Back-to-school style: Good buys to get your children ready for September

Skirts, trousers, backpacks, coats and shoes: as summer comes to an end the school wardrobe concentrates parents’ minds – and challenges their pockets – as the new terms start. So here’s a practical guide to some options that won’t break the bank.

If possible, buy several pairs of dresses/trousers and skirts/shirts/tops that can weather everyday rough and tumble to save on the chore and cost of daily laundering. Dunnes Stores, Marks & Spencer, Arnotts, Debenhams and H&M, as well as Tesco, Aldi and Lidl, have well-priced, crease-resistant trousers, skirts and pinafores. And the trousers in Tesco’s trousers F&F online range have adjustable waists, making them suitable for growing children.

Good quality tends to pay off in the long run. Hardwearing shoes, for example, are essential, as repairs – if they can be repaired – are expensive.

Elsewhere, coats have given way to quilted jackets, and as for backpacks that have to carry a mass of books, they can be sturdy but also lightweight and fun.

If your school doesn’t have a uniform, you could use a dash of fun and colour to lighten the spirits of children who are dreading the new term. And if they’re starting at a new school, how something like Arnotts’ I’m an Artist T-shirt to strike up a conversation?