School Stationery Kit With Name: Pencils, Book Labels and Name Slips in One Order

What's on a typical school stationery list?

Lists change from school to school, but for Class 1 to Class 5 they usually look like this. We've added the label we'd use for each item, because the list never tells you that part.

Our view: the small things matter more than the books. Teachers return a labelled textbook to the right desk in seconds. A loose eraser or sharpener with no name simply joins the class lost-and-found tin, and that tin is never emptied.

Can you get pencils with your child's name on them?

Parents search for "customise pencil with name" and "print on pencil" a lot, so here's the honest answer for our store. We don't print names on ordinary wooden pencils. What we have is a pack of 2 personalised pencils: reusable metal pen pencils, Rs 499, with replaceable graphite nibs that write like a normal pencil, a built-in eraser, a retractable tip and a triangular grip. There's nothing to sharpen, so there are no shavings and no stub that rolls under the bench.

Here's how we'd think about it. Two named pencils won't replace the six on the list, and they aren't meant to. They're the ones that stay in the pencil box all year and come home. For the wooden pencils, fold a 7 x 2 cm name slip around the top like a small flag: it's quick, it survives the pencil box, and it moves to the next pencil when the old one gets too short.

Teachers return a labelled textbook in seconds. An eraser with no name goes into the lost-and-found tin, and that tin is never emptied.

Name slips or book labels: which goes where?

They look similar on a product page, but they do different jobs.

• Book labels are 7 x 5 cm, 12 to a sheet for Rs 329. They have room for the name, class and section, so they suit textbooks the teacher collects and hands back.
• Name slips are 7 x 2 cm and waterproof, 40 to a pack for Rs 329. They fit a notebook cover, a spine, a pencil box lid or a crayon box, and they survive a spilt water bottle.

For most families one sheet of book labels and one pack of name slips covers a full stationery list. If the book list is long, the back to school combo (Rs 899) gives you 24 book labels, 8 transparent labels and a bag tag in one order. Our count of how many name stickers a school kid needs works it out by class.

Swipe through the pieces of the kit.

Three stationery kits, by budget

Prices are from our store today. Each kit assumes you've already bought the notebooks and books from the school list.

Every one of these crosses Rs 399, so shipping is free. For the full stationery range, including crayons and Build & Play sharpeners from Rs 129, see the stationery page.

The labelling job, step by step

Here's the order we'd follow on the evening the stationery comes home, so nothing is missed.

1. Lay everything out by type: textbooks, notebooks, small items.
2. Wipe the pencil box, geometry box and crayon box with a dry cloth. Dust and oil are why stickers peel.
3. Book labels inside the textbook covers, near the top edge.
4. Name slips on notebook covers, then the lids and bases of every box.
5. Fold name slips round the wooden pencils; cut one in half for the eraser and sharpener.
6. Put four or five slips aside in an envelope for the notebooks added mid-term.

Almost missed this Label the geometry box on the inside of the lid as well as the outside. Children swap compasses and dividers during class, and the inside label is the one that tells the teacher whose box a stray compass came from. For the step-by-step on books, see name slips for school books in 5 steps and our guide to book labeling for school books.

When to order

Every label pack and the pen pencils are personalised after you order and take 8 to 12 working days to reach you anywhere in India. Order once the school list is in hand, about two and a half weeks before the first day. Read the name out letter by letter before you pay, since it's printed exactly as typed.