M&S Back to School – Life isn’t Uniform

I don’t know about you but I’m both excited and sad about the count down until the Summer holidays. The Summer term is my favourite as there are so many lovely events going on. But it’s bittersweet as life with children goes so quickly and my children seem to be growing up far too soon.

Recently M&S got in touch to invite me to participate in their latest campaign around school uniform. Love it or loathe, school uniform is a huge part of my childhood memories, and will be a big part of my children’s too. I have quite fond memories of my old schools and wearing a uniform and being part of the school community was a very positive thing for me.

M&S Back to School – Life isn’t Uniform

I remember a variety of lilac summer dresses and bottle green jumpers. Thankfully there was nothing too hideous, except perhaps the straw boaters I wore at one school! The school uniform my children wear seems much more comfortable and practical. I have bought their uniform at M&S for the past few years on the recommendation of my sister. My children are like chalk and cheese, but the one thing that unites them is that they can destroy school uniform within a term of wearing it.

My 8-year-old is pretty good at losing his jumper and last term managed to lose one the very first day he wore it! What made it worse was that I hadn’t had time to label it so I was too embarrassed to ask around on the class WhatsApp group. Thankfully it resurfaced within a few days and I made sure to stitch his name in before he could lose it again.

School uniform does have to withstand a lot of wear and tear. I don’t really want to have to worry about uniform standing up to the pressures of being worn by my children but thankfully I don’t have to. That’s because M&S don’t just make school uniform for children, they make it for parents too.

M&S uniform withstands the toughest tests. I should really hire out my gorgeous 6-year-old as she is quite a free spirit when it comes to school life. She loves being in Year 1 and has so much fun, playing in the playground, getting stuck in to messy science experiments and is always spilling her hot lunches down her jumper!

I’ve stocked up on uniform for September when she goes into Year 2 but she loved everything so much that she’s already wearing it! We had a great time shopping together in our local M&S and picked M&S School Slim Leg ultimate trousers (which are both stain and weatherproof, crease resistant, with grow proof hems and an adjustable waist). She’s very leggy but the grow proof hems means I can just unpick and press them for an extra 3cm, so hopefully these will last for a while.

She also liked the pack of 2 Polo Shirts with short sleeves. They are stain resistant and made from responsibly sourced cotton which ticks all the boxes for me. Finally we chose a new pair of shoes, M&S School Coated Leather Shoes with freshfeet technology and apparently scuff-resistant. These have lights in the bottom which are just the best thing (in the eyes of a 6 year old). They have velcro straps which have been pulled very tightly across as they are a little too big. She just loves them so much she couldn’t wait until September to wear them. I am so happy to have her uniform sorted for September as the shops always seem to run out before I get there. You can take a look at their school uniform collection online, and make use of the 20% off they currently have as I sit and write this post.

Now I would love to hear your school uniform stories. We all know that life isn’t uniform so please share with me your stories about school uniform! Did you get changed out of your school uniform at the end of the road every day like my sister did? Have you kept your old Sixth Form shirt which everyone signed when you left high school like me? Does your child regularly lose their school jumper or PE shorts like my 8 year old? I would love to hear your stories in the comments below.

Disclosure – post in collaboration with M&S