My Back to School Haul

As much as I don't want to say it, back to school is approaching. Most teachers are back on the 4th, we are back on the 29th and with a new classroom there will be a lot of setting up to do. Yesterday, as I was visiting Donegal I done my back to school shop in Sprint Educational Supplies, Homebase and Dealz. Altogether I spent roughly €100. Yes that is a lot of money and yes I shouldn't be having to spend that much on school supplies but everything I bought is either very limited in the school or just not available. So here it goes my Back to School Haul :) .

First stop was Sprint Educational Supplies. Unfortunately our school does not supply backing paper for boards unless you include them in the art budget and with 35 children this year I was having to buy extra everything on my budget of €150 inlcluding paint brushes and palettes. Not ideal. So I bought 2 roles which cost €9 and €7, both 4ft by 12ft.

I like the Supreme markers for writing on the board, the pack I bought last year done me all year so I'm hoping I can say the same for this pack, they cost €5. Blue-tack (again not supplied) is always a must and something I really can't live without- €2.40.The glittery stickers were a huge hit with my previous class and they lasted for ages and cost €4. I also purchased some velcro for €4. There are some things blue-tack will simply not hold and here is where velcro comes in. I like to divide the childrens' books by table and I velcro a laminated sheet of coloured paper to their shelf so they know which is theirs.

I use elastic band to bundle the copies together by table and table colour, they're priced at €3. I usually put a laminated coloured paper in with this to distinguish the table. The post it's and labels are also must haves and are €3 and €2.

Here is a multipack of borders I got for €17. They are very cute and will match well with the backing papers. I do have borders from previous years but they are torn and tattered.

Laminating pouches were also on the list and is something I spend a lot of money on year after year. They have them in Sprint for €10.95 for a pack of 100 pouches.

My final purchase in Sprint was these egg timers at 1 minute, 2 minutes and 3 minutes which I searched so much for last year. They were €4.00 for the three pack. They also had bigger ones for €15.00.

My next stop was Dealz. Here I bought three 20 packs of pencils which is a necessity in the classroom at €1.50 each. My heart was broken last year with children forgetting pencils and it is something I will try to keep on top of this year to make sure we don't run out!! I also bought a pack of blue pens for €1.50 and I purchased these book covers simply to put my weekly plan and termly timetable into and stick it to my teacher desk. This was also €1.50.

Finally, I popped into Homebase. I bought this cool little container for my bits and pieces such as elastic bands, pins and blue tack and it cost just over €1. I love this owl box. Isn't it fab? I will put my station supplies for either Maths, English or Irish in here. It was roughly €9.

It is a lot of money but it should last me for the majority of the year. The only things I usually need to purchase more of are the pouches, coloured ink (which I didn't buy today) and pencils.

How much do you guys spend on supplies? Hopefully not as much as me! Hope you all enjoyed the post :)