Shopping: Learning a valuable lesson in when to buy

Still, there are deals to be had, at least on items such as shirts and blouses which don't need to be school's own (and yes, that increasing trend for school uniforms to be monogrammed with the school's own name or logo does make it expensive for parents who can choose whether or not they buy their children a Jack Wills hoodie, but not a school pullover).

When buying school uniform for the new term, look out for all the bargains and offers – M&S, for example, has three for twos, and Matalan has a 4 uniform deal, in which you can get one sweatshirt, one polo or shirt and one skirt or trousers for just 4.

Pretty much all the High Street stores are trying to offer a complete basic uniform for under 10. The independents can't compete on price, although most do offer quality and service at reasonable prices.

News that Marks & Spencer has started to sell over-sized school uniforms for overweight children as young as four might not please health campaigners, but its trial range does follow demand from parents.

Its new Plus schoolwear range includes clothes for pre-school children with waistlines of up to 23ins, a size usually worn by eight-year-olds, with trouser and skirt sizes going up to a 41in.

For name tags, try Attach-a-Tag buttons from www.attachatag.co.uk at 20 for the applicator and 30 personally-etched tags.