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High School Essentials: What They Actually Need 🎒
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items Getting ready for high school or secondary school? Having now navigated the move to high school with my own kids, these are the things we’ve actually bought, used and found useful. From school stationery and pencil cases to bags, PE kit, uniform, tec...
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High School Stationery Essentials ✏️📚
School Bags & Lunch Essentials 🎒
High School Stationery Essentials ✏️📚
Everything they actually need in their school bag! These are the stationery essentials we’ve bought and found useful for high school, from everyday pens and pencils to maths equipment, highlighters and all the little extras they seem to get through r...
Still a school essential after all these years! I remember using these when I was at school and now my kids use them too. Four colours in one pen is so handy for lessons, notes and homework without carrying loads of different pens.
I buy the multipa...
BIC 4 Colours Original Ballpoint Pens – School Essential 🖊️
These might not be on every school’s stationery list, but all of my kids need whiteboard pens for lessons, so they’re something we always stock up on.
These are cheap and cheerful, come in four colours and do exactly what they need to do. At this pr...
Whiteboard Marker Pens 🖊️
These are the pens all of my kids use for their everyday handwriting at school. They write really smoothly, are comfortable to use and the 0.7 tip gives a lovely clear line.
We get through plenty of them, so I tend to buy multipacks. A simple school...
Pilot V-Ball 0.7 Rollerball Pens – Black | School Pens 🖊️
The blue version of our go-to school pen. All three of my kids use Pilot V-Ball 0.7s for their general handwriting and really like how smoothly they write.
I always keep a supply of both blue and black at home because they seem to disappear from pen...
Pilot V-Ball 0.7 Rollerball Pens – Blue 💙
A proper high school essential. Our school specifically recommends the Casio FX-83GTCW+ or FX-85GTCW+, so it’s worth checking which model your child’s school asks for before buying.
Having the same calculator as the rest of the class makes life much...
Casio FX-83GTCW / FX-85GTCW Scientific Calculator 🧮
A simple but essential addition to the school pencil case. My kids still use colouring pencils regularly at high school for diagrams, maps and different subjects, so a basic set of 12 is plenty.
I like the BIC ones because they’re inexpensive, relia...
BIC 12 Pack Colouring Pencils ✏️🌈
Another pencil case staple for my kids. These are great for school projects, diagrams, posters and adding colour to notes, and the colours are lovely and bright.
They’re good value too, which matters with school stationery because felt tips have a h...
BIC Intensity Felt Tip Pens 🌈🖊️
You can never have too many pencils once you have kids at high school! I buy these STAEDTLER HB pencils in a pack of 10 so there are always spares at home when one inevitably disappears.
They’re good quality, sharpen well and I particularly like tha...
STAEDTLER Noris HB Pencils with Eraser – Pack of 10 ✏️
A great school pencil case without spending a fortune. I really like the Hype pencil cases because there are loads of different colours and designs, so each of my kids could choose one that suited their own style.
They’re a good size for all the eve...
Hype Pencil Case ✏️🎒
School Bags & Lunch Essentials 🎒
The everyday things they’ll actually use from the minute they leave the house! From a school bag that can cope with books, PE kit and everything else they somehow accumulate, to lunch bags, water bottles and all the little extras that make school day...
We’ve had our SHO food flasks for over three years and they’re still going strong. My kids were coming home hungry even after having school dinners, so we switched to packed lunches and haven’t looked back!
We alternate between hot and cold lunches ...
SHO Insulated Food Flask 🥣🔥
For the days they fancy a cold lunch, we use these Sistema Bento boxes. I love the different compartments because you can pack a proper mix of sandwiches or wraps, fruit, snacks and little extras without everything ending up jumbled together.
They’r...
Sistema Bento Lunch Box 🥪
This is the one Jack chose for high school. He wanted a sporty backpack rather than a traditional school bag and picked this adidas Tiro design himself. Practical for everyday school use, with plenty of space for everything he needs, and there are di...
Blue Adidas Tiro Graphic Backpack 🎒 💙
A great everyday school bag if they prefer a sporty style. Comes in different colours so they can choose their favourite, with plenty of room for all the usual school-day essentials. My kids specifically wanted sports-style backpacks, so we bought th...
Tiro 23 Adidas League Backpack - Black 🎒
This is the one Ella chose for high school. She wanted a sporty-style backpack too, but obviously the pink won her over! 😂 Practical for carrying everything she needs for a full school day, and a nice option if they want something sporty but a bit m...
Nike Pink Backpack 🎒🩷
We’ve used Owala bottles between us for a couple of years now and they’ve been brilliant. They keep drinks lovely and cold throughout the school day and, most importantly, they don’t leak! Lots of colours to choose from too, so everyone can have thei...
Owala Water Bottle 💧
We bought these for all three kids for their PE kits. They come in loads of different colours, so everyone could choose their own, and most importantly the kids are happy that they actually look cool! 😂 Simple, lightweight and ideal for keeping PE k...
PUMA Drawstring PE Bag 🎒