SENDING the kids back to school isn’t cheap. Travel, uniforms, lunches, and other costs add up to almost £865 a year for each child at primary and £1,756 for a child at secondary, according to the Child Poverty Action Group. For parents with two kids, that's up to £3,512 a year BEFORE paying for childcare and clubs.
AUTUMN TERM
NAME EVERYTHING: Uniform and sports kit costs around £450 a year per secondary school child — so label everything to avoid it getting lost.
Get double the wear out of school uniforms by getting kids to change out of it as soon as they get home.
CHECK FOR CHILDCARE AND OTHER HELP: Hundreds of thousands of parents miss out on childcare support, so visit childcarechoices.gov.uk to make sure you’re not one of them.
Families on Universal Credit can claim back up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, and the monthly cap increased in June from £646 to £951 for one child, and from £1,108 to £1,630 for two.
Plus, if you’re on UC, speak to your council’s family information service to find out if your kids can get free school meals, and you might also get a uniform grant.
This also opens the door to the holiday activities and food programme — for childcare and meals during the school breaks.
But you will need to register every term.
For other working parents, there’s tax-free childcare — available for kids aged up to 11 or for disabled children up to 16.
For every £8 you pay your childcare provider, the Government will add £2.
TRIM TRANSPORT COSTS: Children under eight should qualify for free transport if their nearest suitable school is more than two miles away, or more than three miles for those eight and over. Kids who get free school meals might qualify for free travel even if their school is closer.
If you do have to fund travel yourself, chat to other parents about lift-sharing and weigh up costs of buses against trains.
For example, in London, children aged 11 to 15 travel free by bus with a Zip Oyster card but paying £10 a week for the train could cost £390 over the school year.
POST-HALLOWEEN SALES: Buy discounted Halloween costumes that could work for World Book Day outfits in the spring term.
Witch and wizard costumes are perfect for Harry Potter and The Worst Witch fans, while spiders can become the kindly character from Charlotte’s Web.
GET THE INSIDE TRACK ON TRIPS: Ask your kids’ teacher about days out and residential trips and inset days for the year ahead so you can budget.
Also, ask your Parent Teacher Association if there is any help available with costs.
SPRING TERM
HAIL THE SALES: Pick up discounted Christmas gift sets in the
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