How to prepare for back to school, for this new year

The end of the summer holidays always seems to arrive faster than expected. One week you're still deep in lazy mornings and day trips, and the next, uniforms need washing, school bags need refilling, and everyone in the house is trying to remember what time they're supposed to be up in the morning.

If you're looking into how to prepare for back to school, you're not alone, and the good news is that it doesn't have to be complicated. Good back to school preparation isn't about doing everything at once. It's about spreading a handful of simple tasks across the last week or two of the holidays, so that the first day back feels calm rather than chaotic.

This guide walks through everything worth thinking about: the practical shopping list, resetting the daily routine, helping your child feel emotionally ready, sorting the smaller logistical details, and (often the most overlooked part) making sure your child hasn't lost ground academically over the summer (either by finding a tutor or making time to help them yourself). We'll also include a full checklist at the end, so you can track everything in one place as you go.

Why prepare for back to school?

It's fair to ask whether any of this preparation is really necessary. Term will start whether you plan for it or not, after all. But a small amount of back to school preparation in advance makes a genuine difference to how smoothly the transition goes, for your child, and for you.

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Children tend to settle back into school life more easily when the change doesn't happen all at once. A body clock that's still on summer time, a uniform that's been left until the night before, or a school bag packed in a rush all add small stresses on top of what is, for many children, already a slightly nerve-wracking day. None of this needs to be dramatic, but spacing things out over a week or two, rather than cramming it all into the final weekend, tends to make the whole household calmer.

There's also a practical, often-missed angle: the summer break is long enough that some academic skills can quietly slip, particularly in subjects like maths and reading. Preparing for back to school isn't only about uniforms and routines, it's also a good moment to check in on where your child left off before the holidays, so they're not caught off guard in the first weeks of term. We'll come back to this in more detail later in the guide.

In short: none of this preparation is essential in the sense that term won't happen without it. But a little bit, spread out sensibly, tends to save everyone a lot of last-minute stress.

What to buy: your back to school shopping checklist

The shopping list is usually the first thing that comes to mind with back to school preparation, and it's worth tackling early, since sizes, styles, and stock availability can all change closer to September.

Start by taking stock of what you already have. Children grow quickly, especially over a long summer break, so it's worth trying on last year's uniform and PE kit before assuming anything needs replacing.

Download the back-to-school checklist

Uniform and everyday wear:

• Shirts, polo shirts, or blouses (enough for a full week, ideally with a spare)
• Jumpers or cardigans
• Trousers, skirts, or pinafores
• School shoes, checked for fit, not just appearance, since growing feet can outgrow shoes without looking obviously different
• Socks or tights
• A coat suited to the season, plus a hat, scarf, and gloves once autumn sets in

PE kit:

• Kit bag
• Trainers or plimsolls
• T-shirt and shorts (or the specific PE uniform your school requires)
• Swimwear and a towel, if swimming is part of the curriculum
• A water bottle

School bag essentials:

• Backpack in good condition
• Lunch box and a reusable water bottle
• A small snack box, if allowed

Stationery, which naturally changes by school stage:

Finally, whatever is new (jumpers, PE kit, water bottles, even shoes) is worth labelling clearly. It sounds like a small thing, but named items are far more likely to make it home from a busy classroom or lost-property pile.

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Getting back into a school-day routine

Of all the parts of back to school preparation, resetting the daily routine is one of the most effective, and one of the easiest to leave too late. Summer routines tend to drift (later bedtimes, more relaxed mealtimes, later mornings) which is entirely normal, but it does mean there's usually a gap to close before term starts.

A gradual approach works far better than an abrupt one. Rather than jumping straight from a 10pm summer bedtime to an 8pm term-time one on the Sunday before school starts, try shifting it by 15–20 minutes every few days over the final one to two weeks of the holidays. 

The same applies to wake-up times: getting your child up at (or close to) their school-time hour for a few mornings before term starts helps their body clock adjust with far less resistance.

