School shoes

rae25_2

My son has yet again come home from school with ruined school shoes, he's only 5 and a size 9 which means the choice in clarks is very limited as they told me "god he's little" needless to say I didn't go back. Yes he's small but he's been very poorly . AS his feet don't grow very quickly I'm prepared to spend more on shoes if I can justify it by them being good quality. Are good shoes as likely to get destroyed as cheaper ones? We walk a mile to and from school so need to find a good comfortable pair which can hopefully withstand lunchtime on the yard. What brand would you recommend?

izoomzoom

Personally I found there was a false economy with buying cheaper shoes. With cheap shoes my DS was lucky if they lasted 6 weeks (1/2 a term). I now buy clarks and they genereally last the year (although I must admit that last summer they were falling apart in the last weeks, but we made do for the 3 weeks till the summer holidays).

asparagus1968

i would find a local,independant childs shoe shop.
they seem to have a more choice inbrands,especially french/spanish/italian ones as well as the more well-known ones here (clarks/startrite etc)

if not,have you a "clinkards" shoeshop near you?

kjmtidea

I use Clarks for my 4 boys but I go to a smaller independent shoe shop that sells them, they are a lot better at fitting them and take the time to make sure that they are a suitable shoe for what we need.
We also walk a long way to school (1 1/2 miles) so I'm the same when it comes to shoes, nothing worse than sore feet!

Desperado99

We gave up on Clarks when they started putting toys in the heels.

We now buy Startrite shoes from a local independent shop, DD is pretty hard on shoes but we can get away with two pairs per school year (one year she went through 5 pairs)

Spendless

In what way are they being ruined? Eg scuffed or trodden down at the heel? Just so we might be able to make some suggestions to either salvage the current pair or prolong the life of the next.:)

no.1swimmum

I always took my boys to a branch of John Lewis, and found them so helpful, my eldest son took a size 5 e fit at 1 year old when he started walking! and his feet seem to grow so quickly. Not only did he have large feet for his age he had a narrow fit with a high instep, on more than one occassion it took over an hour before the assistant found a pair that fitted him, once a rep from a shoe manufacturer was in the branch and game and recommended ranges that might be suitable and shoes ordered in specially for him to try on, at no obligation to buy. We became really friendly with the staff and when he outgrew their largest size they recommended ranges that would be suitable for him - he is now 20 at takes a size 14. We have only just stopped going for our youngest sons shoes as he has outgrown their sizes, but although he has large feet he was much easier to fit.

I hope this is helpful

GreenQueen

We went to our local independent store in late January to get shoes for my DD. We told them she rides a bike and scooter and can be quite hard on shoes. We bought the recommended Umi pair (at £45:eek:) - they had tough soles and looked a bit like a rubber trainer sole on a leather "Mary Jane" upper, also plenty of growing room. We thought we were sorted for the rest of 2012....

...at the start of the Easter holidays, we noticed the both soles had started wearing through, exposing the "honeycomb" type cushioning in the sole. We went back to the shop and were told it was wear and tear, although the owner did do a repair with some tarry stuff, but said she couldn't guarantee how long it would last. So far we seem to be OK. We have also implemented a policy of trainers for walking to school (changing when she gets there) and not wearing school shoes to play out at home AT ALL.

So, I would say it's worth having shoes fitted and paying a bit more for the health of feet and knowing their shoes aren't going to cause any damage, but paying extra doesn't necessarily mean you'll get longer before they're destroyed.

GQ

lolly_896

DS1 is 6 and a pair of clarks lasts about 6-8 weeks.

My Mum picked him up a pair of Nike black trainers in a sale for emergencys and they have tolerated the wear and tear the best so far. He's had them since December and they havent scuffed or worn down at the heal. I know there not shoes but personally i think majority of clarks look like trainers.

I've been looking to replace them with an identical pair. They were fitted at local shoe shop

rae25_2

Spendless they're being scuffed really badly to the point his feet are getting wet as they're so thin. I've explained to the school and he's gone in black trainers for today and tomorrow, you'd swear I'd committed a crime but there's nothing I can do until I can get to a better town. We have clarks , deichman and shoe zone.

Kaz2904

I sent DS in in trainers for a week or so until we could find him shoes. Teachers were not happy but as I told them, I'm not going out and buying him shoes which don't fit and our town has none which do fit him. We have to go to the city to get them and it's a hellish day as he hates trying shoes on!