Decades at School with Marks and Spencer

Do you have any favourite memories of school? Milk in bottles with little straws, recorder lessons and the school dentist, getting your five meter swimming badge and one computer for the whole school, wheeled in and out of the rooms on a trolly.

Well, times have changed, milk comes in cartons and each class has a few computers and even iPads, but sending your children off to school for a new year will still be the same.  That pang of sadness at not getting to spend time with them even if they were causing you to tear your hair out at times, that dread of early mornings and lunch box making.

New uniforms, shoes, bags and lunch boxes and now it seems we need to add a pencil case to the mix and it got me thinking about what it was like for my parents when I was at school? What hopes, dreams and feelings did they have for me starting a new year?

I remember going to look for a new school uniform and new shoes with my mum, it was one of those defining moments of the school holidays and nothing got the excitement going more than a crisp new pair of shoes and school uniform. Trying them on when we got home and showing dad when he got in from work, just to get the approval.

I took that approach when my son started school and it was a big occasion for us to go and look for school uniform, however it wasn't as easy as i'd hoped and we couldn't find everything in his size, it was a little stressful to say the least, that happened for a few more years and then last year as much as I would miss the shopping ritual with my daughter I decided to order everything online.

We'd had uniform from Marks and Spencer since my son started school and they always lasted and stood the test of time, so with everything in one place I ordered all the school uniform for next day delivery and we had the same excitement levels, albeit in a different place, when two bags of clothes arrived.

We went through them and tried them on, I cried a little and my daughter told me I was being silly, it was a new experience and I suppose an updated and modern version of my memory.

For me my memories are happy ones and are deep in my core memory, they are what makes me tick and so I hope I can pass some of them on to my children, even if they are as different as our one computer at school to the whole row of them in each class now.

Nothing says the first day of school like a baggy jumper and shoes too big for those skinny legs, here is me surprisingly smiling for my first day at secondary school.

This year Marks & Spencer have yet another brilliant uniform collection, in a range of sizes, colours and styles. There are some neat touches to their uniforms, including, Stainaway™ shirts, made with a special finish to help make stains disappear, adjustable hem trousers to adjust the hems without a needle and thread and machine washable jumpers that stay bright and bobble free.

My two children love their new uniform from Marks & Spencer, they are just what we need to allow them to run, jump and explore. With ribbed cuffs, easy to do up buttons, zips and hooks and fabric that moves with them, I am sure these will last them the year as they have always done before.

Our holidays only started this week and they will be back at school earlier than everyone else too, with just five short weeks for their summer, even so, we hope to fit lots in. I am sure the time will come for first day back photos before I know it and most likely tears from me as I see the changes in them and the different a year makes.

Marks and Spencer are currently looking at school uniforms throughout the decades, they have changed so much and it is fascinating to see what we used to wear, you can even share your own memories with them over on Twitter using the hashtag #MySchoolYears

What was your favourite school memory?

NB: This is a collaborative post.