A few other routine resets worth building in gradually:

• Wind down screen time before bed. Reducing screens in the hour before sleep, even just for the last week of the holidays, tends to make bedtime easier and improve sleep quality.
• Bring mealtimes back in line with the school day. If lunch and dinner have drifted later over the summer, shifting them back gradually avoids a sudden change in appetite patterns.
• Build in some quiet, calm time before bed. A short wind-down activity (reading, a quiet chat, a favourite low-key show) helps signal to your child's body that the day is winding down, which is especially useful if screens have been a big part of the summer routine.
• Rebuild a bit of "sitting still and focusing" stamina. Summer days are often naturally more active and less structured, so short stretches of quiet, focused activity, such as reading, drawing, or a simple puzzle, help ease your child back into the kind of sustained attention a classroom requires, without it feeling like schoolwork.
• Get moving earlier in the day. A bit of outdoor time or physical activity in the morning or early afternoon, rather than later in the evening, helps reset natural tiredness levels in time for an earlier bedtime, and mirrors the more active start most school days involve.

None of this needs to be rigid or stressful in itself. The goal is simply to close the gap between "summer time" and "school time" gradually, so the first Monday morning doesn't feel like a shock to the system.

Helping your child feel confident and ready

Practical preparation is only one half of getting ready for a new term. The other half (often more important, and easier to overlook) is how your child feels about going back.

It's completely normal for children to feel some nerves about the return to school, whether they're starting a new year at a familiar school or moving somewhere new entirely. This can show up as excitement, mild anxiety, or a mix of both, and it's worth acknowledging rather than brushing past. Letting your child know that feeling a bit unsettled is normal (and that plenty of other children feel the same way) can take some of the pressure off.

A few things that tend to help:

• Talk about it, without making it a big event. Casual conversations (while walking, in the car, or doing something else together) often work better than a formal sit-down chat, since children can find it easier to open up when they're not facing you directly.
• Ask open questions rather than yes/no ones. Instead of "are you worried about school?", try "what are you looking forward to?" or "is there anything you're not sure about?". Open questions tend to surface more honest answers.
• Take any worries seriously, without amplifying them. If your child raises something specific (a new teacher, a friendship concern, a subject they're nervous about) talking through what they could do in that situation, rather than dismissing the worry, tends to help more than reassurance alone.
• Re-familiarise them with school before term starts. Walking or driving the route to school again, laying out the uniform the night before, or talking through what the first morning will look like all help remove some of the unknowns that tend to fuel nerves.

It's also worth keeping an eye out for signs that a child might be finding the transition harder than usual, noticeable changes in sleep or appetite, becoming withdrawn, losing interest in things they normally enjoy, or seeming persistently low or irritable. Most children settle within the first week or two. If these signs continue for longer, or start to affect daily life, it's worth having a conversation with the school or, if needed, a GP.

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Sorting the practical details

Alongside the shopping list, the routine, and the emotional side of things, there's a shorter list of practical, administrative details that are easy to forget until the last minute:

• Complete and return any school forms (emergency contact details, permission slips, or medical information) well before the deadline, rather than in the first rushed week of term.
• Confirm school start and finish times, along with the timings of any after-school clubs, especially if your child is starting at a new school or moving up a year group.
• Sort out the school run. If your child is taking a new route, a new form of transport, or walking somewhere with friends for the first time, doing a practice run beforehand can ease any first-day nerves about getting there and back.
• Set up a simple system for paperwork. A folder (physical or digital) for each child's school documents can save a surprising amount of stress once term is properly under way.
• Check the school calendar for the term ahead. Note down inset days, half-term dates, and any early finishes now, rather than discovering them at short notice once term is under way, this makes it much easier to plan childcare or time off work in advance.
• Sync up with other parents if lift-shares or after-school arrangements are involved. A quick message before term starts to confirm who's doing pickups, drop-offs, or club runs avoids any first-week confusion when everyone's routines are still settling.

