• Family Life - school

    A quick way to label clothes with Attach A Tag

    I told you the other day how I was feeling pretty organised when it comes to Back to School. Thanks to M&S my daughter is all kitted out for Year 2, and she’s looking forward to seeing all her friends in a few weeks too. The only thing I needed to do was label everything. Thankfully that took minutes using the Attach A Tag system. Attach A Tag Starter Kit The Attach A Tag Starter Kit contains everything you need to label your clothing. Each kit contains the name etched on 30 or 50 tags (depending on how many you order),…

  • Family Life - school

    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…

  • parenting - school

    A healthy packed lunch for school with GoGo squeeZ

    With my son starting a new school and going into Year 3 I’ve been tasked with providing a healthy packed lunch for him very day. Free school meals were an amazing bonus and I was sad when he was no longer eligible to receive them. He asked to try packed lunches, partly I think he was fed up of queuing for lunch, so I’ve been trying to make healthy packed lunches for him. As well as a packed lunch my son is able to take a healthy snack for break time. I’m fortunate that he enjoys fruit and enjoys a…

  • parenting - school

    Getting ready for back to school {ECCO shoes review}

    Our class WhatsApp group has been surprisingly busy during the first two weeks of the school holidays. There has been lots of chatter about school uniform, a subject close to my heart. My children seem to grow quicker during the holidays than they do at any other time of the year. We have already been clothes shopping as my daughter has gone through the knees of all her trousers so I couldn’t help but pick up some school uniform items too. Every year the list of things needed for school seems to get longer. My son starts in a new…

  • parenting - school

    Education Quizzes for kids at home and school

    I admit to having a mini fist pump when I picked up my son from school on Friday. He had endured a week of end of KS1 assessment, otherwise known as SATs. For some reason his school decided to call they daily tests ‘quiz booklets’ to downplay their significance. Unfortunately, sitting in silence with desks apart did nothing to suggest that these were fun quiz booklets and my son resolutely called them SATs all week. I’m all for doing homework but I think a week of tests are totally un-necessary in Year 2. School should be fun and it really…

  • book review - school

    Star Wars Reads Day 2016

    This year my son started Year 2 and although he is a really good reader he doesn’t show any interest in reading chapter books on his own. We’ve been working our way through the Roald Dahl books together at bedtime but nothing seemed to hook him in enough to stay up late reading on his own. Star Wars Reads Day For the past few weeks I have been searching for any information on Star Wars Reads Day. Star Wars Reads Day is an international campaign to celebrate and encourage children to read. Last year we received a wonderful bundle of…

  • Bento - Happy By Nature - parenting - school

    Creating the perfect packed lunch for happy tummies

    We’re a family who love being outdoors and often take a picnic out with us. I like to know exactly what my children are eating and the whole family seem to enjoy the way I make lunch! My youngest started school last month and has been taking a packed lunch every day. She loves having a lunch break with all her friends and thankfully her lunch box is always empty at the end of the day. I’ve had a few years’ practice perfecting the art of the packed lunch and have become quite quick at whipping up a healthy packed…

  • Apple Day crafts - crafts - school - tutorial

    Hama bead apple for teacher craft

    If you’re a parent like me then it can’t have escaped your notice that the end of term is rapidly approaching. Today we had our second Sports Day of the week and we are counting down the days until school is out for the Summer! We have a few weeks left to organise gifts and cards for teachers. This year we’ve had a couple of ideas and today I am going to share the first one with you. Hama bead apple for teacher craft This is a craft which my 6 year old came up with all on his own.…

  • school - Stamptastic Ambassador

    Back to School with Stamptastic

    Earlier this year I was sent some brilliant products from Stamptastic which I think you may find useful if you have children going back to/starting school soon. They sell handy little ink pads and personalised name stamps that let you stamp your children’s clothes, bags, shoes and just about everything but your child – try, but they might resist! After struggling to find school uniform last year – there’s clearly a reason why shops start selling it in July! – I was super organised this year. Yes, I bought uniform for both my children in July which only leaves me…