Do you despair every morning when you can't find the reading book, don't know if it is "wear what you want day", or you have a teenager stressing over their lost homework?

Wouldn't it be nice to start back in September with systems in place to make each morning calm and enjoyable?

Begin by buying any new uniform items you need, except the new school shoes. Childrens feet always seem to grow a size over the holidays! Branded uniform items often need ordering and may have a few weeks delivery time. The staple items often sell out by mid-August and then you end up wasting lots of time driving around trying to find their size. Shoes and Plimsoles could be purchased in the last two weeks. 

Is there any sports items required? This almost certainly applies when moving up to secondary. 

Don't leave it all to the last week.

During the break why not set up a dedicated work space for your teenager. I particularly like the wire racks that you can wall mount by their desk area and have a section for each subject. Encourage them to empty their bag each evening and put the work books into the correct slot. There should be a timetable pinned up so that in the evening after homework has been completed, they can pack the books for the following day back into their bag. It saves them traipsing all the books round every day and we know this is detrimental to their backs and shoulders in the long term.

Make sure they have duplicates of the essential stationary as it inevitably disappears over the first term!

If your kids take a packed lunch this can become a nightly chore, I suggest that you have clear labelled containers in the fridge for things like yoghurts, drinks, individual cheeses and containers in a cupboard for the dried snacks like crisps and bars. All you need to do is put a sandwich together and quickly pop things in the lunch box from your containers. No more deliberating over what you can give them and teens could do this themselves. It also makes it easier for you to see when you are running out of items.

Create a control centre, maybe in the hallway, porch or family room. 

If you have a few children then each one needs a coat peg, a bag store, shoe spaces a PE kit store and a pin board. Encourage them to pop the items into the spaces when they get home and if they are very small go through their bags extracting any paperwork and pinning it to their pin board. You need to check and complete replies to party invites etc. but having them on the board means you are less likely to mislay them or to forget.

Create a timetable of PE days, extracurricular activities where kit is needed like music lessons, dance or sports and pin that up too. If you have the space then also have a section for each of these activities.

I find the IKEA Kallax units are great for this purpose as you can have them 2, 3 or 4 high and a section for each child. A shoe slot at the bottom then the backpack, book bag and/or PE kit and on top have a pen pot containing spare pens and pencils, rulers and rubbers that they can grab if needed. Alternatively use wall pegs and mounted baskets if there isnt the space for a unit.

In school they are used to having their own coat pegs and lockers but it is usually very different at home. If the home HQ is logical there is no reason why it shouldn't work. They like structure and it sets them up well for the future.

I encourage you to get some labels printed up with your child's name and class name or number on. Label a pile of envelopes before term starts and keep them by the pin boards in letter racks. You can slip their dinner money, trip payments and return/permission slips into these and will never need to scour the house for a spare envelope again!

During the holidays if you see small gift items that would be good for the next year of parties get a couple and have a present drawer. This in so valuable when you suddenly remember that they have a party tomorrow!! 

If your teenager needs to let themselves into the home attach a spare key on a chain inside their bag and have a spare phone charger in there too for emergencies. 

Make sure all items are labelled in some way with the name of your child. Keep a spare permanent marker in the control centre for that new coat or hat as the winter term progresses.

Marie is the mother of two grown up children and two grandchildren and worked abroad half of the week when her daughter was in high school and took part in lots of extra curricular activities. She had to have a system in place during this time and it worked like clockwork.