This summer, M&S is helping us to get ready for the back to school adventure! Did you know that M&S has been helping parents get their children ready for back to school for over a century?
This year, they are campaigning ‘Decades at School’ and will be showcasing a timeline of its school archives, focusing on how getting kids ready for back to school has changed over the years – from uniforms to packed lunches. Discover how family’s back to school journey has changed from yours to your children.
How did your back to school experience compare to your children? For mine, it was totally different to my children. I was born and raised in Singapore. Our primary and secondary schools have very strict rules on books and each school had their own individual school uniform. These rules restricted us to buy the books and uniforms from specific places or we would also get hand-me-downs from older siblings.
Each year, we had a list of books to buy and not all the schools used the same textbooks. It was quite costly especially as they changed the content of the books every few years. I could never use my sister’s hand-me-down books as they weren’t relevant by the time I used them. We have a five year age gap which didn’t help matters. Also books varies from school to school. My cousin who was a year above me at school but studied at a different primary school had totally different types of textbooks. Looking at my children’s back to experience now, I am so pleased to not have to waste money buying textbooks for them! Everything is provided by the school and even stationery for younger children. This is a great saving for us, parents by comparison.
As for the school uniform, schools in the UK are more lenient than in Singapore. As I mentioned earlier, every school has their own unique design. It means we usually had to purchase the uniform from our own school shop. Every uniform must carry a school badge – either it is printed or you would wear a collar pin. Again this was very costly for my parents. Here is me wearing my school uniform in primary and secondary schools.
Luckily my children’s school doesn’t subject parents to buying a uniform with a school logo. So I have the freedom to try out different brands of school clothing for my children. We are no stranger to M&S school clothing as we frequently buy the coloured t-shirts and trousers from them. We also like their stainaway shirts which are made with a special finish to help make stains disappear with ease. Their adjustable hem trousers means there is no need to get the needle and thread out, yet you will get an extra 3cm room for growth. M&S also do ultimate non-iron shirts/blouses that is crease free and with jumpers that are machine washable which will stay bobble free.
Ms C is wearing this classic pure cotton striped dress which comes with two pockets on the side and is also non-iron! It is a win-win for me.
Next she is wearing the polo shirts, pinafores and cotton rich cardigan for winter time!
Also not forgetting school shoe! Children nowadays have so many choices and designs. Unlike my generation where I can could only wear white shoes for school. Every weekend, I had to wash my school shoes and paint it white with the white coloured brush to keep the shoes white!
Ms C is wearing these scuff resistant coated leather shoes with flashing light and Freshfeet technology which keep feet fresh by combating the bacteria that cause odour. She loves these shoes because it has a cat on the front!
Living in the UK, makes me appreciate how the schools and the convenience of the high street stores help parents to prepare back to school so much easier than what I went through. Also with the new technology, it helps make parenting much easier and saves times from ironing! I am thrilled that M&S is here to help us all get prepared for back to school!
Disclosure: We received the samples for the purposes of writing this review, however all thoughts and opinions remain our own. This is a featured post.
