Back to School In Camberley –where do you go for the school essentials?

Now is the time to consider going Back to School!  The holidays are drawing to a close and it is time to think about replacing old school uniform or buying the new school uniform.  Although the shops have been promoting “Back to School” since before the end of the last school term – yes, I am that embarrassing mother who goes round the shops saying “but you haven’t even started your holidays yet, so why on Earth would I be thinking about you going back to school now” – it is now, just as the stores are getting out the Christmas wrapping paper, that I venture out to buy new shirts and school trousers.  In my experience boys especially have a tendency to grow in the last weeks of the summer holidays!!

Where do you buy your school uniform?  If you are like me you will end up visiting many different shops depending on which school your child goes to.  For the staples I usually end up in Marks & Spencer's, BHS or Tesco.  Everyone has their particular favourite shop for school shirts and blouses, trousers and skirts and over time I think you find which brand suits you and your child!!  So the Meadows shopping centre is probably the first stop in the search for school items, but I do find if you leave it “late” as in the next two weeks, you are not always guaranteed to find all of the sizes and all of the styles.  Next stop Camberley Town Centre, where BHS have a school shop and there is WHSmith and Rymans for stationery.  Most of the stores are offering special “back to school” deals of the 3 for 2 variety on lots of brightly coloured folders, leaver arch files, pencil cases and notebooks.  If you have daughters, maybe you will end up in Paperchase in A & N (House of Fraser) looking for something slightly different style wise for their school stationery.

However, we are lucky enough in Camberley to have an independent school uniform retailer Brenda’s in Frimley Road.  Brenda’s is a family run schoolwear outfitters and supplies specialised items for school’s in the Camberley/Frimley area and also all the essentials – shirts, blouses, trousers, skirts, pinafores, jumpers and sweatshirts.   As well as visiting the store you can also shop online via their website.  Brenda’s started out as a dressmaking shop in Farnborough selling scout and guide uniform as well as some school uniform, but the school uniform business really took off in 1969 when a local department store closed down as asked Brenda is she would take on the box of school ties for a local school.  From there Brenda’s grew and in 2009 the Camberley store was opened to cope with the expanding business.  The business has just celebrated 60 years of trading.  Among the local schools catered for at Brenda’s areBristow Infant & Nursery School, Crawley Ridge Infant School,Crawley Ridge Junior School, Frimley CofE School,Kings International College, Lyndhurst,Ravenscote and Watchetts Junior School.  Visit the website to see a complete list!  Brenda’s also sells Scout and Guide uniform which is how I discovered the shop in the first place.