None of this needs much time individually, but ticking these off before term starts means the first week is about settling in, not chasing paperwork.

Getting ready academically: catching up before term starts

Most conversations about back to school preparation stop at uniforms, routines, and nerves. But there's a part of getting ready for the new term that's just as important, and far less talked about: making sure your child's academic footing is where it needs to be when they walk back through the school gates.

Over a long summer break, it's completely normal for children to lose a little of what they learned the previous year, this is well documented and is usually referred to as the "summer slide" or summer learning loss. It tends to affect maths and reading more than most other subjects, simply because these are skills that benefit from regular, ongoing practice. 

If you'd like to see the scale of this in more detail, our article on statistics on summer learning loss breaks down just how much progress children can lose over the holidays, and in which subjects it tends to show up most.

The encouraging part is that this is one of the more preventable aspects of preparing for back to school. A bit of light, low-pressure review before term starts (even just twenty or thirty minutes a few times a week) can be enough to refresh what's already been learned, rather than needing a full re-teach once school is back in session. 

For some practical, easy ways to do this at home, we've put together a full guide on, how to avoid the summer slide, covering simple activities that keep core skills ticking over without feeling like extra homework.

Checking in on where your child left off (what they found easy, what they found trickier, and what they might have quietly forgotten) is a useful, low-key way to head into the new term with a clearer picture, rather than waiting to find out in the first few weeks of school.

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How tutoring can ease the transition back to school

This is where a bit of outside support can genuinely make a difference, and it's worth spelling out clearly, since it's often the most overlooked part of preparing for back to school.

As covered above, some academic slip over the summer is completely normal, it isn't a sign that anything has gone wrong, and it isn't a reflection of your child's ability. But it does mean that a short amount of focused, one-to-one support before term starts can be one of the most effective ways to head into the new year with confidence, rather than spending the first few weeks quietly trying to catch up alongside a full timetable of new material.

It's worth being clear about what this actually looks like in practice, since tutoring before term starts isn't about remedial catch-up or "fixing" anything. It's a proactive step, and the benefits tend to show up in a few specific ways:

• Spotting gaps early, while there's still time to close them. A tutor can quickly identify exactly which topics have slipped over the summer, rather than a parent having to guess or wait for early test results to reveal it.
• Building confidence before the pressure of term begins. Walking into the first weeks of a new school year already feeling secure in the basics tends to make everything that follows (such as new topics, first assessments, class discussions) considerably less daunting.
• One-to-one attention on exactly what's needed. Unlike a classroom setting, a private tutoring session can focus entirely on the specific areas where your child needs a refresher, rather than covering ground they're already confident with.
• Taking pressure off an already busy first few weeks. The start of term brings new routines, new teachers, and often new expectations all at once. Getting academic footing sorted beforehand means one less thing competing for your child's attention and energy during an already demanding period.

Getting started is simpler than many parents expect. Browsing tutors on FindTutors is completely free, and profiles make it easy to compare experience, subjects, and teaching style before getting in touch, there's no obligation and no cost involved in simply having a look. For many families, a short series of sessions in the final weeks of the holidays is all it takes to turn "hoping for the best" into a genuinely solid start to the new school year.

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You’re all set for your child’s back-to-school preparation

Back-to-school preparation isn't really one task, it's a handful of smaller ones, spread out sensibly over the final couple of weeks of the holidays: the shopping list, a gradual return to routine, some honest conversations about how your child is feeling, a few practical admin tasks, and a check-in on where they left off academically.

None of it needs to happen overnight, and none of it needs to be perfect. A little back to school preparation, done steadily rather than all at once, tends to make the difference between a stressful first morning and a calm one, for your child, and for you.

If you'd like some extra academic support built into that preparation, you can browse tutors on FindTutors whenever suits you, it's free to look, compare, and get in touch.

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Frequently asked questions on how to prepare for back-to-scool