
The biggest change is that nobody is managing your child's day for them. They open their own lunch, remember their own water, carry their own bag and find it again on a rack of thirty identical ones. Anything that goes missing without a name on it is gone.
When should I start getting ready for the first day?
December, as soon as the booklist lands, which is about six weeks out. Leave it to January and the stock has gone, the uniform shop has a queue out the door, and you are paying for it in the same month as Christmas. Labels and uniform come first, because uniform shops close over the holidays and personalised label orders print in 1 to 3 business days plus shipping.
What does Term 1 actually cost?
More than the uniform and the booklist, which is the part that catches people out. Budget for excursions, swimming, sport fees and a device levy on top, and split the shop across two paydays with stationery first and uniform second. Checking the school uniform pool or a buy-swap-sell group before you buy everything new is the single biggest saving available.
What is big school called in my state?
Kindergarten in NSW and the ACT, Prep in QLD, VIC and TAS, Reception in SA, and Pre-primary in WA. Different name, same first year, same checklist.
Tick the last box.
You have the list. Now you just need the stuff. Everything on it that we make is personalised with your child's actual name, previewed before you order, and made in Australia.
Shop the Starting School EssentialsAustralian Made · Happiness Guarantee · Prints in 1 to 3 business days plus shipping
BIG SCHOOL GUIDESBy Bright Star Kids
The Starting School Checklist: What Your Child Actually Needs for Big School
What to buy, how many of each, and the Term 1 hacks our Bright Star Kids mums have learnt the hard way.
What is in here
| Uniform and Clothing Checklist › |
| Bag and Lunch Gear Checklist › |
| Stationery and Classroom Checklist › |
| Labels and Lost Property Checklist › |
| Paperwork and Admin Checklist › |
| The Things Nobody Tells You to Pack Checklist › |
Keep this tab open and tick off each step as you go, so nothing gets missed. Want an easy copy to keep handy? Download the checklist below.
Nobody sits you down and explains the difference. In December someone at daycare still tells you when the nappies run out. By February they are carrying their own bag, finding their own hook, and the only news you get is a note that has been through the wash.
The mums on our team have made most of the mistakes going. Two uniforms instead of five. Nothing labelled. A lunch box the child could not open until it came home full.
So this is the list we wish someone had handed us.
FIRST, THE BIT NOBODY EXPLAINS
What Changes Between Daycare and Big School
Lunch
AT DAYCARE
Staff open the containers and remind them to eat
AT BIG SCHOOL
They open everything themselves, in about 15 minutes, then go and play
Water
AT DAYCARE
Someone hands them their bottle through the day
AT BIG SCHOOL
The bottle stays in the bag unless they remember it
Spare clothes
AT DAYCARE
A full change of clothes lives in their locker
AT BIG SCHOOL
Whatever is in the bag that morning is all they have
Their bag
AT DAYCARE
Goes on a hook with their photo above it
AT BIG SCHOOL
Goes on a rack with thirty bags that look the same
How you hear about the day
AT DAYCARE
A daily report, photos, and a chat at pickup
AT BIG SCHOOL
A note in a pocket, and whatever they tell you in the car
When something goes missing
AT DAYCARE
Staff know whose it is and it comes back
AT BIG SCHOOL
It goes to lost property, and only the named things find their way home
THE LIST
The Starting School Checklist
Tick as you go. Nothing here is sponsored by a school newsletter, it is just what we wish we had known.
Want this list on paper?
Save the checklist in your phone or print it out so you can keep it in your bag. And when you have ten minutes to spare near the shops, you'll have the list handy and know what's still missing.
