What to put in a pencil case for a new year 7?

tessie_bear

hi...all needed covered i think...i how ever have a stationary shop (a wicker box kept under the bed) which every september i top up with the reduced stationary that the supermarkets seem to sell off....then next year we fill up the pencil cases from that

hth and hope your bambino gets on well at big school...im a secondary school teacher that loves stationary:eek:

bluenoseam

I'd chime in against putting scissors in there, while I understand the reasoning behind them they can still be pretty dangerous, get me sounding like the H&S freak when I'm normally arguing against it, but if he does need scissors then surely the school would expect to provide them, unlike "standard" stationary which the school would expect the child to bring.

I'll also speak up on some things, I know it's a money saving board, but sometimes it's best to avoid being too frugal, good quality pens & pencils in the long term are more viable than their cheaper counterparts and will install an idea in his head for the future, I would recommend some of the cheaper "permanent" pens (Parkers I swear by and have one in my pocket as I type) over any random ball point pen any day of the week. While they're a bit more expensive (should be able to pick them up from about £3) a good quality pen will last longer than the no doubt dozen or so biro's he'll chew through or have burst in his pocket, if he looks after it a good pen will last him years & only need refilling perhaps 3-4 times a year.

The advice on calculators is solid and founded, when I went to school (ok so this was 15 years ago) we were told to try & get X model (no doubt Argos/WH Smiths/Woolies making a killing on them on school's advice) so as to make it a lot easier for the class to progress without having to spend 5 minutes figuring out where the functions are on a different calculator, this happened in our class and well, it took 20 minutes for the 4 kids who decided to show off & buy the "deuluxe super dooper calculator"! (yet the cheap ball point pens bursting on a daily basis...)

I must admit I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to stationary though, good quality lasts & pays for itself long term, I've still got 2 pens from my high school days (which well, as you can see ended a long time ago) still in use, albeit rarely.

pigpen

Mine arent allowed scissors either.. they being a blade and therefore a weapon. We even had pencil sharpeners banned at the boys school after the blades were taken out and made into a weapon.

Mine get a couple of pens red and black.. a couple of pencils, a rubber, a ruler .. one of the flexible bendy ones as they snap when they stuff them in their bags otherwise.. a sharpener and a pack of tesco value coloured pencils. Some mini highlighters

calculators, scissors, etc are provided in the classes they need them in so they dont need those either.

pavlovs_dog

bluenoseam wrote: »

t if he does need scissors then surely the school would expect to provide them, unlike "standard" stationary which the school would expect the child to bring.

you'd think so wouldn't you but school budgets don't live up to providing even basic stuff like this. The scissor block in my classroom struggles to offer 1 pair between 2 given that my average class size is 30+. Glue sticks are even worse.

Obviously use some common sense if your child is going to school in a particularly violent area, but how many children ever come to harm because they have a pair of safety scissors in their pencil case?

MX5huggy

20 B&H should help him make friends.

bluenoseam

MX5huggy wrote: »

20 B&H should help him make friends.

sorry, i know as someone who deplores smoking in all it's forms it shouldn't have, but this did make me chuckle a wee bit

Yeah i'm probably basing the scissors comment on the fact i went to a school with a nutjob to normal ratio approaching 5:1 :eek:

And probably should have added a few sharpies too, just incase - too versatile by far.

eamon

Pencil case (and contents) envy!

Gemmy_2

Scientific Calulater is a MUST!
A ruler - they type thats small but folds out... i always found it useful to have a 30cm ruler
Don't put scissors/tipexx in - both are accidents waiting to happen.

Gillyx

I miss the back to school/uni new pencil case/stationery. Even now going into Paperchase to look at the pens is exciting. The feeling you get when you find a pen that writes beautifully.


(I really am a saddo)

Tigsteroonie

Sammy85 wrote: »

We used to cover our books in wrapping paper. It became a bit of a competition over who had the brightest covered books!

I used off-cuts (samples!) of wallpaper, it lasted longer