Hey guys,
So, most of the people who read this (if anyone even does) will probably be at secondary school age, or going into secondary school, and going back at some point in the upcoming week.
My school terms are odd, and we only get a 4 week summer break unless we are going into Year 7 (the first year), where we still get 6 as it's not what they're used to.
So I started school 2 weeks ago, and carried on using the same supplies, but new timetables were given out on friday, and as of monday, i am one academic year older, which means i need new supplies!
I dont have everything you could possibly want, because over the 5 years of secondary school (im now in my 5th year) you realise that most of the stuff that you bought in year 7 really isnt needed, and just becomes a hassle to have all the time.
Mints and chewing gum are two of the most important parts of my school day. You never want to be speaking to a friend (especially if youre making new friends) or asking a teacher for help, and them to sit there thinking 'ew, their breath is stinking!' So its always handy to keep a packet of chewing gum in your pocket (although its not allowed, oo) and a bag of mints in your schoolbag!
Dont just go and buy one packet of pens. You will go through them SO quickly, you will leave them in classrooms, lend them out and forget about it, or (most of the time) they tend to just disappear over the weekend, so always stock up on loads! Black pens are more convenient because 1) i think they look better on paper 2) exams always have to be completed in black pen, so its a good habit to get into buying black pens.
One coloured pen is always handy as sometimes work needs to be colour coded, or it can just be used to highlight and underline key information. I like the BIC one with two colours - light pink and light blue.
Something that will probably be more needed at GCSE level is spare Exercise books. These were 5 for £1 at HomeBargains and come in really handy for revision. I bought mine for french, as we get 20 words to learn a week (to give us a wide range of vocabulary incase it comes up in our reading or listening exams) and i find that the easiest way to learn a list of words and their translation is to copy each word like 'french word - english translation' 10 times, so these books will be useful for that.
Another thing that i bought for french but depending on your school ways, could be used for anything is a ringbinder folder, as in our languages lessons we get lots of booklets - past paper booklets, translation exercise booklets, vocabulary booklets, program of study etc. and they're all seperate. School provides ugly green ones so i like to buy my own. I got this cute leopard print pink one from poundland.
This also came with topic separators.
And a pad of hole punched lined paper.
Obviously a lunch box!
You can get convinient lunch boxes for about £3.50 with little compartments to separate everything. This one comes with a little bottle too which i probably will just take out and use the compartment as another place to store my lunch.
We looked in loads of shops for a handy little lunch box like this, as it is really tedious carrying loads of little tubs/bags with you.
A drinks bottle is essential, even if you're getting your lunch in the canteen it's always handy to have a drink in your bag just incase you feel dehydrated, especially on days where you have P.E. i have a non leak one which you twist to secure it closed.
The final thing (which i didnt take a photo of) is a padlock. Some schools are very secure and you'll probably stop using it after a while. I havent used one for 3 years but we're moving locker areas this year so there will be a race and a fuss to get a good locker, and im not going to lie, at my school, if someone doesnt like you and you got the locker they want, they will take your stuff out and put it in a rubbish one, so for the first few weeks i'm going to use a padlock. Most tutors will allocate your lockers themselves so i wouldnt need it, but my tutor does it on a first come first served basis, and i get to school first, so i'll get the best one, and i want to keep it :)
Thanks for reading, i appreciate that it was lengthy!
Chloe xx