QUANTITIES
How Many of Each Do You Actually Need
THE HACKS
Term 1 Hacks For New Parents
| 1 | Label everything in one sitting, before the tags come off. Pour a wine, pop on your favourite podcast and do the whole lot in one go. You cannot really label and watch television at the same time. It takes about 40 minutes and it is the highest return hour of the summer. |
| 2 | Give each child a colour and stick to it. Blue kid, green kid, purple kid. Same colour on the labels, the bag tag, the bottle and the lunch box. You can sort the laundry pile without reading a single name. |
| 3 | Name the lid, not just the bottle. Lids are what go missing. Same goes for lunch box lids and the underside of the hat brim. |
| 4 | Label the jumper twice. Once on the care tag, once inside the hem. Tag labels get looked at by the office, hem labels get seen by whoever picks it up off the oval. |
| 5 | Practise the lunch box in the holidays, with a timer. Set 15 minutes and hand them the actual box with the actual containers. If they cannot open it in that time, it comes home full and you will not find out for a week. |
| 6 | Put a picture checklist at their height, not yours. Photograph the packed bag and stick it where they can actually see it. By week three they pack it themselves and you stop being the one who forgot the library book. |
| 7 | Build a drop zone by the front door. Bag hooks at their height, a tub for shoes, a hook for the hat. The bag never leaves it, and it gets packed the night before rather than in the morning. |
| 8 | Buy the bag before the stationery, but check it fits an A4 folder. Readers and homework folders are A4 and they do not bend. This is the single most common bag mistake. |
| 9 | Photograph every note the day it lands. Put the date straight in the calendar and bin the paper. Notes that live in the bag turn to pulp by Friday, which is how you miss the excursion. |
| 10 | Check lost property every Friday. Most schools clear it at the end of term and everything unnamed goes to the second hand uniform shop. Friday afternoon takes two minutes. |
| 11 | Teach the buckle, not the laces. Term 1 is not the term for laces. Nobody in that classroom has time to tie thirty pairs of shoes twice a day. |
| 12 | Two kids starting, or a second one coming through? Order both label kits at once so the fonts and colours match, and get a Name Stamp for the hand-me-downs. You stamp over the older one's name in about a minute instead of unpicking labels. |
PLAN IT OUT
The Countdown, December to Week Three
| 6 |
Order name labels and the stamp as soon as the booklist lands. Book the uniform fitting. Ring the uniform shop about holiday hours. |
| 4 |
Buy the bag, the lunch gear and the bottle. Start the lunch box practice. |
| 2 |
Label everything in one sitting. Walk past the school, find the gate they will use and where the toilets are. |
| 1 |
Pack the bag together. Do a dry run of the morning, same wake up, same breakfast, same shoes. Bedtime 15 minutes earlier each night, and book the haircut now rather than during the first week. |
| ★ |
Bag by the door, uniform out, lunch made. An early night for you too, not just them. |
| +3 |
Keep the afternoons empty, no activities and no playdates. Same goodbye every time: one hug, say who is collecting them, walk away. Swap how was your day for who did you sit with. |
ANSWERS
Starting School Questions, Answered
What do I need to buy before my child starts big school?
Four to five polo shirts, three shorts or skorts, two hats, two jumpers, seven pairs of socks, school shoes, a backpack, a lunch box, a drink bottle, a pencil case and name labels for all of it. Wait for the school's booklist before buying any stationery, most schools supply more than you expect.
How many school uniforms do I need for the first year?
Four to five tops and three bottoms is the sweet spot for Term 1. Two of everything is not enough once you factor in hot weather, paint and the fact that washing does not always get done.
Do I really need to label everything?
Yes. Unnamed items go to lost property and most schools clear it at the end of every term. One label kit covers a full uniform set plus the bag, bottle, lunch box and stationery.
What is the best way to label school uniforms?
Labels on the care tag for uniform items, a bag tag on the outside of the bag, and a name stamp if you are labelling for more than one child or handing clothes down. Label the jumper twice, once on the care tag and once inside the hem.
What should be in a big school bag?
Lunch box, drink bottle, hat, jumper, reader folder, library bag on library day, spare undies, and a snack they can open themselves. Everything in it should have their name on it.
How is big school different from daycare?
The biggest change is that nobody is managing your child's day for them. They open their own lunch, remember their own water, carry their own bag and find it again on a rack of thirty identical ones. Anything that goes missing without a name on it is gone.
When should I start getting ready for the first day?
December, as soon as the booklist lands, which is about six weeks out. Leave it to January and the stock has gone, the uniform shop has a queue out the door, and you are paying for it in the same month as Christmas. Labels and uniform come first, because uniform shops close over the holidays and personalised label orders print in 1 to 3 business days plus shipping.
What does Term 1 actually cost?
More than the uniform and the booklist, which is the part that catches people out. Budget for excursions, swimming, sport fees and a device levy on top, and split the shop across two paydays with stationery first and uniform second. Checking the school uniform pool or a buy-swap-sell group before you buy everything new is the single biggest saving available.
What is big school called in my state?
Kindergarten in NSW and the ACT, Prep in QLD, VIC and TAS, Reception in SA, and Pre-primary in WA. Different name, same first year, same checklist.
Tick the last box.
You have the list. Now you just need the stuff. Everything on it that we make is personalised with your child's actual name, previewed before you order, and made in Australia.
Shop the Starting School EssentialsAustralian Made · Happiness Guarantee · Prints in 1 to 3 business days plus shipping