How did the first day(s) back at school go for your family?

There’s always a looming countdown to the first day back to school once the summer holidays get to be more than halfway through – when the children start to realise that the holidays won’t last forever, and the parents re-assure themselves that the holidays don’t last forever!

Before we know it, the first day back to school arrives and our smartly dressed children head off to their new teachers and classrooms. Then, within a flash the first day is over, and the smartly dressed child you dropped off at the school gates may either return in the same smartly dressed state, or alternatively return looking like they have just come back from a week in the jungle!

If you’re lucky, they’ll come back with all the uniform items they went with, including a correct pair of matching shoes. However, this may not be the case after their first day of P.E….

Once the children are home, you excitedly ask them all about their first day. You listen intently to their stories, whilst keeping your fingers crossed that you don’t hear the dreaded words, “My new shoes rubbed me today!” which then starts your mind whirling with questions like, “What? How? Why? But I bought them from the shop that measures and fits shoes properly so, how can they rub?”.

If you do hear those words and wonder why children experience new school shoes rubbing sometimes, read on and we’ll explain…

Please be reassured that schools shoes rubbing for the first couple of days is perfectly normal – and there are two reasons why.

1. Most shoes bought online or in a shop are manufactured in bulk rather than made as a bespoke pair specifically for one pair of feet. This is exactly the same with school shoes. Whilst school shoes are made in both half and whole sizes and in several width fittings, they are still manufactured in large quantities, not made for just one person’s feet. And everyone’s feet are different!
   

It's the same with shoes that parents buy for their own feet. Most of these are mass-manufactured rather than custom-made, which is why not many new pairs of adult shoes will fit like a glove the first time you put them on.

When you go into a shop that offers a measuring service, like Friary Shoes do with children’s shoes, the staff will try to advise which of the range of shoes available will fit your child’s feet the best, based on our years of experience of measuring and fitting to find the ideal shoes for each pair of feet. However, that’s all we can get – the best fit. The only way to get a perfect fit would be to have shoes individually made, with a bespoke shoe specifically manufactured to fit each foot, which would increase the cost of a pair of shoes significantly!

1. The second reason for shoes rubbing on the first day is less to do with the shoes, and more to do with the feet. Children often spend their summer holidays wearing soft trainers, sandals or even going barefoot or just wearing socks. It’s not surprising then, after 6 weeks of not wearing formal shoes, that putting on a pair of school shoes can be a shock as they suddenly feel quite hard, and obviously won’t feel as comfortable as that favourite, well-worn pair of trainers they’ve lived in over the summer!